One Challenge OC INTERNATIONAL Reaching the world together PO Box 36900 Colorado Springs, CO 80936 719.592.9292 OneChallenge.org OC International Annual Review 2013
In the parched expanse of Southern Africa, you will find a mammoth tree known as the baobab. Over thousands of years, these giants can grow to epic proportions. The locals have a saying, No man can embrace the baobab tree. The goal is only accomplished when many people join hands together. From OC s founding over 60 years ago, we have embraced a vision bigger than ourselves. We recognize that reaching a people group or a nation involves stretching one s heart around a colossal goal. It cannot be accomplished by a single organization or denomination. The fulfillment of the Great Commission requires an all-out team effort. It necessitates collaboration among disciples of Jesus from every background, region, and group. It demands partnership. Embedded in the DNA of every OC team is a collaborative spirit. Through collaboration in Nepal, our OC team has helped train a third of the church leaders in the country. Collaboration links continents, touches nations and digs deep to serve specific groups of people in need. Think of women rescued from human trafficking in Southeast Asia, lepers receiving hope in East Asia, or rural pastors receiving Bible training in Guatemala. All are being touched because people care enough to work together. Partnering involves building bridges and has been our core strategy from the beginning. In Africa, OC is helping to link Chinese mission mobilizers with African organizations toward the goal of reaching over a million Chinese laborers and merchants living in Africa. In Austria, believers from different denominations are connecting in united prayer for their nation. Pastors in Latin America and Africa are gathering in peer groups for encouragement and accountability through the Pastoring of Pastors Network. In the U.S., we have the privilege of working with the Ethnic America Network to engage prolific immigrant communities in our nation. These are just a few of the 576 partnering initiatives the OC Global Alliance was involved in last year. Some have been years in the making. Others are just forming. Most do not bear OC s name. This is the unique role OC has played over the decades, a role God continues to entrust to us. We are team builders, called to build collaboration within the body of Christ. As a Barnabas-type organization, we serve leaders and those they lead helping them to work together to locate, love and lift the least-reached communities in their nation. As you read this annual review, we invite you to rejoice with us in all God is doing. Thank you for joining hands with us around the baobab tree. Dr. Greg Gripentrog President, OC International
AFRICA EUROPE We invest in leaders, leaders like Thomas from a small province of South Africa. Thomas parents were both witch doctors. To IMPACT the many, we seek to FOCUS on the few. He came to Christ as a young teacher. He eventually went into ministry and became a pastor with a vision for the unreached peoples in the greater area of his country. As his vision began to unfold, OC s South Africa team began to hear of Thomas. The team came alongside him in friendship and invested in his development as a leader. By connecting him with other like-minded leaders, he now has a broader platform for his ministry in the country and beyond. Jesus Londoño has dedicated his life to missions, first working in Latin America mobilizing missions sending and since 2008 in Spain, as the leader of OC s team there. Jesus experiences led him to form Greatly a network called Back to Europe, which seeks DIVERSE to communicate the yet firmly need for missions in Europe and to UNITED around mobilize churches Jesus Christ. around the world to send missionaries there. http://www.back2europe.org 520 746 2,363 40 Each set of numbers reflect area results, in this case, Africa. Churches Established Our relationship has managed to build unity in the body of Christ in South Africa, simply because OC believes in unity and networking, Thomas says. And because of that, South Africa is working toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Today, Thomas has planted over 50 churches. He s trained church planters in 15 countries, and those Churches Coached Toward Health hundreds of church planters have planted well over 1,000 churches. That s what OC is all about, coming alongside key leaders, discerning their vision, walking forward in friendship, Participants in Leadership Training Ministries and dreaming together God s dreams for their nations and beyond. Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations 16 43 3,842 46 Jesus efforts have paid off handsomely! The OC team in Spain is one of the largest and most diverse. It consists of 11 families (with 19 children) and four single people, with seven nationalities represented. In every location, Churches Established Churches Coached Toward Health Participants in Leadership Training Ministries Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations the team focuses on church planting, but all other projects include a strong emphasis on discipleship, including a café that combines ministry and income generation, and a very dynamic ministry called Festival 180, which involves hundreds of Spanish young people. Every summer, we gather people from across Spain for three days of worship, teaching, workshops, beach, swimming pool, sports, arts, and social justice. In the center of everything we do is the person of Jesus and his teachings, says Hélder Favarin, director of 180 Global.
