OMF welcomes new General Director

At a special gathering in Thailand on 27 November, Dr Patrick Fung handed over the role of General Director of OMF International to Dr Joseph Chang.

Joseph is OMF International’s 11th General Director in the organisation’s almost 160-year history. Originally from Taiwan, Joseph and his wife Lori have relocated to OMF’s International Centre in Singapore for the role.

At the handover event, Patrick Fung shared that when D.E Hoste succeeded Hudson Taylor as General Director of the China Inland Mission, Hoste requested prayer for three things: a willingness to be small, to be poor in spirit and to suffer hardship. Patrick remarked that these are rare qualities in leaders and echoed them in his prayer for Joseph to know the power of God, sufficiency of Christ and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.

'I will make mistakes'

‘I may disappoint you and I will make mistakes', Joseph candidly began by telling the gathered leaders of OMF, before sharing his five commitments as General Director: ‘I commit to learn to live a life holy to God. I commit to discern the Lord’s will attentively first of all. I commit to listen to you and our colleagues humbly. I commit to take the necessary action boldly. And I commit to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. As the General Director of OMF I urge you to do the same so we may please our Lord’, he concluded.

Trained as a medical doctor, Joseph started his ministries in community health development. Later, he became involved in assisting Thai and Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan in church planting back home. He then became the Executive Director of a ministry where he oversaw non-governmental organisations and marketplace ministries, as well as missional businesses. Most recently, Joseph has been an International Director and a member of OMF’s International Leadership Team since January 2020.