140 Years of CIM, now called OMF
The China Inland Mission (CIM) was established
by James Hudson Taylor on June 25, 1865. Eager to reach the inland provinces of
China with the gospel, the mission prayed hard and sent out waves of workers to
China throughout the late nineteenth century.
In 1900, a group of Chinese called the “Boxers” set out to
exterminate all foreigners in China in a reign of terror during
which hundreds
of missionaries and Chinese Christians were put to
death. The China Inland
Mission (CIM) lost 79 people. Taylor died
in 1905 after 50 years of
active service for China, and D.E. Hoste,
one of the Cambridge Seven, was
appointed mission director.
Many missions pulled out
in 1948-49, but the China Inland Mission
(CIM) was one which attempted to
stay. Having so decided, the
China Inland Mission (CIM) took a further
step of faith and
brought in 49 new workers to Shanghai in 1948 and in 1949. It
eventually became plain that the continued presence of the
missionaries was
causing suspicion and harassment for the Chinese
believers. In 1950, the
momentous decision was made that, in the
best interests of the Chinese church,
the China Inland Mission
CIM) would withdraw. The mission began again in East
Asia,
establishing headquarters in Singapore.
A new name, Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF), was
adopted in
1964 (changed again to OMF International in 1993) and
the old name (China
Inland Mission) was dropped. Asian
Christians also began to be accepted into
membership during this
period, and home councils were formed in Japan, Korea,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Indonesia. Today, nearly 20
percent of OMF International’s
membership comes from Asia.
The nations of East Asia
are still teeming with thousands who need
to receive those “glad tidings” that
Hudson Taylor sought to bring
to the furthest points of China, and God is still
leading. OMF
International currently has nearly 3,000 staff, field workers
and
committed volunteers from 30 nations—1,400 of those are workers
reaching
out in East Asia. In 2015, a fellowship-wide celebration
will take place to
recognize God’s faithfulness to OMF
International over the past 150 years.
OMF International is still breaking new ground in the most
dramatically changing region of the world—whether in outreach to
more than 100
people groups, working with disadvantaged
children, seeking new ways of
evangelizing the unreached of
Manila, teaching and influencing students in
Taiwan and
Indonesia, pioneering a witness among the Malays in South
Thailand,
translating the Bible, or living as “salt and light”
(Matthew 5:13-14) in
countries closed to traditional missionary
service. OMF International
missionaries are giving their energies
towards building a strong church in the
countries of East Asia.
