Michael Thompson 23:59

First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. The reason why prayer is so valuable is because when people pray, not only does God move, but they change. We see what God's doing, we can get involved, God stirs the hearts, and they take action. You know, it's really exciting.

Welcome to First Person, a weekly interview with people telling their stories of faith and calling. I'm Wayne Shepherd, and coming up now, we'll meet Michael Thompson, who leads a mission organization quite unlike any other. So stay with us for that conversation. As we enter the summer months, I hope you'll take advantage of our free First Person smartphone app, allowing you to take interviews we've done with you as you travel.

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Our guest, Michael Thompson, has a great story behind the startup of a different kind of missions organization geared for our times. It's called One Way, and it's really a family of missions and ministries, as Michael explains in our conversation. One Way is a very unique organization.

missions organization. We would call ourselves a missions organization with the purpose of rallying or activating God's people to exalt Christ and advance his gospel to the masses. And basically what that means is we are passionate about getting God's people moving to make a difference in the world and to give them very practical ways that they can do that. And we're passionate about the nations and

We're passionate about the unreached. We're passionate, and we have ministry. So we're a family of ministry. So there's not just one, but there's two main categories of ministry in one way. And one of those is reaching the lost world. And that's where we directly work through partners around the nation, specifically in North Africa, Middle East, and West Africa. But we partner with national leaders there to proclaim the gospel, evangelize, disciple, and multiply believers among unreached people groups.

So that's kind of one branch of One Way. And then the other branch of ministries is where we use creative arts and media to create resources that are viewed or listened to by millions of people.

that are helping them gain awareness about all that's going on under the sun, which is unbelievable. We really don't have any idea of just the magnitude of what's at stake under the sun. And so we highlight, bring awareness, and then mobilize what we call world-changing prayer on behalf of the lost.

We've got a lot to talk about here. Even though we're neighbors, I admit that I have not known much about one way, so I'm anxious to get to know what you're doing. You're located in the Chicagoland area, for those listeners around the country. How did this come to you personally? What's your own involvement in this? Yeah, so as a 20-something, I was a Wheaton College grad. And after Wheaton College, a friend of mine came to me and said, would you ever be willing to pray together about going into missions?

And I said, let's do it. And he said, well, shouldn't we pray about it? Let's get our wives and pray. I said, yeah, let's get our wives together and then let's do it. And so we did. We got together. We added another couple, which was my sister, Laura. And so it was three couples and we got together. We pulled out a map of the world and we said, Lord, wherever you want to send us, if that's the Chicago right where we are, fine, but we're going to pretend we live on the moon and you send us. And that led us to a time on the mission field where

in West Africa, which is when I was first exposed to being within range of unreached people groups and those kind of things. But after our time as missionaries, I was serving in the local church back in Chicagoland. But really, I started One Way at that point. And the reason One Way was born, to answer your question, was this deep passion for

to accelerate the advancement of the gospel. I actually really believe that Jesus died for people to come to be reconciled with God, to have eternal life. I also believe in the hard realities that apart from Christ, there's no savior, that he's the only way, there's only one name under heaven, that a man can be saved as it says. So that burden is just burning me.

inside of me. And so One Way was born by simply asking the question,

What could we do to fill any key gaps or fill key opportunities in the global church's effort to reach the multitude? So our prayer has always been, Lord, how can we reach the multitudes? How can we advance the gospel to the multitudes? And so that's really the kind of the problem or the passion that's been driving One Way from the very beginning. And in our context, as we prayed about it, consulted with pastoral friends and missionary leader friends and advisors, that there was a unique space and a need for a One Way ministry.

to be born. And so that's how we were kind of born. I like what I'm hearing because you're not doing this alone. You already talked about the fact that you're in collaboration with other ministries and groups. It's not an official thing

Yeah. Reporting relationship, is it? It's mere collaboration for the kingdom. That's correct. Yes. And, you know, when Jesus prayed that we would be one so that the whole world would know, sometimes we think, oh, just Lord, help us get along. Or how pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. But it's more than that, I think. And we're a bride and

and there's many colors and many fabrics, different shapes and sizes all around the nations. And we live in an era, especially now, where we really can know what each other are doing, know what needs are, where the gaps are. And as we work, we're always thinking about

what, what has God already doing? Who's he doing with and where is there help needed and where are the gaps and what are our unique gifts and talents and how can we fill? So that is definitely a, a huge value and joy, uh, for one way as we, you know, try and serve in the kingdom. So give me an example of that collaboration. Sure. Sure. Well, probably the biggest example that comes to mind is I mentioned how we're trying to raise awareness. And so, um,

when we started asking the question, what's the one thing if all of us, the global church, that is all the people around the world that know the Lord, what's the one question that,

The one thing that if we got right, more people would come to know the Lord. So we went out and collaborated, started asking missions leaders, pastors, different people. And we said, what's the number one need? What's the number one greatest thing? And is there a gap? And the overall number one answer that we got from them was actually to mobilize prayer.

