The Vision & Restructuring of OMF UK
22/12/2010 2:57 pm
Our Vision
OMF UK is restructuring from 4 January 2011 to enhance our effectiveness in mission to East Asians. Our vision is to put local churches in the UK at the heart of OMF’s mission, refocusing resources on empowering churches to engage in world mission, with special attention on East Asia’s unreached peoples.
The OMF team based in the UK will make a top priority of developing and maintaining relationships with churches, who are the primary senders, individual enquirers and with the supporters of current and new OMF workers in Asia. A team of area mobilisers will be deployed across the UK and Ireland to meet face-to-face with church leaders and supporters.
Restructuring OMF UK
The new structure should allow us to respond more quickly and flexibly to the vision and needs of UK churches towards world mission.
People and resources will be deployed into emerging opportunities in more cost-effective ways. The initial months of these changes will stretch all of us in many ways, so do pray for good relationships and for unity across the whole OMF UK community, with you as supporters as much as among current OMF UK members and staff.
The restructuring also coincides with a period of significant financial challenge for OMF UK. This has led to a number of staff redundancies and changes of roles across our UK team as difficult decisions have been taken to prioritise our efforts and resources toward our vision.
Existing regional offices in Watford, Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow will be closed, as their administrative and coordinating work with candidates and missionaries on home assignment from Asia is transferred to the National Office in Borough Green, Kent. This means a few new roles have been created, as the regional offices’ responsibilities have now been centralised to the National Office..
You can contact our team of Mobilisers and National Office staff here.
We are looking to appoint mobilisers in the East and North of England and Wales.
Caring for Candidates
Louise Barker has been appointed as the new Director for Candidates and Member Care and will lead this centrally coordinated work.
Louise has been a member of the OMF Cambodia team since 1998, and has extensive experience in health and social projects and in urban church planting. Since 2005, she has co-ordinated the orientation and training of OMF workers in Cambodia.
We are grateful to Guido Braschi for serving as Acting Human Resources Director during 2010, pending Louise’s appointment. Guido has now returned to focusing fully on his role, along with Linda, as mobilisers in the Greater London area.
Area ministry teams
Candidates will continue to be interviewed, and missionaries debriefed at a local level. Teams of OMF volunteers who currently form multi-functional Regional Councils will be transformed into Area Ministry Teams, specialising in either candidate screening, pastoral care of missionaries on home assignment, or promotional work. All of this will be undertaken in close partnership with the supporting churches of OMF missionaries.
We also look forward to providing many more opportunities for you, as supporters, to be involved in volunteer ministry. This will grow, as local teams are strengthened and new teams established in areas where OMF has little or no presence.