OMF International (UK) Vision, Mission and Beliefs

Our Name and its History When the Fellowship was founded in 1865 by Dr J. it was called the Inland Mission. Following the withdrawal of members from China in 1951, the China Inland Mission Overseas Fellowship started working in the surrounding countries of .

In 1964 the Fellowship was reconstituted as the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. Then in 1993 it was further renamed OMF International.

In 2014 the Fellowship underwent an organizational change which included the setting up of a new International Leadership and Governance structure. In addition, a Covenantal Agreement between all Centers was established in order to record their commitment to one another and their international governance. This statement of Purpose and Principles (P&P) was also revised as part of this organizational change and all Centers were made organizational members of OMF International (IHQ) Ltd. We therefore separately and collectively exist under the name of OMF, while ‘OMF International’ continues to be our registered name.

Our Vision and Mission Our Vision: Through God's grace we aim to see an indigenous biblical church movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelizing their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.

Our Mission: We share the good news of Jesus Christ in all its fullness with East Asia’s peoples to the glory of God.

Our Beliefs We are an international, cross-cultural, committed to glorify God through sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in all its fullness with East Asia’s peoples. For the sake of clarity and integrity in all our work and relationships, we humbly declare the following fundamental truths of the Christian faith and mission:

1. We believe in the one, holy, sovereign, creating and redeeming God, eternally existing in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 2. We believe in the divine inspiration and entire trustworthiness of the Bible, its infallible teaching and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct; and its normative value for all peoples, at all times, in all cultures. 3. We believe that all people without distinction are made in the image of God, but all are now sinners and have incurred both God's holy wrath and their own shame and guilt. All are therefore in utter need of redemption. 4. We believe in Jesus Christ our Lord, the incarnate Son of God, uniquely God-man and the only Saviour. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, sacrificial death, bodily resurrection and ascension. We believe He has achieved the final defeat of Satan and all evil powers. 5. We believe in the justification of sinners by God's grace, through faith in Christ alone. 6. We believe in the Holy Spirit and His convicting, regenerating, sanctifying and reviving work. He guides and empowers individuals and churches in their service to God and all people. 7. We believe in the unity and priesthood of all believers who together form the one, holy, universal, apostolic church. 8. We believe in the visible, personal return of Jesus Christ in power and great glory to judge both the living and the dead. We believe that the Scriptures set out only two destinies for humanity; the joyful prospect of eternal life in the presence of God for those who have received Christ and the agonizing prospect of eternal separation from God for those who have rejected Him. 9. As an evangelistic mission, in fellowship with local churches in many countries, we are called to be a worshipping, praying and caring fellowship committed to and disciple-making. We rejoice in our partnership with local churches on all continents, and pray that God will make us a humble, vigorous, attractive fellowship, bringing the good news especially to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ.