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15. God Had Other Plans

Shortly after I was saved in December 1964, God began to speak to me about reaching His world. Various things pointed me toward Bible training at Moody Bible Institute, which is where I came into contact with OM. My plan for the summer of '68 was to work with a church doing youth work to earn some cash for my final year at MBI. Everything seemed to be moving in that direction until a fellow student named Lew Williams spoke to me about an outrageous idea concerning a ship for world evangelism! He invited me to his room where he described the idea to me as we pored over a map.

Not long after that, a student named Jack Rendel, who had recently returned from a year with OM in Iran, visited me in my dorm and challenged me to pray about spending the summer with OM in Spain. He insisted we at least pray about it even though I insisted that my summer plans had already been made. He came to my room several times to pray, which I did, insisting that this OM idea wasn't going to happen!

Finally, one evening after praying, I told him that even if I wanted to go I didn't have any money, and, more importantly, I needed money for the coming year. He simply told me that "God isn't short of cash" and that He would finance what He called me to do. "Coincidentally," I found an envelope with $15 in my post box the following day, and though Jack never admitted to putting it there, I took it as proof that God was in this challenge. I have been with OM for nearly 40 years now. Jesus is Alive!

- Mickey Walker

14. Be Careful What You Pray For!

As a young man, it was my dream to be a minister in the church of Scotland. However, I was advised against this by my home church minister. I was disappointed but decided instead to look at missions. I applied for a number of missions and was turned down. I was in receipt of the OM Monthly publication, and each month there was a prayer diary on the back of it. For two months running there was a request for prayer for people to join the Quinta team in the UK (OM UK home office, located in the Quinta Christian Centre in Shropshire). I had felt very hurt by other missions turning me down. It did not occur to me at first that I should apply. Therefore, I prayed for other people to join the Quinta team. However, when the mothly newsletter arrived with a letter that gave details of the jobs, I realised that I might be able to do one of them.

It was in fear and trepidation that I applied and then went to the Quinta for an interview. I was accepted that day. I was on cloud nine. I am the mailroom manager for OM UK. I joined in 1995 and have worked with and loved people from all over the world. If you are reading this and praying for other people to go into mission or join OM, then, like me, you could be the answer to your own prayer.

- George Falconer

13. God Still Makes Miracles
I arrived in Ukraine during a long, cold winter, and my financial support hadn't arrived. Soon, the money friends gave before I left was almost gone. I had only a few cents left and didn't know when money would arrive!

After a day in record-setting cold, I walked several kilometers to church, cold and hungry. Everyone had on coats, gloves and hats because the heaters were broken. The temperature in my flat was 5 degrees, and I had very little food, so it was no refuge from cold and hunger. I cried out to God that I was hungry and cold. Wouldn't He provide?

After the service, I was invited to dinner. What a timely answer! I enjoyed a warm flat, food and friends that evening. I left warm and fed, full of joy at God's giving far more than I expected. He not only gave what I asked but also provided friends so I wouldn't feel lonely!

The Bible says God gives "exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we ask or think," and I witnessed God do just that. If you think God won't answer prayers, remember how God answered mine and still makes miracles! He'll always give what you need when you trust Him to provide.

- Saron

12. Two Weeks, Two Years and ....
I am a girl from Estonia, now a full-time OMer in Bosnia-Hercegovina. OM was the first missions organisation that started its work in Estonia after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Actually, they came even before the fall! It was the summer 1988 when one bold pastor in Estonia invited the first Love Europe team to come to his church. That started the tradition of hosting OM's summer teams in Estonia. Soon after that, a Finnish family moved to Estonia and started a regular work there. Later, other organisations (like Campus Crusade for Christ, Youth with a Mission, etc.) followed, but as far as I know, OM was the first.

I was 16 when I heard about Love Europe for the first time. It was in 1994. I joined the Love Europe team that was in another Estonian town. It was so exciting for me to see that God was able to use me too! I had just got there when already I turned out to be an answer to prayer! The team had been there already for a couple of days, but they did not have enough translators. But I knew both English and Estonian, so I could translate! At the end of the two-week outreach, my teammates started telling me that now I had to go back to my hometown and witness there, too. So that first town was like my Jerusalem, but now I had to go back to my Judea. And I did--for the next three summers, I led a Love Europe outreach in my own town. Then I felt that it was time for me to move to my "Samaria," so the next summer I joined the Love Europe team that went to Saint Petersburg in Russia. Believe me, at that time Estonians liked Russians as much as Jews liked Samaritans.

