OMF International explained

OMF International
Formation:1865 June 25
Type:Evangelical Missions Agency
Founded Date:25 June 1865
Formerly:China Inland Mission
Founder:Hudson Taylor
Location:East Asia
Origins:China Inland Mission (till 1964)
Key People:Hudson Taylor, DE Hoste, JO Fraser, A.J. Broomhall, Patrick Fung, Cambridge Seven,
Area Served:East Asia & East Asians globally
Focus:Unreached People Groups, discipleship, church planting
Headquarters:Shanghai (formerly) Singapore (1950s-Present)
Homepage:http://omf.org

OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It was founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.

Overview

The non-sectarian China Inland Mission was founded on principles of faith and prayer founded by James Hudson Taylor in 1865. From the beginning it recruited missionaries from the working class as well as single women. The original goal of the mission that began dedicated to China has grown to include bringing the Gospel to East Asia. Following the departure of all foreign workers in the early 1950s, the China Inland Mission redirected its missionaries to other parts of East Asia. The name was changed to the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1964, and then to the current name in the 1990s.[1]

History

Missiological Distinctives of the CIM


Origins

Hudson Taylor made the first decision to found the China Inland Mission at Brighton, England during his first furlough from China. Like his missionary forebear Karl Gützlaff and contemporary William Chalmers Burns, Taylor was convinced that Chinese clothing should be worn when engaged in missionary work in inland China. On 3 October 1865, Taylor sent John and Anne Stevenson and George Stott to China, where they arrived on February 6, 1866. Including the five missionaries previously sent to Ningbo -James Joseph Meadows, Jean Notman, Stephen Paul Barchet, and George and Anne Crombie, these eight were already in China when Taylor returned in 1866. On 26 May of that year, Taylor accompanied the largest group of missionaries that had ever sailed to China on the Lammermuir. There were 16 missionaries as well as Hudson, his wife, Maria and their 4 children that became known as the Lammermuir Party. This journey took 4 months.

Inland pioneering

In 1872, the China Inland Mission's London council was formed. In 1875, it began to evangelise China systematically. Taylor requested 18 missionaries from God for the nine provinces which were still unreached. In 1881, he requested a further 70 missionaries, and, in 1886, 100 missionaries. In 1887 "The Hundred missionaries" were sent to China. Taylor travelled across several continents to recruit for the China Inland Mission. By the end of the nineteenth century, the CIM was well known around the world. Richard Lovett wrote about the practices of the missionaries in 1899. He noted that they were humble and not from the upper classes and they were having good success because they were willing to "rough it".[2] That year Henrietta Soltau set up a training home for women missionaries in North London. She was secretary of the ladies' council of the CIM and hundreds were trained there.[3]

Boxer Crisis of 1900

In 1900, attacks took place across China in connection with the Boxer Rebellion which targeted Christians and foreigners. The China Inland Mission lost more members than any other agency: 58 adults and 21 children were killed. However, in 1901, when the allied nations were demanding compensation from the Chinese government, Hudson Taylor refused to accept payment for loss of property or life in order to demonstrate the meekness of Christ to the Chinese. In the same year, Dixon Edward Hoste was appointed to the directorship of the mission.

Growth amid war and revolution

The early 1900s saw great expansion of missionary activity in China following the Boxer Rebellion, during the Revolution of 1912 and the establishment of the Chinese Republic. William Whiting Borden, wealthy heir of the Borden, Inc. family, who graduated from Yale University in 1909, left behind a comfortable life in America to respond to the call for workers with the Muslims of northwest China. He died in Egypt while still in training.

A musician and an engineer named James O. Fraser was the first to bring the Gospel message to the Lisu tribes of Yunnan in southwest China. This resulted in phenomenal church growth among the various tribes in the area that has endured to the 21st century.

The Warlord period brought widespread lawlessness to China and missionary work was often dangerous or deadly. John and Betty Stam were a young couple who were murdered in 1934 by Communist soldiers. Their biography, "The Triumph of John and Betty Stam", inspired a generation of missionaries to follow in the same steps of service despite the trials of war and persecution that raged in China in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Japanese invasion further complicated efforts as the Japanese distrusted anyone with British or American nationalities. When the Japanese invaded China in Second Sino-Japanese War, the China Inland Mission moved its headquarters upstream the Yangzi River to Chongqing. Many missionaries were put into concentration camps, such as Weifang, which lasted until the end of the war. The entire Chefoo School run by the mission at Yantai was imprisoned at a concentration camp. As the children and teachers were marched off they sang:

Despite the hardships, the number of Christians in China increased from 100,000 in early 1900s to 700,000 by 1950. The Chinese church was beginning to develop into an indigenous movement, with the assistance from key leaders such as John Sung, Wang Ming-Dao, Watchman Nee and Andrew Gih.

