All the reports I'm hearing about this year's World Mission Workshop indicate that it was a big success. It was my first experience serving on the steering committee for an event of this magnitude, so I'm absolutely thrilled. The real stars of the event, in my opinion, were the dedicated, mission-minded students who attended.
I don't have the final count on number of attendees, but we had close to 1,000 (including Oklahoma Christian students and other local guests) at the event. We also had several visitors from overseas.
Allen Thompson, left, gathers with students who have committed to work in Africa. Allen is a native of Ethiopia.
Bob Carpenter, a missions professor at Oklahoma Christian, was the main coordinator for the event. He did an amazing job. To his right is Peter Cariaga, who served as emcee for the keynote sessions.
G'day! How about this for an Australian-themed photo? Frank Cunningham is a minister in a suburb of Sydney. He was in town speaking at the workshop and visiting with Kent and Nancy Hartman, former missionaries to downunder.
Look at this session! Mark Hooper, a longtime missionary to India, talked about Muslim evangelism and had a huge turnout. The most incredible thing about this photo is that it was taken at 2 p.m. on a Saturday — with beautiful weather outside. The students costantly amazed me by showing interest in all of the sessions and classes.
We hosted a special Sudan interest group lunch during the workshop. Here's Ken Grimm and his wife, Gracie, at the lunch. The Grimms have been active in mission work among Darfur refugees living in the Nuba mountains in Sudan. A good number of students attended the lunch and stayed after to talk to the Grimms.
At the workshop, we also hosted a special screening of "God Grew Tired of Us," a National Geographic documentary about refugees from the war in Sudan (often called "Lost Boys") and the adjustments they had to make when they were resettled in the United States. The film was absolutely amazing. We had a packed house, and there were plenty of laughs and tears throughout. What really made the experience great is that we had John Gak (center) with us. He's a native of Sudan who has helped the Lost Boys for many years through an organization he started — Brothers Organization for Relief (BOR). It shares it's name with Bor county in Sudan, wher John Gak grew up. With him are Calvin Bailey, a member of the Swope Parkway Church of Christ in Kansas City, Mo., which supports BOR, and Lloyd Deal, a member at Memorial Road who has worked in Africa and knows John Gak.
Samuel Twumasi, minister for the Nsawam Road Church of Christ in Accra, Ghana, spoke during the workshop. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the conservatory where he spoke was packed. Students were lining the wall in the back.
Here's Sam praying with a student as the final keynote session concludes.
Here's me and Sam at the Memorial Road church. (You'll notice I'm celebrating Georgia's victory over Florida.)
In case you haven't seen it yet, here's Oklahoma Christian's new pavilion and clock tower.
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