In the meantime, God had started to show me that He wanted to use more of my life than just two to three weeks every summer. So I had started to think that after graduating from the university, I would join the OM Ships for two years. I started to prepare myself for giving two years of my life to serve God. But then, one day in February 1997, God very clearly told me that I needed to go to Bosnia instead. So, in August 2000 I joined OM full time and came to Bosnia (not really the "ends of the Earth," but far enough from my home to call it so). By doing that, I became one of the first three missionaries that were sent out from the Estonian Baptist Union after the fall of Communism. There had been two other women who had gone out from the Lutheran Church, but that was all of us at that time.

Now I have been in Bosnia for nearly seven years already. I don't know how long God will keep me in Bosnia or what He will do with me after that. But I do know that OM has played a crucial role in getting me interested in missions and helping me to leave my home country for serving the Lord. May there be many others who first go for two weeks, then for another two weeks, then for two years and then ...

- Jael Puusaag

11. Using OM for His Purposes
I joined OM in June of 1972. After a year in England, I found myself in Iran in the fall of 1973 at 19 years of age. My future husband, Bill, had been on the Iran team, and I must confess that he had "something" to do with my being in Iran!

Bill and I often reminisce about our OM days as they certainly were not dull! One story that stands out was the winter trip in January of 1974 that some of our team made from Iran to Afghanistan to renew visas.  Before our group left, J. Christy Wilson, veteran tentmaker missionary to Afghanistan who was living in Tehran at that time, came to our home to bring a large, warm, wool men's coat he wanted us to take to Afghanistan and give to someone who needed it. I became the keeper of the coat. It was huge, but very warm, and I wore it on that trip. The trip was indeed treacherous and cold as we were going over snow-covered mountains on icy roads. We did, in fact, have an accident in Iran near Mashad. The Lord protected us as no one was injured. The VW van we affectionately named "Sally" did not fare so well. However, we did manage to drive her across the border into Afghanistan after getting a bent wheel fixed.

At the border, the van was thoroughly searched, but they did not find the literature we were bringing into the country! Some of the team were able to stay in Herat with injured "Sally" while the rest of us rode to Kabul with a group of German "hippies" on their way to India in a very nice bus. It was in a "hotel" in Herat that I experienced my first real experience with God's wonderful peace. In the middle of the night, someone tried to get into our room, and I became extremely frightened. I kept repeating Psalm 27:1--"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" After repeating it I think 100 times with my heart pounding, I experienced a wonderful peace that only God can give, and I slept like a baby!

After spending a refreshing time in Kabul for about a week with a member of our team who was working in the eye hospital there, we went back to Herat to join the others. This time we travelled on an Afghan bus, which was another experience altogether! It was in Herat, as we prepared to leave, that I parted with the coat, giving it to a man who had helped us. I will never forget his face as he gratefully accepted it.

That trip to Afghanistan and another I made a few months later are indelibly imprinted in my memory.  It has enabled me to pray for the Afghan people and to understand a little bit of the challenges they face. I will always be grateful to OM for opening my eyes to the world and how big our God is. I am thankful that Bill and I were able to experience OM together. We have now been married 31 years and have two boys, Jeremy and C.J. I know that our time with OM has enriched our lives in many ways.

J. Faith (Forberg) McConnell
Chehalis, WA

10. God’s Ways in North Africa
The first year I served with OM, I was on the men's North Africa Traveling Team.  Half-way into that first year, our team of four found ourselves being held for questioning in a North African police office.

Being a traveling team, we would move from village to village, spending a couple of nights at each stop. By day we would share the Gospel with men in coffee shops, or with shepherds on the hillsides.  For those who were interested, we would leave them with a gift -- a Gospel cassette, a New Testament or a Bible. The last night we would spend in a village, we would head out by cover of dark and distribute gospels of Luke.  We would slip them into mail boxes or open car windows; leaving them on window sills or park benches. First thing the next morning we would catch the first bus or train out, before the authorities could catch wind of our distribution the night before. We would show up at the next village and start the cycle all over again.

Well, this one time, our team leaders asked us to do five nights of distribution in the same city.  But sure enough, 9 o'clock the morning after our first distribution, a police detective was knocking on our hotel door and we were escorted out. Soon, I found myself before a very angry police chief.  Behind me lay the pile of confiscated Gospels of Luke.  Crowded into the room were a bunch of curious police officers.  I noticed one of them pick up a Gospel from the pile, casually flip through it, and slip it into his back pocket. The detective also discovered our stash of Bibles and New Testaments.  Once we explained they were gifts for friends made along the way, he let us keep them. 

