Facility Update – 5/25/2010
The new OWM facility is shaping up quite well! All the work and design from so many various people is starting to pay off, and  the results are starting to look great! There’s still a lot of work to do – a LOT – but step by step, little by little, it’s all coming together!
God has provided OneWay Ministries with an awesome move-in ready 7,000 square foot building for a new facility. This is a great gift from God, and will be used greatly! During the the month of May we’ll be doing work on the new building that will outfit it to serve the needs of the ministry in the days and, Lord willing, years ahead.
We’ve had various people – singles, families, and couples- from all sorts of different backgrounds working together doing things like painting, ripping up old carpet, moving furniture, etc. or babysitting the small kids while their parents work.
It’s been great to see young and old alike working alongside each other doing whatever it takes to get this building ready for the use of OWM.
If you are in the area and would like to help in any way, please email katie@owm.org . We are open to help from individuals, families or small groups. We trust it will be a great way for many of us to serve locally and reach globally!
Just a few months ago, One Way Ministries was not on my radar. I was finishing up my final semester of college, and searching for direction in the next stage of life. God was working, however, and through a conversation with a One Way team member, Alli Crawford, I made contact with OWM, and was invited to begin as an intern in early January.
My typical morning at One Way begins with a devotional and prayer time with the team, and finishes with sharing a meal together around the Thompson kitchen table. I am involved in a variety of different areas, including helping with communications projects, collecting photos for the Prayercast website, and taking on various administrative tasks.
As a new member of the One Way team, I have witnessed the dedication of every member both to the ministry, and to each other. The desire to encourage, and build one another up in faith, is evident and nurtures my faith.
Aside from morning devotions, the frequent brief moments of prayer throughout the day—prayer for each other, for the ministry, and for God’s direction in every decision that is made—is a clear sign to me that God, and not ministry logistics, is our focus.
I feel privileged to be a part of a group of such faithful followers of Christ, and I am excited to see how God will work through One Way Ministries in the coming months.
We are so glad this month to welcome Charis Bastian, a recent college graduate, who has begun an internship with us. She has a sweet, servant spirit and has already rolled up her sleeves and proved to be very helpful in various administration and Prayercast.com projects.
Thank You, Lord, for raising up another harvest worker. Please bless Charis’ time with OneWay. Use it to show her how You have gifted her and how You want to use her in Your Kingdom going forward.
by Katie Willemsen
The week OneWay Ministries waited for all year ended in complete victory.
December 8, 2008 I sat in Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College with Michael Thompson and Jim Johanik and took notes on all the vision ideas for the “next” concert. Michael was talking about “let our lights shine” from the song “This Little Light of Mine”. The hall seemed huge – after all, we had just put on a concert in a hall that seated 225, and now we were looking at 605. I wrote things down like “representative from every country of the world” “50 piece orchestra, 50 piece choir” and was excited, yet a little nervous. After all, who was going to do all this? (I am, after all, the project manager and the only non-visionary among the 3 of us.)
So a year later, it’s done! “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us, that your ways may be known on earth and your salvation among all nations.” Psalm 67:1-2 . These ancient words have been sung and played so much by people on our team that God is already answering our prayers…God indeed has poured out His grace upon us.
On December 3, people from all over the world, new friends, and members of the OneWay family filled the 605 seats of Wentz Concert Hall for “Let It Shine” a worship and prayer gathering for the nations. God’s presence was palpable as we worshiped with over 70 musicians. Believers and unbelievers alike were powerfully challenged to live “all in” for Christ. 17 organizations had booths in the atrium to enable and activate people to pray, give, and go for the gospel. We know God is mightily at work in people’s hearts, including our own!
The same day we re-released our evangelistic Christmas cd Driftings with a new gospel presentation by Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham Center (and Steve taught his son in his ping-pong class at Wheaton Academy!). Concert attenders took over 1500 copies to distribute, and at the time of this writing, we are out of the 2500 we had in stock!
The same day we released OneWay’s 2009 worship album: Shine, which combined the gifts of over 120 musicians to encourage and strengthen the body around the world. This used the most people we’ve ever used on an album before, and is truly a work of God from start to finish. Hear samples of both albums at www.owm.org.
The same day the brand new prayercast.com site became active, with 19 country pages full of prayer videos, pictures, and ready for content to be brought in from around the world. Click here to check it out and pray for the world: www.prayercast.com.
The day after the concert I got an email directing me to the next prayercast video out. I went to the site and immediately started weeping. I was overwhelmed by God’s grace to this ministry. We are a very small group of workers, pray-ers, and givers, and yet God has poured out His grace on us to bring about such a powerful site. I find myself renewed and inspired by the vision of prayercast – to make a wikipedia of prayer information for the nations so that God’s people may intercede and stand in the way of the enemy.
