Overview
The non-sectarian China Inland Mission was founded on principles of faith and prayer. From the beginning it recruited missionaries from the working class as well as single women, which was a new practice for a large agency. Even today, no appeals for funds are made, instead a reliance upon God is practiced to move people through prayer alone. The goal of the mission that began dedicated to China has grown to include bringing the Gospel to the millions of inhabitants of East Asia who have never heard or had access to the message of Jesus Christ. Reluctantly, along with the departure of all foreign Christian workers in the early 1950s, the China Inland Mission redirected all of its missionaries to other parts of east Asia, to continue the work and maintain a ministry to China and the Chinese. The name was officially changed to Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1964. A quote from the OMF website in 2006 summarizes the current organization:
| “ | The goal of OMF International is to glorify God through the urgent evangelisation of East Asia's peoples. Overseas Missionary Fellowship is a global network of Christians proclaiming the glory of Jesus Christ among East Asia's peoples through fervent prayer, loving service and personal witness. Through God's grace and power we work to see a biblical church movement in each people group of East Asia. Started as the China Inland Mission by Hudson Taylor, OMF serves throughout East Asia in a variety of ministries, including evangelism and discipleship, starting new churches, tentmaking, student ministry, English teaching and mobilizing and equipping Asian churches for world missions. Our relationships with national churches provide meaningful opportunities for partnership in long-term and short-term outreach activities. OMF currently has around 1,100 workers from more than 25 countries. | ” |
Read more about this topic: OMF International