OMF International: First Asian Director in 140-Year History

|TOP|OMF International, formerly China Inland Mission, has officially appointed its first Asian General Director in the 140 years since the mission organisation was founded.

Dr. Patrick Fung will lead the mission organisation, which works to spread the Gospel in China, as the tenth International General Director.

The 46-year-old Chinese Christian was appointed to his new post on 5 December 2005, having served OMF since 1989.

Dr. Fung shared his vision in an interview with Gospel Herald for the church in China to grow strong “not only in number but also in spiritual maturity”.

The desire of OMF is, he said, to see “a vibrant indigenous church movement in China for the Kingdom of God, reaching out to the unreached” people groups in China.

|QUOTE|He said: “In the past, China received the Gospel. In the future, may the Gospel go out from China to the ends of the world. The Gospel is for all nations, it’s not just for China. I pray that the church in China may catch that vision. I believe it is already happening.”

Dr. Fung said the greatest challenge facing the church in China is the spread of materialism and secularism: “With a growing economy in China, the temptation of materialism is strong. Christians in China need to be witnesses for Christ wherever they may be in the workplace, whether they are farmers, labourers professionals, or in business.”

The new General Director called on Christians to not only proclaim the Gospel but to demonstrate the Gospel with their lives, before praising the Christ-centeredness of OMF founder James Hudson Taylor.

|AD|“Our focus should be on Christ and Christ alone. We should not build a name for ourselves, whether it is the name OMF or CIM. We should focus on building God’s community in East Asia,” he said.

“We have seen God’s faithfulness in OMF for the past 140 years. Our responsibility should be that we must remain faithful to God and to the task He has entrusted to us.

"On the one hand, we are deeply committed to the urgent evangelization of East Asia’s millions for His glory. On the other, we are committed to the mobilization of churches from the West and the East for this task,” he added.

Fung was appointed director of OMF Hong Kong in 1996 and then as OMF’s International Director for Mobilisation based in Singapore in 2001, before succeeding David Harley as General Director.