For many years Dick & Gloria's prayer letters, called Durston's Digest, state their purpose and calling like this, "Assessing, Selecting and Training new missionaries for OMF International to East Asia." Essentially this means that Dick & Gloria oversee the entire application and candidate process for those new workers hoping to serve with OMF. This includes reviewing application papers, references, doctrinal beliefs, background checks, temperament analysis, and communicating with medical personnel who make recommendations based on physical and mental /emotional health. All of this culminates with an invitation to attend one of our Candidate & Orientation Courses where we seek consensus for overseas service through a Candidate Council which makes a recommendation for appointment to the President and National director of OMF-USA.
This process as mandated by our International Center in Singapore will continue for a long time to come, but the Durston’s role in this is coming to an end in 2020 and 2021. They will start moving into retirement next year in 2020 and God has provided an excellent couple to take over the work of the Candidate Department. For more information on this please read the update on this Partner Hub under prayer requests.
For the Durston’s it is been a great joy to serve the Lord through OMF International in this way beginning in Japan and continuing in Japanese ministry stateside for about 20 years, and after that for 15 years in the Candidate Department. There is nothing more important than the proclamation of the gospel!
