Lifehope Lifeline Issue 1- 2010

United Kingdom | Carol Ann Greiner

Our Mission:

• Bringing life and hope to communities in the UK.
• Partnering with the Church in its mission.
• Reaching and discipling people from many nations.

In the past two Lifelines we have focussed on the first two aims. In this Lifeline we are focussing on:

Reach and disciple people from many nations

“and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”                                                               Revelation 5:9

OM Lifehope seeks to 'reach and disciple people from many nations' in two main ways: through the training and support of an international team to reach people for Christ in one's own country and/or other nations; and through reaching people of other nations currently resident in the UK – the focus of this issue.

Ever since the inception of OM Lifehope (formerly known as OM LUKE), reaching foreigners resident in the UK has been a key focus of our ministry. The initial work of Friends from Abroad (FFA) was started by OMers who had returned from India. Their cross-cultural understanding and linguistic skills proved useful in reaching out to settled communities of South Asians in UK's urban areas e.g. West Midlands.

Today the West Midlands, where OM Lifehope is based, is home to a fabulously diverse population both born in the UK and newly arrived from overseas, including South Asians, Africans, Caribbean islanders, Irish and Chinese. Official statistics also reveal a mysterious ‘other’ group who don’t fit the normal categories and includes smaller settled communities such as Yemenis and Kurds. In recent years, immigration from Eastern Europe, refugees and asylum seekers have changed the picture still further and created even great diversity.

This diversity is reflected in the local church, many of which are multi-cultural, in addition to immigrant fellowships that have in common a similar language or nationality, as well as common faith. For some of these communities, these fellowships make up only a tiny percentage of the wider community. 

It is in this context that OM Lifehope strives to 'reach and disciple people from many nations', through both direct outreach into these communities, and through providing support to local churches seeking to do so. OM Lifehope's international team strives to reach many nations through many nations…and much more.

Andrew & Sara Harwood – When East meets West

Andrew, a Londoner and Sara, from South Korea met more than 15 years ago when they first joined OM. Five years later they married and were later blessed with two energetic children, Clara, aged 6 and Patrick aged 4.

Their service with OM has taken them to India and Pakistan, and since 2004 they have been part of OM Lifehope's leadership team. This is Sara's third stint at Lifehope, having served for four months in 1994 and then again from 1998 to 2000.

Andrew is OM Lifehope's Personnel and Member Care Manager, and is currently developing our English Language and Community Outreach (ELCO) programme while teaching English to local immigrants. He also supervises one of our short-term training teams (Global Action). Recently he completed a Master's Degree in Mission, basing his dissertation on schools for poor Christians in Pakistan.

Sara combines child-care responsibilities with part-time administrative work in the personnel team. Since she joined OM, she has focused on reaching out to Asian women and children in different contexts and countries.

Andrew and Sara are keen to increase their involvement in outreach to local immigrant communities as well as in equipping and supporting OM Lifehope trainees and staff.

The OM Lifehope team seeks to share Jesus with many nationalities:

Kurds

There are 18,000 Kurds in the Birmingham area, most of whom have never heard the Gospel before. Team members hope and pray that their Kurdish friends will discover what Christianity is really about and separate it from the self-gratification and consumerism of the Western World. Recently, OM Lifehope workers were thrilled when a Kurdish family accepted gifts of God’s word.

Jews

OM Lifehope team members are in touch with many Israelis who are working in the UK. Through building relationships with those who are away from home, doors are opened to give them Hebrew-language copies of the New Testament, Gospels and Psalms. Offers of prayer in Jesus’ name are especially well-received.

In a recent encounter, N. was very open to news of God’s love. She talked with OM Lifehope team members for two hours and promised to keep in touch. Please pray that this friendship will blossom and ultimately result in N. accepting Christ as her Lord and saviour.

Chinese

A major focus of OM Lifehope’s ministry to ethnic Chinese in the UK is the Bible study groups held at local universities. One of these has grown in numbers recently, with two students from Mainland China joining. These are contacts made through street evangelism outreaches organised by OM Lifehope team members. Sometimes the studies involve not one but three languages! Mandarin, English and Cantonese can all be used in a single meeting. Although this was initially a challenge, the participants are comfortable with the mixture, knowing that it helps everyone to better understand what is being discussed.

