An unofficial tour of OM USA
Tyrone, GA, est. 1911

Welcome to Operation Mobilization’s USA office. Our office is just one part of the larger OM world that works in 110 countries. So let’s go have a look, and meet some of the people that work in our office and see what they’re involved in.

Welcome to OM.

OM USA President, Rick Hicks
My name is Rick Hicks, I’m the president of Operation Mobilization in the U.S., and that’s a distinction between OM internationally. We see ourselves as servants to the OM world, and ultimately what we want to do is present the gospel to everyone that we can. So we do that in 110 countries, we do it with ships, we do it through literature, there are a lot of different ways that we do it. But every country we work in, the ultimate goal is to make sure that we can present the gospel.

You know, OM has a unique culture internationally, and if you were to go from one country to another, the ministry might be radically different, but the culture seems to be the same. That is, really a positive, kind of a can-do attitude. We really feel that our number one resource is the prayer support that we have. And we’re a pretty informal group, that doesn’t mean that we’re not intense, but we kind of go in, we blend in with the culture, we learn the language. One of the highlights of going around and seeing different OM teams around the world, is that they all seem to fit, they seem to be a part of community, they seem to base their ministry on a relational approach, and again, the ministry itself can be different, but how we look at people, how we contact people, that seems to be the thread of our culture. It’s really pretty exciting.

OM USA Campus Tour
Here at OM USA, we are situated on some beautiful property. We have our main office building here, down the hill we have our garage where we maintain our fleet of vehicles that we use to get around town and visit churches. Just over here we have a small subdivision, we even have a guest house for visiting guests and missionaries that are passing through. Fun stuff: We even have a horse pasture with two horses, and then behind the building we have two small lakes where we can even do some canoeing and fishing.

Here we have the OM USA office. We are organized into four main areas, Pray, Give, Go, and Grow. Here on the east side of the building we have our Go Team, which is the largest team here at OM USA, which is the placement team, which matches individuals and groups with the different fields overseas. All of our mobilization department, working with college students and churches and individuals. Anything to get people overseas.

Down here we have our Give Department. On this side of the office we have our Development team. So these are people that spend their time raising funds for ministry. We have a lot of projects around the world, and they all need money, of course: Bible distribution, aid projects, schools, elementary schools. A lot of things that we’re doing around the world, and so here’s the team that basically is trying to raise money from foundations, churches, individuals, to all equip the different ministry that happens around the world.

We have our Grow Department. In this part of the building, we have our personnel manager, we have member care, which is part of the Grow Team, and they do a lot of the training, and take care of our missionaries overseas, as well as a lot of the finances, and gift entry, and working with support checks that come in.

And of course, Prayer is everywhere.

This here is our little book shop. Another value, or ethos, of OM is we’re very literature oriented. We value the power of books, because that’s something you can leave behind; you can come and tell them about Jesus, but if you leave them a book, they can continue to read it.

Here at OM USA, this is just a small sample of some of the books that we give out to churches, we sell, we promote, send to people to help equip them. Of course, on our ships we have about half a million books on both ships that we distribute and sell around the world as well as many different literature teams around the world that use books as a way to spread the gospel.

This is our worship center. We meet in here on Tuesdays and Thursdays as a group to pray for the world and pray for the work that is going around the world. Other groups use this as well--churches come and use it, wedding receptions, etc.

Also here at OM USA, we have a whole department that works with OM Arts. We have some ministries called ArtsLink, DanceLink, Heart Sounds International, there’s Bill Drake and his band that run the Crowns experience and concerts, and this is kind of where they camp out.

My name’s Linda Wells, I lead the ministry called DanceLink. Dance hasn’t been a very typical ministry in the past in missions, but God is really raising up the artists all over the world. And now we have teams of dancers that go out all over the world. I’m just so grateful to OM for releasing the artists now, globally.

My name is Frank Fortunado, I work here at Operation Mobilization. I’m the international music coordinator for OM, but the actual ministry that I have is called Heart Sounds International. We do worship projects and recordings.

OM Distinctives
Best part about OM. There are two really best parts. One is, a lot of prayer, very big emphasis on that. The second is, very international.

The number one thing would be, we are not American.

It’s international.

I would think you’d probably find that we’re probably the most international.

We are sending people from 95 countries, and working in 110 countries.

It’s not just a bunch of Americans going to all the world, it’s people from all the world going to all the world.

And we’re about 16 percent from North America.

Every team you’re on is automatically cross-cultural.

OM is filled with lots of young people that enjoy doing different kinds of things and have lots of different ideas.

We are able to take people that maybe don’t fit into other organizations well.

So we get to see 18-year-olds go out, and our 60-year-olds go out--whether it’s the ships, or Europe or Asia, or South America--all over the place.

God uses ordinary people to partner with Him in what He’s doing.

Particular role that I play is not unlike the one that I did in secular business world for 26 years, but I think the difference is the motive. And the motive here, obviously, is building the kingdom, sharing the gospel. Whereas I spent the other 26 years working for the profit motive, which is not nearly as rewarding.

You’re going to grow if you’re working with Operation Mobilization. There’s an opportunity to grow, and there’s a variety of experiences that you can have.

There’s also people who I want to be like, in this organization. That’s a great test, I think for anybody. Are there people you want to be like? And for me, that speaks my language.

That prayer is really such an essential part of everything that we do. And just trusting God with our finances, with living simply.

Prayer is a very important part of life, and that really attracts me to, don’t rely on yourself, but rely on God in everything you do.

Getting Started With OM USA
If you’re considering missions, you don’t need to know a lot to give us a call. If that’s something that is on your heart to do, please just give us a call, and consider applying. The application process is really just a chance for us to get to know you, and you to verbalize and put down on paper some of the things that God is already doing in your heart. And then we would be able to, in a way, start the dialogue, and begin talking with you. Let’s just start the conversation.

If you’re considering getting involved in missions internationally, I would encourage you to consider OM, to talk to our people. Because I think one of the strengths that we have, is that we can look at individuals, and we can look at groups of people as well, and we can find out what their passion is, what their call is, and because we work in so many countries, and because we have so many different kinds of ministry, we think we have a place where you can fit in, and we can spend time with you, talk with you personally, email back and forth, and we can find that fit, and we can get you there pretty quick, and get you involved. So give us a look! I think it really might work out.

Credits:
Produced by Mission Data International
Tour Guide: Erik Henrickson
Video Editor: Kyle McCarthy
Cameraman: Peter Armstrong
Music
*Revelation (Instrumental)*
Music and production by Mark Hewer

Special thanks to Rick Hicks, Andrew Scott and the OM USA staff

No horses were harmed in the making of this tour.

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2008 Mission Data International
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