Finally, we came to the end of the process.  Signing the last document, he closed the folder on our case.  Then he asked, "Now, as a friend, would you have a gift for me?" What we thought was a terrible loss, God used to put a Bible into the hands of a North African police detective.

- Matt

9. God Loves Border Guards Too
In the late '70s, my husband Graham and I were on the Greater Europe team working behind the “Iron Curtain.” Let’s just say it wasn’t my idea, but God seems to like people out of their depth so they REALLY trusted Him to do things His way.

We were on a trip smuggling Bibles into Bulgaria. During my quiet time one day, God clearly said, “Remember if I ever let you get caught, I love border guards too!”

In four years we had never been caught, but sure enough, four hours later we were being held in separate rooms with bars on the windows and were being interrogated. I SHOULD have been freaking out BIG time, but because God, in His infinite kindness, knew my frame, He prepared me beautifully.

I have rarely known such peace (except perhaps when OM’s ship Logos sank). I was able to answer questions truthfully and without fear. 
“Who sent you?” (Jesus)
“Where does he live?” (Heaven with God)
“I am so sorry to tell you, we have sent men into space and God wasn’t there!

This was a highly decorated military man speaking, and all at once I felt so full of compassion for him, that he truly felt God would be clearly evident with the physical eye. He left the room, and as I looked out through the bars I saw many soldiers had laid their machine guns down and were reading the Bulgarian Bibles. “Yes, God loves border guards too”. They needed to know that.

After a few hours we were blacklisted and told to leave and not return. As we walked toward the van, a soldier stood up and walked toward us. As he passed my right shoulder he clearly whispered in English “thank you,” and I knew he was probably an underground believer who had been needing God’s Word in his own language. Hopefully all the Bibles would get out onto the “black market,” and many more people were going to find out just how much God dearly loves them.

How much He dearly loves, also, those who obey Him even when they are foolish, weak, and inadequate for the task He sets before them. Thank you, Jesus.

- Linda Wells

8.  God's Presence in the Midst of an Attack
As we arrived at church a few minutes early, I was surprised that there were only a few cars in the parking lot. The church service started, like most Sunday mornings in Pakistan did, with people continuing to arrive late. When the preacher got up to give his message, I looked around and noticed that the church was still half empty.

I have many memories of that Sunday morning. I remember singing the song "Holy Ground," a song that has always moved me. On that morning, I looked up and saw three angels flying in a tight circle above the pulpit. Since I 'd never seen angels before and I'd had a terrible night sleep, I assumed it was just my imagination. I felt faint and dizzy, so I looked away, and when I looked back I could no longer see them. When we finished singing, the guest speaker started giving the message that God had put on his heart. He was preaching that morning on the need to forgive those who hurt us.

As we sat there listening to the message, all of the sudden there was a loud bang from the back of the church. Being a naive American, I assumed someone was just incredibly rude and had slammed the door on the way out. I turned around slowly to see what had happened. There was a thick, black cloud of smoke, and people were getting out of their seats and screaming. I watched seemingly in slow motion as someone threw three grenades up into the air. I sat there frozen in disbelief as I saw one of the grenades land in the aisle in front of me. I watched as it rolled passed me and then out of the corner of my eye I saw my friends stand to run. I also got up and tried to run. I thought if I could take a running leap and dive toward the back door I might be able to escape. Before I could take my third step, I felt a terrible burning sensation and pain in my side as I was thrown to the floor when another grenade went off. It wasn't until I felt the warmth of my own blood coming from my side that I realized how serious my injury was.

I lay on the floor, knowing that there was a grenade just inches from my feet about to explode and that when it did I would either lose my life or lose my legs. I begged God to take my life but not to take my legs. I never imagined He would spare them both. As I lay there on the floor, another grenade exploded across the room. It shattered the windows and chandeliers, sending a rain of fire, metal, glass and debris down on us. I screamed so loud that I even amazed myself. In between my screams, I cried out to Jesus. "Jesus help," "Jesus, I love you," and "Jesus, thank you" was all that would come. I kept crying out my childlike prayers and closed my eyes expecting that when I opened them I'd be in the presence of my Lord and Savior. The disappointment was immediate and the reality harsh as I opened my eyes to see not my Savior's face but a brand new world filled with evil. This strange new world was like none I'd ever known; it was filled with pain, blood, brokenness, destruction and death.

