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OMF International (formerly '''Overseas Missionary Fellowship''' and before that the '''China Inland Mission''' before 1964) is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded by English missionary Hudson Taylor on 25 June , 1865 . OVERVIEW The non-sectarian China Inland Mission was founded on principles of faith and prayer. From the beginning it recruited missionaries from the working class as well as single women, which was a new practice for a large agency. Even today, no appeals for funds are made, instead a reliance upon God is practiced to move people through prayer alone. The goal of the mission that began dedicated to China has grown to include bringing the Gospel to the millions of inhabitants of East Asia who have never heard or had access to the message of Jesus Christ. Reluctantly, along with the departure of all foreign Christian workers in the early 1950s, the China Inland Mission redirected all of its missionaries to other parts of east Asia, to continue the work and maintain a ministry to China and the Chinese. The name was officially changed to Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1964 . A quote from the OMF website in 2006 summarizes the current organization: HISTORY Missiological Distinctives of the C.I.M.
Broomhall (1984), 356 Taking Root 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 October 3, 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. Historian Richard Lovett wrote about the practices of the missionaries in 1899:
Boxer Crisis of 1900 ]] In 1900, attacks took place across China in connection with the ). 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 and during the Revolution of 1912 and the establishment of the Chinese Republic. William Whiting Borden , wealthy heir of the Borden Milk Products family, who graduated from Yale 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 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 1930’s and 1940’s. The Japanese invasion further complicated efforts as the Japanese distrusted anyone with British or American Nationalities. When the Japanese invaded China in World War II , the China Inland Mission moved its headquarters up the Yangzi River to Chongqing . Many missionaries were put into concentration camps until the end of the war. One such camp was at Weifang . 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:
The students were separated from their parents for more than 5 years. In 1900 there were an estimated 100,000 Christians in China. It multiplied to seven times that number by 1950 (700,000). The Chinese church began to be an indigenous movement helped by strong leaders such as John Sung , Wang Ming-Dao , David Yang , Watchman Nee , and Andrew Gih . FROM C.I.M. TO O.M.F Phyllis Thompson wrote that between 1949 and 1952, after the victory of the Communist armies, there was a “reluctant exodus” of all of the members of the China Inland Mission. The leaders met at Bournemouth , England to discuss the situation and the decision was made to re-deploy 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 program. 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 , became General Director of the mission work. According to Taylor in 1989, The work continues to the present day. Patrick Fung , a Chinese Christian appointed in 2005, is the first Asian to lead the mission. CHRONOLOGY 1860s
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and fellow China Inland Mission missionaries in native dress.]]
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