From CIM to OMF

Phyllis Thompson wrote that between 1949 and 1952 in the immediate aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution, there was a "reluctant exodus" of all of the members of the China Inland Mission.[4] The leaders met at Bournemouth, England to discuss the situation and the decision was made to redeploy all of the missionaries into the rest of East Asia. Headquarters were moved to Singapore, and work commenced in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia. In addition to reducing some languages to written form, the Bible was translated, and basic theological education was given to neglected tribal groups. The publication and distribution of Christian literature were prioritized among both the rural tribes people and the urban working classes and students. The goal remained for every community to have a church in East Asia and thereby the Gospel would be preached "to every creature". The proclamation of the Christian message also included medical work. Three hospitals were opened in rural Thailand as well as a leprosy control programme. Many of the patients were refugees. In the Philippines, community development programs were launched. Alcoholic rehabilitation began in Japan, and rehabilitation work among prostitutes was begun in Taipei and Bangkok.

In 1980, Hudson Taylor's great grandson James Hudson Taylor III was appointed General Director for the mission work. According to Taylor in 1989,

Dr. Patrick Fung, a Chinese Christian appointed in 2006, is the first Asian to lead the mission. The work continues to the present day.

The old London headquarters building

The original headquarter was located at Newington Green in North London. By the late 19th century, when the CIM building was commissioned, what was once a rural village had long been subsumed into the metropolis. Newington Green had grown up around a core of English Dissenters and their famous academies. The CIM headquarters sits between two other listed buildings on the green, Newington Green Unitarian Church (1708), and the oldest brick terrace in London, 52-55 the Green, where the notable minister Richard Price lived.

The building was refurbished by Haworth Tompkins.[5] Now known as Alliance House, it is run by Sanctuary Students as accommodation for City University.[6]

Chronology

1860s

1870s

1880s

1890s

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

List of General Directors of CIM & OMF International

!Name!Information!Years in office
James Hudson TaylorMarried to Maria (née Dyer, d. 1870), Jennie (née Faulding)1865-1902
Dixon Edward HosteMarried to Gertrude (née Broomhall)1902-1935
George W. GibbMarried to Margaret (née Emslie, d. 1936), E. G. (née Kendon)1935-1940
Frank HoughtonMarried to Dorothy (née Cassels)1940-1951
The DirectorateDuring these transition years, the Mission was led by the Directorate made up of the following directors of the Mission: Arnold J. Lea (Overseas Director), J. Oswald Sanders (Home Director for Australia and New Zealand) Rowland J. R. Butler (Assistant Overseas Director), Ford L. Canfield (Assistant Overseas Director), H. M. Griffin (Home Director for North America), and Fred Mitchell (Home Director for Great Britain).1951-1954
John Oswald (J.O) SandersMarried to Edith (née Dobson, d. 1966), Mary (née Miller)1954-1969
Michael C. GriffithsMarried to Valerie1969-1981
James Hudson Taylor IIIMarried to Leone. Taylor was the great grandson of Hudson Taylor1981-1991
David PickardMarried to Sue1991-2001
David HarleyMarried to Rosemary2001-2006
Patrick FungMarried to Jennie2006–present

See also

Archives

The papers of the China Inland Mission are held by SOAS Archives, the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/215.htm, the OMF International Center in Singapore https://omf.org/about-omf/mission-research/archives/, the Hong Kong Baptist University, and several regional offices.

Selected publications

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About OMF International. OMF International. 9 March 2015.
  2. Lovett (1899), 74
  3. Soltau, Henrietta Eliza (1843–1934), evangelist and promoter of missionary work. 2020-08-09. 2004. en. 10.1093/ref:odnb/47063.
  4. China: The Reluctant Exodus, by Phyllis. Thompson, Sevenoaks [England], Hodder and Stoughton, 1979.
  5. Web site: Newington Green. Haworth Tompkins. 27 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20171112214154/http://www.haworthtompkins.com/built/proj19/index.html. 12 November 2017. dead.
  6. Web site: Alliance House. Sanctuary Students. 27 November 2016. 2016-09-15.
  7. News: Re-occupation of the Field, June 1929, Page 86. China's Millions. China Inland Mission.
  8. News: Editorial Notes, China's Millions, 1929, Page 79.. China's Millions. China Inland Mission.
  9. News: Article by W.H.Aldis ' The completion of the 200'. China's Millions Jan 1932, Page 3. China's Millions. China Inland Mission.