And we said, oh, that's interesting. The need is so great. We're all trying, but it's just overwhelming. It's just impossible unless God steps in. So we said, okay, that's great. Well, okay, let's talk more about prayer. Well, we're really strong in media and the arts and creative communication and music and these things. And so what we saw as a gap was...

there wasn't any compelling media resources to really mobilize people in prayer. There was a book specifically, there's a book that I still recommend to people called operation world, which highlights all the different nations, all the different statistics. We reached out to them. Johnstone's been on this program, right? He's, he's an awesome, awesome brother. And Jason Mandrick also, and his, he's got another gal, Molly. And, and so they've been working, you know, through the years. And we said, we love what you're doing, but, uh,

The world is changing. Would you be open if we started taking a vision of that data and data of the nations and putting that in such a way that we could go to a nation, get someone to pray for that nation, and we could work with other mission organizations, other people that have video footage, and then we could collectively produce a video and

And then have you speak into its quality, different missionaries, different people on the ground. And if you okay it, then we'll release it to the world. And so we did that. And we actually released our very first, what we call a prayer cast for the country USA, which,

And it was on a Christmas day because the whole goal was this is a gift to the body of Christ. We don't sell it. We just make it available. And that was the beginning of our unfolding vision to have one day where every nation in the world would have a prayer that you can download, that missionaries could use, churches could use, kids programs, profs at Moody could play every day before they started class. And so that's a massive example. And I mean, there have been

literally hundreds of people and organizations that have partnered together to make something like that happen for the body of Christ. So is the prayer cast a video? Prayer cast is a video, and it's got footage from that event

field or from that, you know, relevant to that situation or that country with someone close to that country or that situation praying. And then it has music behind it. And then at the end, it kind of summarizes, here's the key prayer points. Our current videos are usually three to four minutes long. And that's kind of our standard. Now with technology emerging, we're into whole other new types of prayer casts that we're already using.

You know, inventing, if you will, including what we would call virtual prayer tours where we can take people even even researching ways to use headsets where you can go to a place and literally look around. So the podcast could be used in in a church service or any any meeting could be rolled right in. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. So even to this day.

Churches use them sometimes in their worship service or before a worship service. Certainly anybody that's raising support or raising awareness as a missionary. I mentioned Moody. There's a dear prophet, Moody, that every single class before he starts his class, he shows a Prayer Cast Nation video. So homeschool moms use it. They use it in Christian schools.

They're translated. They're put on TV and radio in different parts of the world, especially the Chinese Mandarin speaking world. How do we plug into this? The easiest way is just if you just go to prayercast.com and that website, it'll encourage you about how to pray. You can pick what you want to pray. You can download different nations from there. And it's very simple. You subscribe every week and

People around the world will get an email that highlights specifically a country or an issue. And if things flare up, like for example, there's so much unrest in the Middle East right now or in Israel. So we'll make a special video. We've made special video. Hey, let's pray for peace.

And the Middle East, for example. You can get all that by subscribing if you like to receive the same email that everyone's praying every week it comes out. And we'll put information about it, of course, in our program notes at firstpersoninterview.com. So our listeners right now can pick up on that. And I hope they will. What's the most exciting way that you've seen this used? Oh, yeah.

Well, I just shared a lot of them, but I'll tell you the most amazing, I'll just say a story. The reason why prayer is so valuable is because when people pray...

Not only does God move, but they change and they move and they become active. So my favorite story was this elderly lady that we heard about who got word of a prayer cast for an unreached people group. So she watched the video. It was about an unreached people group. And she was so moved by it that she contacted us.

us at One Way and the prayer cast team and said, I want to fund the translation of the Word of God entirely into that unreached people groups language. And so she took action. We connected her with people who were working on translation for that. We said, there are people actively trying. We connected. She funded that ministry's work.

