OK, but not what I expected

I was referring to yesterday evening's OMF Discover Asia event hosted by our church, full of Japanese decorations (lanterns etc). The turnout was huge - I think there was more than the 60 we were expecting. The majority were people from other churches. It was good to see so many people turn out to learn about what's been happening on the missions front in Japan.

There were lots of singing. I found the songs unfamiliar, but very good - the songs were so wholesome in praise for God & a lot of them had to do with calling on God to send out people to the missions field. There were some games (which related to Japanese culture), a trivia quiz on Japan, more games, a dance item presented by 2 Japanese guys & a bunch of Asian ladies (not sure if all are Japanese) dressed in kimono, & then more games.

There were some audio-less overhead slideshows of some missionary families in Japan. One guy also talked about the latest happenings of one missionary family (Steve, wife Saeko part-Japanese, if I recall correctly). Steve's still in the process of mastering the Japanese language, & that is one of his prayer points. I think Steve & Saeko have been to our church previously when we had another of those OMF events. Another who also visited our church previously is that Ned Flanders look-alike Gary Weston.

Pastor Peter Chen (the OMF State Representative) gave a message. From what I can remember, he mentioned that Japan is prosperous in terms of wealth & technology, but spiritually there is a need for them to hear the gospel as many people there are not familiar with the gospel (lack of exposure). He also said that missionaries are needed to go to Japan, whether for short-term & long-term stay. Those missionaries could be well among the people present yesterday. There was also group prayer sessions, & then we finished the nite with supper.

While the nite overall was reasonable, it wasn't really what I expected. I was expecting to see videos of God's work in Japan - perhaps a 50-60 minute video that we had in past Discover Asia events, which give a background of the country in focus, & talk about God's work (via the missionaries) in that country, & maybe some interviews with some of those missionaries. But there were no videos! Instead, we got various audio-less slides. I was also expecting perhaps 1 or 2 of the missionary families to come & share their personal experiences in Japan. No missionaries turned up. Instead, as already mentioned, there was someone who talked on behalf of 1 of the missionary families - which is fine & good, but just not the same as hearing first-hand from the missionaries themselves.

But hey, it was ok. It was time well spent learning a bit about another culture, about God's work in another country & praying with fellow believers. And of course, the food. Enoch's noodles were tasty - he flavoured it with miso soup, & included some seaweed which, eaten together with the noodles, made it even more tasty. His noodles were initially untouched, & suddenly were all gone in a matter of minutes. Some of the snacks (Japanese & other Asian) I brought in were not touched, so I took them back.....

Anyway, to finish, I pray that God would continue to look after the missionaries in Japan, also pray that God would send more missionaries over to Japan to assist in efforts to spread His Word.