LATIN AMERICA NORTH AMERICA Serving Pastors and Leaders Brazil (Sepal Brazil), a substantial part of OC International global ministries, hopes to see a healthy church within reach of every Brazilian, so they, in turn, can take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. As of 2013, Sepal Brazil has 111 missionaries teams in nine Brazilian cities and eleven countries around the world. MULTIPLYING Brazil 21 is a Sepal ministry focused churches, on planting, developing, and revitalizing TRANSFORMING local churches, primarily within the least-evangelized cities of Brazil. With communities. this aim, they host conferences and develop training materials in counseling, research, cross-cultural missions, discipleship, evangelism strategies, and more. With the Lord s direction, the number of least-evangelized cities has narrowed from 1,132 to 307, with 1,006 Churches Established approximately 1,000 churches planted by the direct and indirect influence of Brazil 21. 72 219,222 32 Praise the Lord for those dynamic young leaders! Churches Coached Toward Health says Manoel Araujo Jr., missionary with Brazil 21 since 2010. He helps lead research and training in the Brazilian northeast. Participants in Leadership Training Ministries Our team is expanding its training to the farthest and poorest regions of the state of Pernambuco, teaching 30 young leaders about church Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations planting in an urban context. This year, OC celebrates 30 years of ministry in Canada. The Lord has used Outreach Canada over the years to serve leaders in many ways. During this current season of ministry, the common theme seems to be partnerships and collaboration. SERVING leaders, DISCIPLING nations. 32 196 10,111 235 Craig Kraft, executive director of Outreach Canada, says: In 1996, we helped to catalyze a Canadian church planting movement called Church Planting Canada. Today CPC provides a platform for the sharing of research and resources between approximately 50 partnering denominations and ministries. Churches Established Churches Coached Toward Health Participants in Leadership Training Ministries Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations In recent years Outreach Canada has welcomed new team members who have opened doors for other exciting partnerships. They have launched and provided leadership for several new ministry networks including the Canadian Member Care Network, the Canadian Network of Ministries to Muslims, and Christian Mediation Canada. It is exciting to see these different ministries working together in the spirit of cooperation without competition, says Craig. We are discipling our nation by working together and sharing what God has entrusted us with to build His kingdom from coast to coast.
AFRICA 1. Mozambique 2. Mauritius 3. South Africa 4. Angola 5. Botswana 6. Burkina Faso 7. Burundi 8. Cameroon 9. Cape Verde Islands 10. Central African Republic 11. Congo Democratic Republic 12. Ethiopia 13. Gambia 14. Guinea-Bissau 15. Kenya 16. Lesotho 17. Madagascar 18. Malawi 19. Namibia 20. Nigeria 21. São Tomé/Principe 22. Senegal 23. South Sudan 24. Tanzania 25. Uganda 26. Zambia ASIA 1. China 2. India 3. Indonesia 4. Nepal 5. Philippines 6. Singapore 7. South Korea 8. Taiwan 9. Thailand 10. Cambodia 11. Central Asia 12. Japan 13. Mongolia 14. Myanmar EUROPE 1. Austria 2. Bulgaria 3. Cyprus 4. Germany 5. Greece 6. Italy 7. Portugal 8. Romania 9. Spain 10. United Kingdom 11. Albania 12. Armenia 13. Belgium 14. France 15. Georgia Republic 16. Netherlands 17. Russia 18. Ukraine LATIN AMERICA 1. Argentina 2. Brazil 3. Colombia 4. Guatemala 5. Mexico 6. Peru 7. Bolivia 8. Chile 9. Costa Rica 10. Dominican Republic 11. Ecuador 12. El Salvador 13. Haiti 14. Paraguay 15. Puerto Rico 16. Venezuela NORTH AMERICA 1. Canada 2. United States OC Global Alliance Mobilzation Centers 1 2 5 Guatemala Canada United States Colombia OC Global Alliance Ministries 11 6 7 United Kingdom 10 16 4 13 18 1 8 14 11 2 7 9 6 5 3 10 9 12 13 13 4 15 22 6 9 14 20 16 23 12 3 8 14 1 2 Brazil 17 11 15 12 8 25 11 15 21 10 7 24 18 4 26 1 2 19 5 17 3 16 India 13 1 4 14 2 9 10 Singapore 6 3 7 12 8 5 Taiwan Philippines OC Global Alliance World in Numbers 3,436 Churches Planted 91,503 Decisions for Christ 11 Missionary Kid Schools Served 2,291 Churches Coached Toward Health 245,297 Participants in Leadership Training Ministries 576 Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations
ASIA Thinking Big Starting Small Christian education in East Asia is not something one might think of as being a possibility, much less a reality, but that s exactly what Imagine one team is doing. DISCIPLING a nation, starting with the CHILDREN. 1,861 1,231 9,224 One team member not only operates a Christian preschool/education center for children 3-6 years old, but does education consulting and teacher training with local believers who have started K-12 programs for local students. These programs are for families who have chosen to leave the standard education system with the hopes of not only developing their child s knowledge but their child s faith and character as well. Churches Established Another team member is the vice principal of the English track at a large international K-12 school, serving both local and expatriate students. Through the ability to hire other believing teachers for their program, as well as host youth and Churches Coached Toward Health parenting programs, there are hundreds of kids who have the opportunity to hear about our Creator as well as grow in their Participants in Leadership Training Ministries knowledge of Him. In early 2011, Reverend Batbold, the chairman and general secretary of the Mongolian Evangelical Association (MEA), approached OC with an ambitious proposal. Having