Equipped to go: the top 5 things OSCAR thinks every missionary should know about

OSCAR is the premier online information portal for missionaries. We spoke to its founder - Mike Frith - about the top 5 resources every missionary should know about.

1. Where to find the Right Opportunity - Some of the first questions anyone has when called to mission work are ‘Where should I go?’, ‘What shall I do?’ and ‘Who with?’. OSCAR lists opportunities from a huge range of mission and overseas Christian organisations ... in fact we list more opportunities in most categories than any other Christian website in the UK. We also link to others who also advertise Christian opportunities, which makes OSCAR a good place to start. See www.oscar.org.uk/vacancies
2. Where to find the Best Deals – There’s a lot of expenditure even before a missionary gets to the field; like flights, shipping, equipment, medicines etc. Then during home leave or holidays, more finance is needed for renting a house, a car or taking a holiday. For all of these, there are specialist services who can provide you with a good deal, often discounted and tailored to what you want rather than what someone wants to sell you. OSCAR lists many services throughout its website which fall into this category. Just search for what you need.
3. Where to find People Who Understand – One of the problems in a missionary’s line of work is getting specialised advice and support from people who really understand their situation.  From the practical to the spiritual, OSCAR lists many services offering specialist and expert help in areas likely to come up in the life of a missionary.  This would include general financial advice, tax, insurance, medical treatment, childrens’ education, counselling etc.  As with the first point, just search the OSCAR site for what you need. OSCAR also has an interactive online community of around 400 Christian workers (OSCARactive), so there’s always someone in a similar situation who can offer peer-to-peer advice or share experiences.
4. How to get your Church Onboard – There are some good resources to help you with raising personal support. Stewardship provides some great help in this area, including the ‘Funding the Family Business’ course. But what about getting your church onboard? ‘Serving as Senders’ is the title of a key book which helps churches grasp their responsibilities and opportunities for being involved in the life and ministry of the people they send. There is also a day course based on the book which can be conducted right in your supporting church to help get everyone on board. See www.oscar.org.uk/training
5. Help with Re-entry & Retirement – Re-entry is an important time. It’s also a time when missionaries can feel the least supported. When you return from overseas or retire from mission work, OSCAR continues to help you when others might think you don’t need it. We list services which can help you find a car, buy a house, find a church, link up with other returned missionaries ... you name it. We also have info about courses, retreats and services which can offer advice during this important time. Again, just search OSCAR for what you need or email us and we’ll help you find it.

You can email Mike at info@oscar.org.uk for more info on any of the topics above.

3 mission minutes with...Chris and Dil

Chris and Dil Tapp are relative newcomers to Stewardship so we wanted to find out a bit about their work at the Living Waters Village on the island of Borneo and how early mornings and electrics are the order of the day.  Chris spoke to us about their involvement with the project:

Tell us a bit about Living Waters

I first visited Living Waters Village in West Kalimantan with my son and his wife in 2006, and kept going back for more - October 2011 was my 12^th visit.

The project is the outworking of Ronny Heyboer’s vision, received in 2002 to build a village to accommodate 1000 underprivileged, neglected or orphaned children from the jungle of West Kalimantan, Borneo, and to school a further 1000.  Today about 450 children live there, and nearly 50 buildings are completed so far, including a primary school, children’s homes, dormitories, clinic, workshop, bakery and The Training Centre (where children first stay to learn basic living and social skills).

Why did you keep going back?

It is wonderful being with these youngsters, (aged 5 – 25, but appearing much younger in looks and demeanour) and seeing God transform their lives.  There are now some older ones too who are marrying and starting their own families.  Their background is mainly animistic (worshipping the trees, sun, moon, river etc.) and they often arrive very malnourished and sick carrying with them additional influences such as witchdoctors, alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.  There are many testimonies of God’s deliverance and healing.

What sort of work were you involved in?

Initially my main work was wiring up buildings and maintaining the IT infrastructure.  I have also been privileged to preach and teach in the worship meetings as well as encouraging the young people in their own walk with the Lord, individually and in groups.

Last year your wife joined you on one of the trips, tell us about that.

Yes, in March 2011 my wife, Dil, accompanied me for the first time.  We had a very demanding journey. It takes 2 – 3 days to get there – the final part of the journey being a 14 hour drive crossing the equator, along potholes joined by road!  We were there a week before moving to an Asrama (Children’s Home) for 10 days.  Our task was to look after 32 children (boys and girls) with two Indonesian leaders while the usual house parents were away renewing visas.  The days started with a 5.30am prayer meeting (yes, 5.30 in the morning!) then breakfast, school, lunch, evening meal and meeting or homework, all interspersed with household chores such as washing and cleaning.  Dil was involved with the household stuff and I continued with the electrical and data work.

 Have you learnt anything from being part of this project?

Over the past 5 years I have been training a group of lads (15-19yrs old) in electrical work; they can now wire up basic buildings with minimal supervision.  They, in return, have taught me about the simplicity of their lives and I have seen how far our western lives deviate from God’s original intentions.

What’s next for you both?

We are currently seeking the Lord about our own future involvement with the work out there.

If you'd like to support Chris and Dil, you can find them using account number 2012 1038.

