Don Wright (RJC Founder, Editor of Operation Japan Prayer, Former Missionary to Japan)
The growth of RJC, especially with the international conference and multiple regional meetings has pushed us to try something new, a multi-site one-day internet conference, a conference which would connect our various ministry locations, making broad connections, while being very local. It sounded like a simple easy idea, but it turned out to be much more complex with a large unexpected learning curve. And it helped us pray more than usual! It is hard to move a couch that stretches across the continent and even to Japan.
October 20th was the date. The theme: “Working Together to Reach Japanese.” The main speaker: Pastor Hiroaki Yonai, who is also the JCFN Chairman. The main conference hub was Northshore Community Church in Kirkland, Washington. This is the church where RJC actually was birthed. Please check out the recordings at https://rjcnetwork.org/conferences/2018-rjc-multi-site-conference/.
In order to qualify to be a multi-site location we asked the following:
- The possibility of interested people attending.
- A planning committee.
- A meeting place that will have the ability to project the internet meeting.
- The willingness to host the conference with lunch and additional programs, like seminars and panel discussions.
- Willingness to help cover the general expenses of the conference.
We were thankful for the 10 sites in the USA, and two in Japan. We had previously avoided having conferences in Japan, but the multi-site format made it possible to have one in Osaka and in Tokyo.
Besides the 12 sites we also promoted what we called “Mini-Conferences.” These were locations that had interested people, but not enough to meet the above five tasks. We asked the following:
- At least one person who would organize the event.
- The meeting place could even be the home of the leader.
- Internet connection. Probably most of the program would come from the main hub. And the mini-conference might even meet at a different time, using the conference recordings.
We know of at least three locations that did the mini-conference. The most organized location was Houston, where they were able to function like a multi-site event. Also, there were gatherings in Allentown, PA and in Indiana.
to be continued to Part 3
