Operation Mobilisation (OM; aka Operation Mission in some countries<!-- Denmark-->, or only OM) is a Christian missionary organisation founded by George Verwer to mobilise young people to live and share the Gospel of Jesus. OM started in Mexico and had spread to Europe and India by 1963.
OM currently has 6,800 people working in 118 countries around the world, seeking to "see vibrant communities of Jesus followers among the least reached". OM's core values are knowing and glorifying God, living in submission to God's Word, being people of grace and integrity, serving sacrificially, loving and valuing people, evangelising the world, reflecting the diversity of the body of Christ, global intercession, and esteeming the church. They accomplish these core values through church planting, evangelism, relief and development, justice, and mentoring and discipleship.
Operation Mobilisation started in 1957 when Walter Borchard, Dale Rhoton and George Verwer traveled to Mexico to distribute Christian literature and Gospels. The Gospels were very important to the men and the beginning of OM's long history. The trip in 1957 was the first of three summer trips to Mexico. By 1960, the men turned their attention to Europe, focusing on mobilising the national churches to global missions. Verwer's vision for the global mission was that leadership would come from the local Christian community, wherever possible, rather than from foreigners.
In Summer 1962 OM's first short-term missions teams moved into Europe, coming from the UK, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, the US and elsewhere. In the summer of 1963 more than 2,000 people blanketed Europe to encourage Christians and to carry God's Word throughout the continent and find creative ways of getting it behind the Iron Curtain. OM teams were also starting in India and the Middle East in 1963. was put into service together with MV Logos Hope, the previous three having been retired.
Back in Europe, summer conferences were continuing but the number of participants was dwindling. In late 1987, a renewed vision for reaching Europe was born, which led to the "Love Europe" outreaches that started in July 1989, just prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. OM planned for 5,000 young people from 50 nations to participate; in fact, about 7,000 from 76 nations came. With this first "Love Europe" conference, the vision of OM – birthed in Europe – had been renewed. who offers a list of ports of call for both vessels.
Their first ship, MV Logos, was purchased in 1970. Over a 17-year period, more than 6.5 million people visited MV Logos during 408 ports of call in 108 countries.
OM's second ship, the MV Doulos, previously held the record for the oldest ocean-going ship still in service. She was retired at the end of 2009.
MV Logos ran aground on rocks off Tierra del Fuego, Chile, in atrocious weather conditions in 1988. Although the ship could not be saved, not a single crew member was lost or injured.
Later in 1988, the former MV Antonio Lazaro became the MV Logos II, which was retired in July 2008 after welcoming 11 million visitors.
MV Logos Hope was launched into service in 2009. Twice the size of the MV Doulos, it provides much greater capacity to serve communities.
The OM ships have visited port cities throughout the world, supplying literature, encouraging cross-cultural understanding, training young people for more effective life and service, providing relief, and sharing a message of hope in God wherever there is an opportunity. Since 1970, OM's ships have visited 480 different ports in 151 countries and territories around the globe.
In total, over 45 million visitors have come aboard to purchase from the selection of 5,000 titles available in the ships' floating bookstores. Titles cover a wide range of subjects, such as science, sports, hobbies, cookery, the arts, philosophy, medicine and children's books, as well as faith and life. The books have been carefully chosen to be of interest to every member of the family, and with the educational, social and moral needs of the local community in mind. Books are on offer at a fraction of their retail value, and, while in certain ports, books are also donated.
, the ships' timeline is as follows:
See also
- TeenStreet, an annual international week-long congress for Christian teenagers presented by OM