3 mission minutes with... Petra

To kick off our first '3 mission minutes with...' series, we spoke to Petra Wainwright from El Refugio Ministries in Colombia about the challenges and joys of working with underprivileged children, being held at gunpoint, and South American chocolate:

When did you first join El Refugio ministries?

I came to Cartagena in Colombia after several years working in other countries on a more short-term basis training and language learning. All that preparation led me here in January 2010. El Refugio is a children’s project in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Cartagena in Colombia.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start?

I was very blessed in the way God led me into full-time mission through various short term missions: each one gradually lasting for longer and in different cultures which meant I had a gradual introduction into life as a missionary. So I can’t really remember ‘starting’ as such. But I would thoroughly recommend anyone thinking of life as a full-time missionary to spend time on short-term mission at first, if possible in a similar locations to that which you feel called to long-term.

What’s the most inspiring story to come out of the ministry so far?

It is hard to think of an inspiring story, working with children from a community with so many social, economic and cultural issues such as we do at El Refugio. During my 2 years or so here we have had some children and families who have made small breakthroughs and they to us are big! Kener is one young boy whom I call to mind: he is in the middle of a family of 8 siblings, mostly boys, the older ones all left school early with no encouragement to study from the family. Kener has many behavioural problems which caused him to fall behind at school and he was expelled without being able to read and write. Last September we had a teacher working with us who was able to take a small group of children who were not at school and teach them the basics of literacy; Kener was one of this group. After a tough beginning, all of the kids got used to a class environment and with lots of encouragement and creativity in the teaching we saw Kener start to make rapid progress in his studies and to show a lot of intelligence. After time, encouraged by his own achievement he also began to improve in his behaviour, even telling the others to behave as he wanted to study. Unfortunately though, he has begun to slip away with the pressure of his elder brothers to join in their life of crime.

Assuming you already have a bible, what’s the one thing you couldn’t do without while in Colombia?

My laptop. I was unfortunate enough to have my laptop stolen at gun-point at the beginning of the year but thankfully God provided a new one brought over from England in May by my Mum. However, during the months I was without one I realised how important it is, not just for work purposes, but also for social needs: watching DVDs, communicating with friends and family and even being able to attend my home church through their live streaming. I have also been blessed with a near constant supply of Cadbury’s chocolate which is also a definite need! Latin chocolate just isn’t as good!!

What’s the largest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Personally the largest challenge was the armed robbery: having a gun pointed at you is not something you overcome easily. However God was faithful and through the experience He was able to bring about a resolution to my biggest ministry challenge which was with our youth. As I have mentioned, this community put a lot of pressure on their children to drop out of school, become involved in sexual promiscuity, drinking, drugs and gangs. So starting our first youth group was a challenge because these young people are very much at the edge of the temptation to follow that path. Also, youth in any culture can be very difficult to please. I found myself in a position where the youth didn’t respect me or my authority; they would laugh at me and misbehave or have a bad attitude. The robbery took place during a youth group meeting in front of all of them, and since then they have all changed their attitude and now have a lot of respect for me.

How have you found the experience of raising your own support?

Raising support was very difficult for me in the beginning, issues such as my British reserve coupled with the fear that others will react negatively, expecting that you should get a paid job and not ’live on handouts’. Also while I was training it was hard for people to see the purpose in what I was doing. Since actually being in ministry it has become easier to raise support and when I came to Colombia in 2010 for the first time I had enough support to pay my basic needs. After going back to the UK for Christmas 2010 armed with videos and stories, I was able to increase my support to a level where I am now comfortable.

What’s your favourite part of Latino culture?

I love the openness of the people here, despite their problems the people I work with are so open and friendly and they accept me for me. The same goes for the team I work with who are mostly Colombian. I also love the liveliness and colour of the culture with the music and dancing.

If people want to support you, how can they do that?

People can support me through my Stewardship Account. (a/c number 2009 0351)

Where do you see the ministry being in 5 years?

It is my vision to expand the current ministry to work with girls who have become involved in sexual exploitation. It is estimated that there are 2000 underage girls being used in prostitution, mostly sex tourism, in the city of Cartagena.

Thank you for taking the time to speak to us! Any final thoughts?

I have a very good friend and supporter who supports not only me but another missionary. He has often said that when he hears missionary stories he feels like he should also be on the field doing something, but doesn’t really have a call to mission. It is something I believe God puts in the hearts of all his people, to “go into all the nations” however, it is my belief that he calls some people to “go” and some people to “enable”. Someone once said it is like the bees and flowers: the bees travel around spreading the pollen, but if there weren’t any flowers to pollenate what would the bees do? My friend is a flower that gives in order that I and others can fly around spreading God's love. The mission supporter is a very important person in the life of a missionary and is often undervalued. I have 16 very special people who give me a little of their income each month so I can fulfil my calling and I hope I never undervalue or dishonour them in any way. I know many missionaries, especially Latinos who work with me here, who are not so fortunate. More Christians at home need to realise that this is a very valuable and much needed way of fulfilling God’s great commission.

Follow Petra's story on Twitter: @Petrat76

El Refugio Website (Spanish)