And yet my favorite part of the week, personally, was that I am very much seeing God at work in my life, developing fruits of the Spirit and a passion for God’s message of hope to be known throughout the world.
And this is why I know God is making His face shine on us – may His ways be known on earth and His salvation among the nations.
Shine is done!
We praise God that Michael Thompson was able to finish the OneWay’s new Worship album, Shine , on time. Click Here to enjoy a sample of the music!
Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us.
Production is underway on a new album to be released this December. Over 100 musicians are contributing their gifts to this project that we pray will bless the Body and advance His Kingdom around the world.
Please pray for strength for Michael Thompson and Katie Willemssen as they work hard to record the instruments and voices for this album. Thank you to all those giving of their time and skills. Please pray that God would bless each recording session and protect the entire project from the enemy.
Our goal is that this album would especially serve as an encouragement to missionaries around the world as it is distributed to many hundreds in the coming year.
Psalm 67:1, May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us,
Greetings friends,
These are exciting days at OneWay. We are seeing God graciously open new doors of ministry and bless the work that is going on. He remains our greatest treasure and our greatest need.
As the ministry has grown, so has the need for more space to carry out the vision to see the gospel advance worldwide. God’s provision has come through the generous donation of space in a brand new office building and we are so grateful. While it’s just bricks and mortar on the outside, what takes place inside has the potential to impact millions for Christ. Over the next few months, we plan to do finishing construction, customizing the space to meet our studio and office needs.
A Family Affair
OneWay has never been about a few, but many who have joined hands in the work. That’s why we’d like to invite you, our OneWay friends and family, to visit the new site, rejoice with us and learn about the various opportunities to get involved as we move forward. Join us after church and enjoy lunch with a family of people who share a passion for serving Christ and His Kingdom. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Where:
New OWM Facility
4205 Westbrook Dr.
Aurora, IL 60504
When:
Sunday, Oct. 18
12:30-2:30pm
RSVP by Oct. 16
mail@owm.org
or call 630.281.2544
Feel free to bring family and friends.
From time to time, we’d like to ask you to intercede for specific individuals on the OneWay team. Please pray this week for Lee Springer, who is
· on the U.S. staff part-time
· working to get a representative from every nation to OneWay’s 12.03.09 concert of worship
· helping to build Prayercast.com by acquiring video, photos, and music from 220 countries
Thank you, Father, for raising Lee up as a harvest worker (Lk. 10:2). Please bless him with spiritual growth as he walks with You. Please give him joy and success in his ministry for Your glory. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Feel free to email an encouraging note to Lee at lee@owm.org.
by: Hannah Thompson
In June, I had the privilege of joining the OneWay team to Botswana. Our team of nine from the U.S. joined up with the OneWay Botswana team for an incredible week of teaching and sharing God’s love with the people of northern Botswana.
Everyone on the trip played a different role. Frank McGraw & Scott Borg taught the Botswana Team in their School of Missions, while Beth Bounds, Pete Beckman and his 16 yr.old daughter Emily, Jim Johanik and his 8 and 11 year old sons, and Hannah Thompson went into diferent schools and centers for orphans, disabled students, and public schools of Maun. It had an amazing impact on me to see that none of the things we worry about really matter. It doesn’t matter if people like you, if you have friends, if you have money or if you have a good job. All that really matters is loving God and loving people. This really came to life for me as I hugged kids I didn’t know, whose backrounds were so different than mine, being orphaned by AIDS, living out on the street or in little huts, facing traumatic things like child prostitution, abuse, etc. It just became real to see that these kids face so much and still have such happiness, and here we are worrying about salaries, clothes, and so many other things that don’t matter! It was really an inspiration.
Another thing that really impacted me and the rest of the team was getting to know the OneWay Botswana Team, which is made of of both full-time missionaries (a.k.a. "The A-Team", a group of 5) and the"Checkers", about 35 volunteers between the ages of 16-25 who are being discipled by the A-Team and who also help out on a regular basis with city and village outreaches.
Spending a week with this great group of people made an deep impact on me. To see the relationship these people have with God is just incredible. These people are truly unashamed of the gospel. The way they sing and dance, praising God everywhere they go really shows that these people are living for God and God alone. When you talk to them, after every sentence they say, they say something like “Hallelujah” or “Praise the Lord” . They are completely and totally devoted to God, and are a great witness to everyone they meet, Pray that we all would learn to have the same relationship with God, and that just like the A-Team and Checkers, we would live totally and completely for God, giving all glory to him.
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