The call to reach the nations: A vision to bring hope and life so that people can thrive.
“A vision to bring hope and life so that people can thrive.”
Cassie Roberts is Chief Executive and co-founder of Open Doors International Language School (ODILS) in Plymouth. In the third and final blog, she brings their story up-to-date.
‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18). The vision the Lord gave us was to reach the nations on our doorstep, to train and equip the saints, and to be a model for church planting; a vision to bring hope and life so that people can thrive in the calling that God has for them. As the nations continue to come to us our vision has stayed the same, even as our opportunities have grown. Over the years the Lord has allowed us to engage with the nations and equip believers in a wide variety of ways; running ESOL and functional skills classes, hosting conversation and job clubs, supporting international students, holding Bible studies in Arabic, training and sending out teachers, running outreach events alongside our local Church, and sharing faith with many people from both reached and unreached people groups.
We have developed a branch of our charity called ODILS Equip, which aims specifically at carrying out the vision that the Lord has given us by partnering; with individual believers and churches across the UK and the globe to see the Gospel reach the nations. Our home Church is a Redeemer Church Plymouth, (part of Advance) and ODILS Equip is now working towards partnering together with other Newfrontiers spheres to provide support to individuals and churches to reach the nations that are within the UK. Church partnerships will look different depending on the location and heart of the individual churches that we work with. We will offer training opportunities for those who would like to start classes or run conversation clubs; these can be one of the best ways to start engaging with the nations on your doorstep.
We also offer the accredited Trinity Cert TESOL online course that can gain you access to countries and opportunities that may otherwise be closed to believers.
We will be partnering with the Frontier Year Project and will have lots of opportunities for interns to become involved with mission’s opportunities and training. Support will be available for those desiring to start discipleship groups with people from other nations, and this support can be tailored specifically to the nations and communities that are local to your area.
Our aim is to be deliberate and strategic in equipping believers to reach the nations that are in the UK and overseas. If you would like support, or to chat further about how you can reach the nations, please contact us. Cassie Roberts croberts@odils.com or cwilson@odils.com
For more information about ODILS please visit www.odils.com
For more information about the Cert TESOL please visit www.onlinetesolcourses.com or contact Chris at 01752 258770 or cwilson@odils.com
