Serving together

“From [Jesus] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” - Ephesians 4:16 (NIV)

OM’s Holy Ambition is to see a vibrant community of Jesus followers in reach of everyone. This work is empowered by hands-on ministry workers, as well as behind-the-scenes support staff in areas like personnel, IT and finance. In the Body of Christ, all work is ministry, and in OM, all team members are working to see vibrant communities of Jesus followers among the least reached.

"OM would not be sustainable without its administrative engine at the core. Indeed, the ministry of support staff in OM keeps the organisation from being a messy group of people moving and spreading ahead in different directions. Support staff working behind the scenes are a vital part of the whole. They’re not often mentioned or appreciated, but they’re truly the quiet heroes, in my opinion. Their contribution to OM’s ministry is just as important as the person’s on the frontline, and I would like to express my deep appreciation for all that they are doing in spurring OM towards its vision." Lawrence Tong, International Director

“We need IT”

Siniore was the first person to become a Jesus follower in Tanantsoa, a village in southern Madagascar. She first heard the gospel from believers visiting from a nearby village, and at 16 years old, Siniore’s life was changed.

After attending an OM training that focused on discipleship and evangelism, Siniore started a prayer meeting every Friday in her village, soon resulting in four new believers. Like Siniore, these new Jesus followers started reaching out to their communities, travelling in pairs to different villages to share the good news of Jesus’ love. In less than a year, they’d shared the gospel in eight different villages that had previously never heard it—all from one girl who heard about Jesus and was trained on how to share His message with others.

OM conducts trainings like the one Siniore attended all over the world, helping participants learn how to grow in their own faith through reading the Bible and also share that faith with others. Participants learn how to form groups that disciple each other and also replicate, reaching more and more people.

Some of these trainings are now available online through OM’s training platform. Online trainings with guided coaching and mentoring are aimed at helping OM team members and those they partner with take their work farther—to be able to reflect on their current disciple-making practices and make fruitful changes to be more effective.

Participants of online trainings are then equipped to teach others what they’ve personally learned. Both online and in-person trainings on how to make disciples who make disciples have been especially effective in countries like Madagascar, Pakistan and North Africa.

The roll-out of the online training platform was made possible by OM’s international IT personnel.

From choosing the hosting platform to integrating login IDs and troubleshooting problems, the IT department has been an invaluable resource:

“We need IT to help us get past the struggles,” said Marlene, who heads up OM’s disciple-making trainings. “Because of IT, we know that we can push for making the online training doable and accessible where it’s most needed.”

IT personnel are able to empower front-line workers by providing access to information, like training courses. And if they’re doing their jobs right, says Paul, who manages OM’s international IT support team, their work shouldn’t be visible: “Technology should be transparent to the ministry, and it shouldn’t hinder… If we weren’t doing our jobs properly, it would be a frustration.”

All OM members—no matter if they’re travelling from village to village in Madagascar to share the gospel or maintaining back-end servers from their home offices—are part of making disciples who make disciples. We’re seeing vibrant communities of Jesus followers across the world, like the groups started by Siniore, because of evangelists, trainers, coaches—and IT personnel.