And was just super excited. So what's really amazing is just a few weeks ago, my wife emailed the daughter of this lady and said, hey, how's your mom doing? And she said, it's funny you should ask. My mom just passed away. Oh.

And at her funeral, we told a story about what she said was one of her greatest joys in her later years was being able to pray for and make a difference among an unreached people group. But that's an example. People get excited when they see the world. There's more to news than just what we see on, you know, a Fox or CNN. We see what God's doing. We can get involved. God stirs the hearts and they take action. You know, it's really exciting. We'll continue to get to know Michael Thompson and the organization one way when First Person continues.

in just a moment. Here's Ed Cannon on a vision for FEBC's weekly podcast. The primary purpose of Until All Have Heard, of course, is to share the experience that FEBC has because we have staff on the ground in so many oppressive places. But in addition to that, we're trying to speak to you in a way that only the kind of testimonies you'll hear from around the globe can do. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.

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My guest is Michael Thompson. Michael is president of One Way Ministries located in the Chicagoland area, a collaborative ministry of reaching the lost and of building people through discipleship as well. And it's exciting to hear what God is doing through this, Michael. Now, there's another aspect of what you're doing, and that is, I don't know what you call it, a ministry center where you actually provide physical space for ministries who want to collaborate together. Yes.

Yes. When COVID was happening, one way was remote. We had actually sold our previous building because we were needing space. So for those two years, really, we sat and prayed, Lord, what's our future? Are we going to be remote? Should we rent a small space? Should we be a hybrid, you know, half at home, this, that, and that? Believe it or not, everything was remote.

We didn't know what to do. We felt like it would be bad stewardship to try and buy a building because maybe the value would go straight down of office. So we had all these questions. So we went into 40 days of prayer as a ministry to say, hey, Lord, we don't know what we're doing. We need your help. And during those 40 days, there was a property that came available out here in Chicago, the western suburbs. And it was so big that our

Our agent that was looking didn't even introduce it to us. We actually found it on our own and we said, why didn't she tell us about it? She's like, it's 10 times bigger than what you need. And we said, yeah, but we're a part of the body of Christ. We've got all things are possible, right? It was. It was this massive faith, but we had been

already dreaming, we're so into working together with God's people that we started researching around the country and found out, yes, indeed, praise the Lord, more and more ministries, especially post-COVID, are saying, hey, what if we changed the way that we thought about our space and actually had a place that we all were together? Well, of course, you're familiar with the Hope Center in Dallas. That's a good example as well. It's a very, very, it's a very, that was the primary, the Hope Center was a primary place

model for one way to learn. And they said, we've got a waiting list. Like we are just loving how different ministries are collaborating and synergizing together. And we wholeheartedly were into what they're doing. So we had some other friends and advisors again around the country who said, you can do it. You should go for it. And it was through the encouragement of those people that we decided to take the step. And then little by little, again,

including this very day, a team, which you, I'm sure you're familiar with a very wonderful admissions organization. Uh, they're one of the partners in this building. And right before this, uh, this interview, uh,

They had a big gathering down there and all the ministry partners had a big lunch together. We had a glorious worship time. And then we're able to hear about and pray for team. And, you know, so this is, and then you have lunch and we're talking, I was literally talking with their leaders about how to navigate certain waters and they're, we're just sharpening each other. And it's just another day at the office. That's really cool.

Yeah, so I know you're still growing, but how many ministries are under that roof? Yeah, so we've got, oh, maybe it's early. I would say six, five to six of us at this point. Okay, and room to grow.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We definitely are always looking to grow and there's, you know, small spaces and then there's more bigger spaces. I mean, it's, it's a large space. It's a 67,000 square foot building, which is, you know, it's just wonderful. And it's, it's just the environment is great. We've got a big atrium for the worship times and it's on a lake and we've got, I mean, it's one of those things that as soon as we got it, we,

We just said this is something God gave to his people, not something he gave to One Way Ministries. And that's how we look at it. Well, let's talk more about reaching the unreached. Give me some more examples of what your vision is for how this can be done. Yeah, well, you know, 80% of the people who know the Lord under the sun as we sit,

um are not from the west that is they're not americans are not you know they're not from europe and and so but they live within proximity of people who have little to no access to the gospel so

Back to the whole, where are the gaps in the Great Commission? Where are the gaps in what, you know? And I don't even like to say Great Commission as if it's a category. The Great Commission is the mission. So the mission of Jesus in the world, what God's trying to do is reconcile. He loves the whole world. He's trying to reconcile. That's what he died for. And so when you look at what the holy God of the universe is looking at with love, he looks across the world and what is heaven looking at?

