Seminary Program Launching 15 Feb 2010

13 February 2010

Dear friends and family,

Tomorrow is Valentines Day. And even in Mozambique there are lots of flowers on the streets and lots of pink Valentine gifts being sold up and down the street. It is one of the few foreign holidays that is really remembered here. And I think that is special...just like Susan is special to me after 28 years of marriage.

So much has happened since I last gave an update, so I am sure I will forget some important things, but what is exciting is that on Monday, February 15th, the seminary will launch its first year program with 30 students. The applicants come not only from our own national church "Living Word Evangelical Church" but from 14 other recognized churches in Mozambique. This will give a great mix of students. Ages range from 21 (minimum required) to 65.

Of course we have had Bible teaching going on since 2001, but only on a part-time basis. Now, these will be all-day students and this is a big change. We are so privileged to have Pastor Don Hulsey as our new seminary director and he has been working closely with our Dean of Students, Daniel Maduel and Xavier Massingue, our Registrar. Between the three of them they will share the teaching load for this first year.

We covet your prayers as we step out in faith to begin the program knowing we don't have the necessary scholarships and sponsorships to even run the program more than a few months, but God knows all this. I have been working hard on a funding letter which is now at OMS USA for editing, and once that is approved, we will be able to mail out to our supporters and interested friends and churches who have a special interest in seminary students knowing that it will be helping our graduates who will soon be pastoring, training and equipping the growing national church in Mozambique for the Gospel.

At CAM school, we are well into our second semester now and in January we added three new students bringing us to a record number of 61 students from 19 different countries. The challenge is that they are Portuguese first-language students and all are needing special tutoring to learn English to integrate into their classes.

We also are enjoying the return of Dr. Claude and Marilynn Meyers (former CAM director/founders from 1996-2006.) The Meyers are with us for five weeks and are helping out with tutoring, swimming and a drama to be performed in early March. The Meyers are staying with us making our home full.

CAM also is benefiting from a security upgrade grant from the US Embassy. Over the past two years many improvements have been made around CAM school and we had about used up the money we received, but about six months ago the plan to add a generator to run the school when power cuts happen was contemplated and submitted for approval. It was finally granted in late November and an extension received to install the generator by the end of February 2010. Well, the generator is resting at CAM and just needs it to be wired to the building. This will be such a huge blessing so that school can run as usual even if the power goes out. Computers and air-conditioners will continue to run and that is important on these very hot days.

Another exciting thing that happened over Christmas. We met a young man from the US who distributes solar-powered hand-held electronic Bibles. He has the ability to put eight Mozambican languages on the units. Well, we have a guard at our home who can't read and I was able to buy an electronic Bible in Portuguese and his HEART language. You should have seen his face when I turned it on for the first time and he heard the Gospels in his own language. He faithfully listens to it and others are asking if they can get one. Looks like I might need to raise some funds for this new need.

Lastly, for the past seven years we have been sharing a small water tank (750 liters) at our home with a home behind us. Almost every day when we would return home from CAM the tank would be empty and we would have no water until the following morning when the local water supply would start to fill up the tank again. Last November a supporting church informed us of some money we could use for a project. We shared the difficulties we had with our water system, and it was agreed. We added a second tank (one tank for each home) new water pumps, new piping and finished cement work around the tanks. Now we are enjoying water every day and that has just made life a bit easier for us. PTL!!!

God Bless,

Larry & Susan

6 February 2010

Dear friends and family,

These are exciting days in the world of OMS. After much prayer and discussion, some of which I had the privilege to be a part of last June 2009 at Missionary Council in the USA, this past month OMS officially changed its name to One Mission Society. Below is the text version of the offical announcement made by OMS president, David Long.

It is wonderful to see that the vision of our founders over 100 years ago is still that same vision today of reaching the world for Jesus.

In Him, who matters most,

Larry & Susan Weil

One Mission Society, Mozambique

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FROM David Long, OMS President:

Dear Friend of OMS,

We have some exciting news to share:

OMS International becomes One Mission Society

One Lord. One Life. One Calling.

Today, we launch a new name, tagline, logo and mission statement. These changes were designed to help One Mission Society better communicate what we have stood for since our inception in 1901 as The Oriental Missionary Society.

But it is important to note, One Mission Society’s sole reason for existence as a mission organization remains steadfast―to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world and to see God glorified in all that we say and do. This is the command of the Great Commission. This is our “One Mission.”

God has blessed OMS by using us as a tool in His hands for more than 100 years. Today, One Mission Society is seeing, on average, one person come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ every two minutes. In recent years, thousands of new churches have been planted and tens of thousands of people are actively participating in discipleship programs.

These are historic times to be involved in missions. As never before in the history of the Church, One Mission Society is poised to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Make no mistake: the task is huge. OMS recognizes that we are only a small part of the body of Christ and that we join with many other individuals, churches and like-minded Great Commission organizations called and equipped together for One Mission, God’s mission. This is the unity in mission to which all Christians are called in Ephesians 4 by our one God and Father of all.

One Mission Society currently works in 50 countries. We were founded on the principle that the most effective way to share Christ is by training a nation’s people to lead and multiply their churches. That principle still fully applies today and is the basis of our dynamic four-fold focus: intentional evangelism, church planting, training leaders and strategic partnerships.

OMS currently has six international offices from which missionaries are recruited and sent out: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Today, One Mission Society has 430 missionaries and is a member in good standing with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

Here is One Mission Society’s new mission statement: By God’s grace, One Mission Society unites, inspires and equips Christians to make disciples of Jesus Christ, multiplying dynamic communities of believers around the world.

David Long

President, One Mission Society