It may have appeared to those looking in from the outside that evil had won and death gained the victory that day. I know for myself a different truth was revealed. I opened my eyes to horrors I'd never imagined possible, but I personally encountered a love that's indescribable. Sometimes God speaks in a still, small voice, and other times He speaks words of love and comfort so loudly that it drowns out the noise and chaos around you. Sometimes God gently guides you, and other times He sits down next to you and holds you so tightly that you can feel His arms of love around you.

That day was the worst day of my life, yet in one way it was the best day, too. As I sat on the floor of that church shaking with fear and crying from pain and shock, my life was forever changed. Besides my Spiritual salvation, that day was God's biggest miracle in my life. He not only saved me physically when the grenade at my feet didn't go off, but much more than that, He sat down with me and held me close and allowed me to experience His calming peace in the midst of a violent storm.

Five people died that day, and about 45 of us were injured. One terrorist was a suicide bomber, and as far as I know, the other was never captured. They threw about six grenades into the congregation, and a couple of them didn't explode. I later heard many stories of God extending His hand of protection and mercy on us and sending His guarding angels to watch over us. About half of the regular attenders were absent that day for various unusual reasons, and the children had all been dismissed downstairs and were, for the most part, spared the horrors above. For so many people in the world, this is what life is like, but they don't have the hope of Jesus to carry them through the unthinkable.

It's easy to say that March 17, 2002, was the worst day of my life. Now that four years have passed, I know that's not true. You see, the attack that day was just the beginning of the suffering for me. Like so many people around the world have discovered, the worst part comes when you're left to try to pick up the pieces of your shattered dreams and broken lives. The road to recovery from trauma is filled with disappointments, anger, pain, confusion, depression, and loneliness, but, hopefully, forgiveness, as well. It's easy to lose hope and feel like no one could possibly understand, but sadly this isn't the case. The scars can be deep and many which we'll carry with us throughout this lifetime.

My short, two-year commitment with OM was filled with adventure, surprises, disappointments, and struggles. My eyes were opened to the persecution many face on a daily basis around the world. I've learned that we all have a vital role to play in furthering God's kingdom. We can go, or we can help send others, but we all can stand with those suffering persecution around the world through our prayers. Above all, I found that my time with OM strengthened my relationship with God and allowed me to experience His deep, unending love in a fresh new way.

- Laura

7.  It Will Cost You Your Life
It was the fall of 1958 on the streets of Chicago near Moody Bible Institute. Dick had just finished preaching at an open-air meeting to an audience of Puerto Ricans using a tract he'd memorized in Spanish. A young George Verwer walked up and said, "You should pray about going to Mexico. I'm getting a group together to go down this Christmas."

"How much will it cost me?" Dick asked, too aware of his slim budget.

"It'll cost you your life!" George replied. Seeing Dick cringe, he added, "If you really want to know, come to an all-night prayer meeting this Friday."

Out of curiosity, Dick showed up, and it revolutionized his life. After three hours of confessing sin and getting right with God and one another, they poured over a world map, interceding for the nations until noon the following day. Christmas vacation found 18 of them headed south in an old truck that one mechanic said wouldn't make it out of Chicago, joyfully on their way to Monterrey, with three in the cab and the rest atop tons of gospel literature in the back.

They combed the streets of Monterry, going door to door giving Moody Colportage books for the special price of two pesos (eight US cents). Then they saw the opportunity to open up the back of the truck on a busy avenue and mistakenly offered anything in it for two pesos until George came along and saw what they were doing. He had to smile, though, at the way the Mexicans were grabbing up the literature to read. George opened the first Send the Light bookstore during that first Christmas outreach, naming it Libreria La Luz.

Dick met Helen the following spring in the student dining room. "You've been to Mexico," she said. "Tell me about Mexico."  He began telling her about Mexico that day in May of 1959. He says it's a long story and that he is still telling her about Mexico. This year they are finally taking a year off in the U.S., a time to rest and assess progress and perhaps do ministry with Spanish-speaking people this side of the border. Helen hopes to chronicle all their years with Operation Mobilization in Mexico.

So far it has cost them their lives.

- Dick & Helen

6.  A Life Transformed
My name is Alexander. I am a Liberian refugee living in Conakry Guinea. I was a Muslim from my childhood up to the time the OM ship came to Conakry Guinea 2004. I was told by my parents not to visit the ship because it was a Christian ship, but a friend of mine encouraged me to go with him.

