By Kayla Lutes, Features Editor
One Mission Society (OMS) on Asbury’s campus is a place of prayer, home and intentionality. In the big picture, OMS is a mission organization that was founded in 1901 and is located in over 70 countries worldwide.
Senior Josh Williamson serves as the director of Asbury’s OMS Student Center. “They’re basically a church planting and evangelistic society,” he said. “The goal is to start a church and train national leaders to become pastors. Eventually, the goal is to pull out our missionaries and leave an indigenous national church that runs on its own.”
On Asbury’s campus, Williamson described OMS as a “connection point.” He said, “Our main focus is mobilization. Whatever capacity a student feels that they’d like to get involved in missions, we facilitate that.”
The OMS Student Fellowship meets weekly on Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m. These weekly meetings are how freshman Kaitlyn Taylor got involved with OMS. She said, “I went to the tour they did of all the mission places with my tag group. They [OMS] told us about their small group on Tuesday night, so I went to try it and kept going because it’s awesome.”
Taylor also takes advantage of the comforts OMS offers. “They let you use the kitchen any time, which is helpful for a broke college student like me who can’t afford a nice skillet,” she said.
OMS is also a place to learn about missions. Junior Caitlin Conyers got involved with OMS by attending different talks by missionaries. She mentioned a missionary to a country near Egypt who came and spoke at the Center as a highlight of her time at OMS. “She talked about how the people were so friendly that they would just invite her into their homes all the time even if they had just met her,” Conyers said. “She also said that many of her friends were Muslim and she got to learn with them.”
Conyers values the opportunity that OMS offers to learn from missionaries who have spent time on the mission field. “I met and talked with missionaries who served all over the world and have learned a lot about different cultures,” she said.
Aside from these events, OMS offers times of intentional prayer. Senior Daniel Kozar cited routine bonfires that turn into “prayer concerts” as one of his favorite things about OMS. “For a concert of prayer, we take time to intentionally pray over each continent, whatever needs are pressing in each region and for specific missionaries in those nations,” he said.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]They let you use the kitchen any time, which is helpful for a broke college student like me who can’t afford a nice skillet.[/perfectpullquote]
In terms of larger events, OMS takes students on a prayer retreat weekend called One Weekend in the spring. The event takes place at OMS’s headquarters and is a time to prayerfully seek God’s call to missions. “It’s not a recruiting trip,” Williamson said. “It’s more of a prayer retreat.”
This year OMS is taking a team on a mission trip to Columbia for a short-term trip over spring break. Anyone who is interested in the trip will need to sign up by Nov. 8.
OMS is a place for those who want to be involved with God’s work in the world and for “listeners.” “[OMS is for] someone that is listening for what God is calling them to do,” Williamson said.
Ultimately, OMS is open to anyone with even a slight interest in missions, even if they just have questions. “We’re here. We’re available,” Williamson said. “If a student has any questions about missions we are always here to answer them.”
If you would like to get involved with OMS, contact Josh Williamson at oms@asbury.edu or visit the Center from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
