One of our members and his family are now serving in Medellin Colombia as missionaries. Below is their mission update.

Buddy Williams

News from the Williams family, OMS missionaries to Colombia. View this email in your browser

Williams Family Update Happy Thanksgiving! I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. Psalms 57:9 Today does not feel like Thanksgiving. In fact, Medellín, Colombia is business as usual since this is not a holiday here. Our children are in school, Heather is in Costa Rica for a training event and now finds herself hunkered down riding out hurricane Otto. Truthfully, we all miss home and the traditional celebration of gratitude displayed in joyous over-eating! Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is not only a holiday, but an attitude and a lifestyle of gratitude. Although we don’t say it enough, we are truly grateful for all our family and friends. We are grateful for our many blessings and that we have the incredible fortune of serving Christ as missionaries. Thank you for praying, for believing with us and for giving the resources that enable us to serve here. May God richly bless you and your family on this special day! First Mission Conference in 73 Years!

A historically relevant event took place in Girardota, Colombia on the 20th and 21st of October: the first mission conference in the history of the Interamerican Church of Colombia (IGLEICO). IGLEICO  began through OMS ministries in 1943 and currently is a denomination with about 600 churches in Colombia. The purpose of this event was to challenge and involve the district leaders of IGLEICO to begin thinking and engaging globally in the mission of God. In attendance were district leaders, the leaders of the internal denominational ministries (women, men, youth and children’s ministries), 7 of the 8 members that make-up the mission department, President Jonás Pinto and one North American missionary - me.            The focus of the convention was the role of the local church in the mission of God and how God’s desire is for the local church to thrive in its own context and impact the world through global mission engagement. President Jonás spoke about churches planting churches and the absolute necessity to reproduce viable and thriving congregations in new locations. Mission Department head, Wilberto Ruíz, shared the vision for global mission through IGLEICO and presented concrete objectives and possible methods that will enable us to reach the objectives. I (Chris) taught on the mission principles from the book of Acts and on the local and global impact of the church (using the church of Antioch as a model).            Rarely do the district leaders travel from their prospective areas of Colombia to meet for spiritual encouragement and to be challenged. Normally they gather only once or perhaps twice per year for business and administrative meetings. They were proud to gather for the express purpose of discussing missions, but at the same time, confused about what new programs or requirements may come forth in the conference. However, at the close of our two days together, it was evident that they were profoundly touched by what they had heard. One leader shared, “It is so easy to get caught up in our own little areas and in the needs of our churches that we forget the church exists for those who are not in the church. We are missing our purpose in the world; the purpose for which Jesus has commissioned us. Mission is not a program of the church it is the reason we exist.” Our goal as a mission department is to help local churches become involved with the ministry needs in their own context, to plant new churches where there currently are none in Colombia and to engage globally in missions. The district leaders are the doorway in each district to the local churches we want to equip. Thankfully, they were very open and extended the invitation to begin work in all 15 districts of Colombia. It looks like 2017 will be very busy! With love and gratitude, The Williams Family Contact Us Magic Jack   (205) 687-1861 cwilliams@onemissionsociety.org   Follow Us   www.facebook.com/chrisheather.williams.3   One Mission Society www.onemissionsociety.org (317) 888-3333 941 Fry Rd · PO Box A Greenwood, IN 46142  Missionary # 802473

View Bio / Online Giving Become Partners Copyright © 2016 Chris and Heather Williams, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in our ministry. Our mailing address is: Chris and Heather Williams 7256 Self Rd Pinson, AL 35126 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

CFC Serves in the Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew

From Sunday, October, October 16 through Saturday, October 22, 2016 five of our members deployed to Blufton, South Carolina to serve as a chainsaw team with Samaritan's Purse. Those making the trip were (left to right) Boyd Martin, Tim Smith, John Calhoun, Buddy Williams and (not pictured) Henry Averyt.

Buddy Williams recently submitted this report: "On the 5 days of work we assisted 15 families. "Our first job on Monday we cut and removed 2 trees in the front yard of a person that was preparing our dinner that night (helping those who are helping us). While we were there the neighbor next door came over and asked if we could clear her driveway so she could get in and out to her house. After getting her to go by the church and complete a ROE [Right Of Entry work permission form] we were able to go and open up her drive from a huge amount of debris made by the city when they cleared the road 8 days before. "Our 3rd job for the day was removing 2 downed trees from a home owner's drive and yard.

"We finished this job on Tuesday morning. That night the home owner contacted me and wanted to meet us on Wednesday to give us T shirts to show their thanks.

"Wednesday afternoon we went to a very plush gated community where a huge live oak had been blown over. The home owner would not let us put the skid [tractor] in his yard so we cut the tree up and left it for the home owner to handle the removal. This tree was about 5’ in diameter. [That is a Stihl 660 chainsaw with a 36" bar that Buddy is pictured holding! A big, powerful chainsaw that was borrowed from SP and every bit needed to cut through the base of that massive live oak.]

"Our next job was 10 minutes from the church but it took us 1 ½ hours to find. You might say it was located a little off the grid. There were many trees on the ground and 4 hung up in the trees. I got the skid stuck 2 times and we left 2 trees still hung because of our safety. We also had to keep our eye open for the alligator watching us in the lake and the mosquitoes were almost as big as the gator.

"We worked other small jobs and met a lot of nice people. Best of all we ate very good."

And John Calhoun also shared this special connection he made during the week:

"Back in 2005 my church group stayed at Frank Boykin's hunting lodge north of Mobile when we helped after Hurricane Katrina hit. That's Frank's brother, Hamilton, in this photo. He and his wife are the owners of the house where the big live oak tree job was. Strange coincidence!!!!!!!"

Of special note, when filing his report Buddy also shared with me the fact that for the first time since we've been working with Samaritan's Purse - our relationship dates back to 2012 - our CFC team was assigned to work sites in Blufton without an SP supervisory team leader. We consider this is a very special recognition of our skills and capabilities but even more so of our faith-based mission to share the love of Jesus Christ and restore hope in His name with the survivors of severe storms through our service. We sincerely thank SP for its confidence in us.

Don't forget to check in with us from time to time on our blog page located at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com.

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator _____________________________________________________________