On the ship I met a lady called Launi who was so kind to me and showed me every corner of the ship and then had lunch with me. She presented Jesus to me. She also visited my family's house two times. I finally accepted Jesus as my Lord and the Son of God. After that, my parents observed me praying and calling on the name of Jesus. They attempted to kill me, but I managed to escape and now live on my own just by the help of God. The most important thing is that I'm a Christian and part of a church in Conakry.

My greatest wish is to serve on the OM ship but I'm really poor and don't have the finance. God bless your good works.

- Alexander

5.  Venezuelan Robbery
I loved Venezuela and all the Latin states where Spanish is spoken. The Logos spent about six months in Venezuela in 1984, and we stopped at Maracaibo, Punto Fijo (with its desert and camels), La Guiara  and Cumana. In La Guiara, the port for Caracas, we were told during port orientation not to venture into the forested area in the hills behind the post, but Steve and I did! As we were walking up a steep, dirt track, two men jogged past us, and the next thing we knew they had jumped on us and were demanding our valuables, threatening me with a knife and Steve with a gun. Steve lost his camera. It was scary, but God was protecting. Later, when we reported the theft at the local police station, Marie, my future wife, was our translator and thought it was hilarious! Psalm 91

- Dr. Julian Kennedy, Logos Med. Officer, 1983-85

4.  Operation Marriage
When we berthed in Maracaibo in 1984, I was attracted to a very beautiful Indian girl who was a local volunteer and translator. We got to know each other, chatting till late on the boat deck (breaking ship rules!!!). She was from Trinidad but had lived seven years in Venezuela, was bilingual and worked as a youth worker in a local church. When the ship moved on, I “spilled the beans” to Frank Fortunato, ship director, and he was flabbergasted! “Put the whole thing on ice,” I was told, and had to as we continued our romance by letter. Later, providentially, I went on a team from Aruba to Venezuela and met her briefly. When I left the ship in October 1985, I needed only to hop on a bus in Colombia (Santa Marta), and within a few hours I was by her side in Maracaibo. We got engaged, and a month later were made one in Trinidad at her parents' house. We have now been married more than 20 years and have three children. Matthew 6:33

- Dr. Julian Kennedy, Logos Med. Officer, 1983-85

3.  Treat Your Wife Nicely!
My parents were "tent-maker" missionaries in Mexico City, Mexico, from 1954 until 1990. They are both now with the Lord. During their early years there, they befriended and mentored a young man named George Verwer. I remember that he spent time in our home and that my parents, who did a lot of marriage counseling, counseled him about how to treat his wife when they were newlyweds! Years later, my father also taught some courses in business management on the ships when they were docked in Veracruz, Mexico, and some other ports. They would certainly be smiling from heaven to know that OM has reached its 50th anniversary!

- Rhoda Jeter

2.  Honduras Booksales
In Honduras, in 1985, booksales were phenomenal, but the government would not allow us to exchange around $100,000 in local currency and send it out of the country. After passionate prayer and fasting, another Christian mission banked our money, gave us the equivalent in US dollars, and the money went to the ship ministry's office in Germany to pay our many bills!
Phil 4:19.

- Dr. Julian Kennedy, Logos Med. Officer, 1983-85

1.  The Calling
On New Year's Day 1973, as I was praying for the coming year, I really strongly felt God saying he wanted me to move from the U.K to New Jersey. I talked to Steve Hart, George Verwer and Gerry Davey, none of whom were sure I had heard correctly, partly because of health reasons--I have mobility problems and had just been diagnosed with Meniere's disease (an inner-ear disease which affects hearing and balance).  However, I kept on praying and did not mention to anyone else what I felt God had said. On Easter Saturday, I received a letter postmarked from somewhere in Lancashire, an area where I did not know anyone. Inside the letter was £150 in money orders which, at the time, was worth a lot of money. The note with it was unsigned but said, "This is for you to go to America. He who has called you is faithful, and He will do it." That £150 was enough to pay for the airfare to the US and some support as I did not have a big financial support base. That experience has never left me, and I have often used it to illustrate that if God wants us to do something He will provide. As I landed at Kennedy Airport at the beginning of July 1973, I was so thrilled, most of all because I knew God was faithful and He had called me. I had a wonderful time until July 1974 when I had to come home. I made some great friends, some of whom I am still in contact with.

- Gill Thompson, OM, 1970-1974

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