Holding Your Ropes
OMS USA Board Member Rediscovers OMS
Matt and I joined the OMS (now One Mission Society) family in 2005 a few months before we married, went to Cross Training at HQ in 2006, went to language school in Quebec in January 2007, and moved to Haiti to serve with OMS’ Emmaus Biblical Seminary (now Emmaus University) in August of ‘07.
We served with Emmaus as OMS missionaries our whole 13 years in Haiti, and when we moved suddenly to Mississippi in 2020, we decided not to cut ties with OMS … the Lord’s never removed our missions’ hearts! If you ever hear us talk about Mississippi (or wherever we are), it’s as “the mission field where the Lord has us,” a mentality working with OMS has fostered and embedded.
So, it was really meaningful for me to spend the last two days (Jan. 27-28, 2022) at OMS headquarters as part of the OMS USA Board, first time at HQ since ’06! I did NOT enjoy the weather (cold and snowy), and I missed my sweet kiddos.
But, in all the years and all the changes, all the ‘just right’ and all the ‘just broken,’ I found the same thing to be true as always before …
OMS is made up of faithful men and women, following in a long heritage-line of faithful men and women, who love the Lord at all costs and in all places, in all situations, with very little glory and glamour, with great challenges and sacrifice, and with perseverant prayers (think decades as OMS is 120 years old).
Our churches, our families, our small groups and ministries and organizations are NOT perfect, nor made up of perfect people. But we can still be faithful and steady people, for we serve THE faithful and steady God.
I’m encouraged—even in these hard days of hard mission fields—by having been with men and women who are genuinely seeking God’s heart and taking on the beautiful and painful obsession they find within … those living far from Him.
Let’s BE those faithful people, even when we’re sure they aren’t out there (they are), even when we fail or are failed, even when our own ways get in the way.
If you’re one of them—and the Lord’s placed a burn in your heart for not only those around you, but also for those far from home—I’ve got a whole team of OMS people ready to help you be faithful to that calling. Message me … I will hook you up and hold your ropes!
Stacey Ayars is a special assignment OMS missionary and OMS USA Board member. The Ayars family served for 13 years in Haiti.