Celebrating 35 years
Welcome to OC Ministries, where we celebrate 35 years of dedicated service and transformative impact! Since our inception as operation classroom, we have been committed to making a difference in the lives of children in developing nations, empowering communities, and spreading hope around the globe. Over the past three and a half decades, we have built churches, classrooms, clinics, and more, all with the goal of fostering holistic growth and sustainable development.
Thank You Lyndy Zabel
Rev. Lyndon “Lyndy” Zabel was serving as youth pastor at Rosemount United Methodist Church
when he was challenged by a 15-year-old student to pack his bags and board a plane bound for
Sierra Leone, West Africa to see firsthand how Minnesota United Methodists could partner with
Methodists of Sierra Leone to improve education for the children in that country. Little did he
know that would lead to the founding of a mission outreach partnership program called
Operation Classroom that would span from West Africa to the Caribbean and beyond over the
next 35 years.
With Lyndy’s guidance the original focus of building and equipping schools expanded over the
years to include digging wells to provide communities with clean water, planting of crops to feed
students and provide income for schools, establishing teacher training programs, offering
student sponsorship funding for those unable to afford attending school, and much more.
Lyndy, an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church has served as Pastor in numerous
United Methodist Churches across Minnesota including Rosemount UMC, The Grove (fka
Woodbury UMC), Lake Harriet UMC and many more. In 2013 he became the Director of
Missional Impact for the Minnesota Annual Conference, United Methodist Church, a position he
held until his retirement in 2023. Through it all, he provided steadfast leadership as Executive
Director for OC Ministries (a new name for Operation Classroom) in its work to change lives
through building schools and supporting students in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Jamaica, Puerto
Rico, Haiti, Uganda, and Chile. Lyndy retired from the Executive Director position in 2024.
Quote from Lyndy: “There are places and situations in the world that break the heart of God.
We ought to be the hands and feet, eyes and ears of Jesus and go out, led by God and the Holy
Spirit, to try to do something about it. That’s healing a broken world.”
Rev. Katherine "Kathy" Horn is remembered for the thousands of lives she touched and
enriched through 34 years of work with OC Ministries (aka Operation Classroom) which she
helped to start in 1989 as a mission outreach program of the United Methodist Church in
Minnesota.
Serving as Coordinator from founding until 2001, Kathy worked tirelessly to expand Operation
Classroom’s work to bring hope through education to children, families, and communities with
the construction and equipping of primary schools in Liberia and Sierra Leone (West Africa),
Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Uganda, and Chile. Along with her husband Jim, Kathy traveled to OC countries to celebrate projects and spent many more years raising money and awareness as a member of the program Steering Committee.
Kathy who was a graduate of Garrett Theological Seminary and an Elder in the United
Methodist Church from 1974 until her passing in 2023, served as a Pastor in United Methodist congregations in many Minnesota communities including Burnsville, Rosemont, Glenwood, Waseca and Staples.
Quote from Kathy in 1990 Conference Journal: “Together, through Operation Classroom, we
are bringing help and hope to literally hundreds of children. In turn, our own congregations are being blessed with the excitement that comes from hands on involvement in missions. We are seeing lives changed and enriched through participation in Operation Classroom.”
Thank You Kathy Horn
Thank You
To all our supporters
It couldn’t be done without you! Your passionate, compassionate and loving hearts inspire you to give generously of your money, your time, and your prayers which undergird all that OC Ministries accomplishes. Thank you! Thank you!
Thank You
To our mission field
We are blessed beyond measure to have so many wonderful people around the world who do so much to partner with OC Ministries Minnesota to change the lives of children, families and communities. You inspire us, guide us, and appreciate us. We hope to do the same for you. Thank you! Thank you!
