George Verwer, evangelist and founder of OM International, dies at 84

Originally published in The Christian Post

George Verwer, an author and evangelist who founded the group OM International and was known for his focus on global missions, has died at the age of 84.

OM International announced Verwer’s death on Facebook on Saturday, explaining that their founder had died on April 14, and asked for prayers for his family.

“Through our tears, we give thanks for all George has meant to us and take comfort that he is with Jesus, whom he loved and served faithfully,” stated OM International.

“From the early days of leading college mission trips to Mexico, to dreaming of a ship to spread the Good News along the world’s coasts; through his passion for books, real relationships and holistic care for the least reached, George challenged and inspired those he met to share God’s love; truly practising what he preached with his own radical life.”

Archbishop Joseph D’Souza of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India gave his condolences in a piece published by The Christian Post on Saturday.

“George also always paid attention to where the winds of the spirit were blowing, and as a maturing church emerged in the Global South, he put his efforts into helping the church become sustainable,” wrote D’Souza.

“George was one of the first white missions leaders to fully empower nationals to lead the efforts he initiated in the majority world. George was not only incapable of racism but he never treated anyone less than him.”

D’Souza went on to state that Verwer’s mission work in India “was more extensive than all the rest of OM’s considerable work in the rest of the world combined.”

“From the very beginning, George’s spirit-led gut instincts led him to construct the Indian work in a different way than what was done in the West,” D’Souza added.

“From the very inception, the leadership was handed over to the Indians, and from the beginning, he gave complete freedom to develop the strategies and missiology at the local level.”

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