The status of things, he says, wow, there's this new era where there's unreached people. There's 80% of the believers that aren't from the West. And what are the gaps? I mentioned the first one, the mobilization of prayer, which one way is trying to address. But there's another gap, which is the partnership with...

locally led or nationally led ministries. And so in many cases, so one way to answer your question, we are trying our best to accelerate, to boost and come alongside and support ministries around the world that are directly connected

able to evangelize, disciple, and mobilize churches, you know, churches. Are they surprised when you come alongside and offer to help? Are they suspect that maybe you want to take over? How does that work? Yeah, there's always different dynamics around the world. A very common dynamic is, oh, this is great. Will you give me money? You know, because the West still, but sometimes it's,

we've heard enough from you guys, we need to do this alone. But a lot of times it's like, well, praise the Lord, we can learn from you, you can learn from us. And that is where the unity that I mentioned back that Jesus is so excited about when he sees, when we say, hey, this is something that we have, what do you have? Can we work together and grow? And I believe the key and certainly our philosophy and approach is that

we're coming alongside as guests and servants and how can we boost? And that can be, it used to be, well, there's many different ways, including I mentioned prayer cast. We are even one way we are now teaching our ministry partners in Africa, how they can create their own prayer cast and we've helped set up studios. And so whatever it takes to accelerate the work, um,

of people that are really within proximity to reach the unreached is something. Now, the only, the only additional thing I'll say is that in a lot of cases just the proclamation of the gospel is so possible. And so we really work hard to, with the bullet crew, with the Jesus film that faith comes by hearing, they have audio Bibles. And so, so we're always, again, we're just partnering together with different organizations to,

But make no mistake, and I'll just put out a quick plug, not for a ministry, but for an approach, is that faith does come by hearing. And so we really believe in and really want to put boots on the ground, as you say, put life on life, people that can tell people face to face, this is who Jesus is. Make sure they have access to a Bible.

And so that's a big piece of what we do on overseas peace. Yeah. I know you're committed to God's word. What recently has impacted you from the word itself? What, what is, what's touching your own heart, Michael? I love that question on a personal level.

You know, we do the Bible reading plans, and I was like behind, and so I had to get done by April 1st. So I finished my first goal. I did it great. But you asked what's recent. So the last 17 days, I have just thoroughly been able to slow down and enjoy like marinating. And I think I about lost it on the very first Psalm because in Psalm 1, it says –

that, you know, whoever, whoever doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, you know, will prosper. And he meditates day and night and, and, and on his word, he meditates day and night and it says, whatever he does prosper. So I tell people, oh, there's, this is the prosperity gospel song in that it, you prosper in the Lord, obviously. But,

So Psalm 1 is like my favorite, like just, and I'm taking God as that word. And he says in James, it says, whoever looks into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, he'll be blessed in what he does. So, so again, just, just be,

doing God's word, living and marinating over God's word. You can't sleep at night. It's a blessing. Just take something just last night. For example, I'm thinking Psalm 23, Psalm 23. Just think about that. So I'm in the Psalms. And then the last thing I'll say on that question is,

This morning what I did, I'm at about 25 now, so I've gone from one to 25, but I went back and I said, if I had to put a title to this psalm and a byline, what would I do? And so this morning I titled and put a byline to all of those psalms. And it's very fun and it helps you kind of

summarize in your own mind what exactly this psalm is being saying. So it's very cool. So that's, anyway, that's a question of my faith. That's a great question. I appreciate that. You've been listening to Michael Thompson, the president of One Way, a family of missions and ministries devoted to Christ's great commission and using a variety of means to help the church fulfill that calling. You can learn more about One Way by visiting firstpersoninterview.com and clicking on the links provided.

The Great Commission also motivates the Far East Broadcasting Company in its goal of reaching the unreached through radio, digital platforms, and social media. With broadcasters and staff in 50 countries speaking 150 languages, FEBC is a gospel witness to millions of people every day. I encourage you to visit febc.org and learn more of how God is using it to spread the good news. Read the stories at febc.org.

Now, with thanks to my friend and producer, Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Thanks for listening to First Person.