Recently an outing was arranged for some of the students to visit a retired Christian judge. He warmly welcomed the Chinese students, teaching them about Western culture by sharing his family history and showing them around his farm. Such simple acts of friendship speak loudly of God’s love.

Love thy Neighbour

We encourage and train Christians in showing and sharing God's love.

Here, one of the OM Lifehope's female members tells how mothers and daughters from the city's diverse neighbourhoods are responding to the team's words and deeds:

“Our Community team works in a mainly Muslim area of Birmingham. We have youth outreaches and run children's activities every week with a few holiday clubs in between. We have a special meeting where people can come to talk and study the Bible. We also operate a book table ministry and door-to-door visits as well as friendship evangelism, all hoping to reach our neighbours with God's love.

"One of our friends is a young girl. This girl and her family just love us and the mother always wants to talk to us when she has time. She regularly tells us about her problems. We talk about our faith almost every time we visit and one day she said: "I thought all white people are Christians, but since I have met you I now know that true Christianity is more than what we see in England. Your religion is in your heart!" It was a big encouragement to see that she was actually beginning to understand that Christianity is not just a name, but it comes from the heart. We talk a lot with her about all kinds of different personal issues and it is amazing to see the trust between us growing.

"We are excited to see more and more Muslim girls coming to the girls’ club. We have two new girls who have been attending quite regularly. They love the club and they run to the church as soon as the gates open. We have started to go through different topics in the Bible using themes.

For a few weeks we looked at Abraham and taught them the song "Father Abraham" and we are now continuing with Isaac, Jacob, Esau and Joseph. With every new theme we teach the girls a memory verse and a song. They love it and even a five year-old girl remembers the verse. It is encouraging to see how much attention they pay to our lessons while still having a lot of fun.

“We have many other contacts with people where we talk openly with them about our faith. It is so encouraging to see how God is giving us more and more opportunities to be witnesses. Women recognise us on the streets, in the shops, and at the swimming pool and want to be friends. I am so amazed and encouraged by the way God is working here. It is not about us! We can do nothing without him and I am thrilled that I can be a servant of my Lord here in this community.”

Transit Challenge

Take one van, seven people and send them to share the Gospel across Europe! Now known as the Transit Challenge, this crazy idea has just become reality.

Before the group headed out on this Gospel-sharing border-hopping adventure, they arrived at OM Lifehope for some orientation. Team leader Lisa Ellis (UK) and others from Germany, England, Australia, Japan and Switzerland all completed their month of training, which included the three-week Toolkit Programme. This course is offered to all who join OM Lifehope, and the Transit Challenge participants greatly benefited from it.

The group are in for a busy time with stops in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Balkans, Moldova and Austria. During the seven-month outreach they will be involved in youth and children's work, sports ministry, open airs, making home visits, literature distribution and providing community assistance. The seven months will end with the participants joining Transform 2010, a massive OM initiative this summer to bring the Gospel to the Mediterranean nations.

From the Director’s Desk

As I write this we, at OM Lifehope, have just finished another Toolkit programme. This course prepares new team members for service and is the start of our training cycle.

Over the last few weeks we had 24 nationalities serving with Lifehope, a fact that brought home to me the reality of our mission statement; ‘Reaching and discipling people from many nations’. Although just a few words, this phrase truly describes what we are about... a colourful, multicultural group who are passionate about God, motivated by the call He has placed on our lives and excited about sharing the Gospel with multitudes of people in the UK and Europe.

Discipling others is an essential element of the OM Lifehope team. As we walk with God in fellowship with one another, and in relationship with the wider Body of Christ, we are affected by this interaction and discipled through it.... all of us.

The beauty is that as we are discipled, we also become equipped to reach out. The UK is a very multicultural nation and we have the privilege of serving God in it. Indeed people of many nations are being reached. We reach out purposefully to Chinese, Polish, British, Jews and many Muslim peoples. Although focusing on these groups, further opportunities to present the Good News to others from different backgrounds soon develop.

Please:

Pray for Lifehope's teams working cross culturally in the West Midlands

Pray for the Transit Challenge team making their way across Europe

Pray for many people from 'other nations' to reach the point of discipleship!

Credit: Carol Ann Greiner
© 2010 OM Lifehope