seen how OC inspired and coordinated a national discipleship effort in the Philippines, he proposed that we design a research project and train researchers to discover the best ways to achieve the MEA s goals for Mongolia. That fell right into OC s expertise, says Eric Smith, OC Mission Strategist. Over the past 25 years, Christianity has grown in remote, mountainous Mongolia from eight to 80,000 believers. The church is young and galvanized by a vision to reach its nation. The MEA set a goal to see churches multiply from 600 to 3,400 by 2020. In addition, they are praying that also by 2020, one tenth of the population become followers of Jesus. We carry DIFFERENT passports, we serve the SAME Lord. In cooperation with the MEA, OC Global Alliance resource people in the Philippines, Singapore, and the U.S. crafted a plan to research the strength of the church across Mongolia. Together they developed a strategy to mobilize a surge of church planting in unreached areas. This last year Eric and other OC-GA members traveled to Mongolia and provided training for 60 Mongolian researchers. We found out that those 60 researchers were two from every province and district in the capital city, says Eric. These, in turn, trained 120 more who traveled throughout Mongolia gathering information, successfully completing the first phase of the plan ahead of schedule! What a thrill to collaborate like this. 185 Partnership Relationships with Other Organizations
NAME One of the most complex and resistant regions of OC s focus is the NAME (North Africa and Middle East) region. New, post-arab Spring realities have created a deep sense of need. Together with new opportunities for Muslims through the internet and increased globalization, there has been more fruit recorded in the last decade than in any previous period of history! Who but God could accomplish the amazing things we are seeing today? And who but God could put together some of the most strategic and effective teams rising up across the region to accomplish these things? God is putting together incredible combinations of gifted people to accomplish His work. An example is a newly formed NAME Arabic-Speaking Regional team. This team is a strategic partnership with seven countries of origin represented among them. Their team mentor is a pastor from Mauritius. Their widespread influence throughout the region is expressed in: Ministry with BMBs (Believers of Muslim Background) through leadership training and spiritual formation, including women s roles and issues, marriage and family. God Writing and advocacy for the plight of the persecuted religious minority, including presentations to the EU Parliament and is bringing the United Nations. TOGETHER Critical internet and computer security training. Discipleship and church planting among Arabs in Europe. gifted people to ACCOMPLISH The high commitment to collaboration within this team, coupled with the multiple partnerships and alliances they serve in the region, is developing His work. significant synergy that will increase OC s capacity to strengthen the developing vital leadership of the region. Who but God could have thought up all these different influences and combinations to impact the nations? Finances of the U.S. Mobilization Center We share a common passion the discipling of nations. OC is devoted to help the global body of Christ reach the world together. You, with your support, are a vital part of this global partnership. We thank the Lord for godly partners who share our vision. Because OC is a faith ministry, we are totally dependent on the resources God provides to and through His people. Your partnership through prayer and finances will further the worldwide ministry of our missionary family and the discipling of nations. We commend your faithfulness and we commit ourselves anew to the faithful stewardship of any and all resources God entrusts to us. 79% 93% 5% 2% Total Income $13,200,996 14% 5% 2% Total Expenses $13,301,356 Field & Project Donations $12,265,103 Corporate Donations $673,375 Other $262,518 U.S. & Foreign Ministries $10,537,464 Administrative Services for U.S. & Foreign Ministries $1,822,956 Financial Development $653,502 Recruitment $287,434
These are indeed dynamic days in the outworking of the Great Commission. We see the Spirit of God on the move to reach all peoples with His embrace of love, drawing them into the kingdom and bringing transformation to their lives, families, communities, and nations. These are also dynamic times for OC International. In 2013 the Lord graciously allowed us to plant resident teams in four new countries. This year we are projecting to place teams in additional nations, primarily focused on helping the global missionary movement penetrate the remaining unreached people groups of the world. This year also brings transitions in leadership at the U.S. Mobilization Center, as Dr. Dean Carlson is being brought into the role of president of OC International, effective January 1, 2015. We are excited as we move into 2014 with renewed passion. Our vision is to see a healthy church within easy access to every small community, in every place, among every kind of people. We believe that in partnership with the whole body of Christ this goal is attainable. We invite you to pray and partner with us as we press forward in this One Challenge. OUR VISION Healthy churches working together to reach all nations. OUR MISSION To mobilize godly and effective church leaders to reach all nations. OUR STRATEGY Using research, motivation and training, we mobilize church leaders to reach their nations and beyond. Join the global conversation OUR VALUES Team, Family, Servanthood, Partnership, Multiplication, Freedom to Innovate OneChallengeInternational OneChallengeInt OneChallenge.org