SWAG at CAWF in ROC about LRPGs

When I arrived at the conference site I knew I was in the right place, because of the logos on the banners. No, they didn't give us the banners, but they did give us many other things with the C&MA logo or the name of the conference on it. SWAG stands for either Souvenirs, Wearables and Gifts or "Stuff We All Get" depending on who you talk to.  Items we all received with the C&MA logo imprinted on them included two ties, two key chains, a lapel pin, a shaving kit and a flashlight. 

 The volunteers at this conference wore the "four fold" smocks to identify themselves. CAWF stands for Chinese Alliance World Fellowship, and over 160 gathered in Taipei, Taiwan, ROC for the fourth conference from all over Asia, North America, Europe and Africa.

The theme of the conference concerned encouraging the younger generation to get involved in world evangelization.

The conference was held in Mandarin, but fortunately translation was available. It was encouraging to hear the passion and vision of the participants, and to hear of a wider vision to look beyond reaching Chinese worldwide, to reach all LRPGs, or Least Reached People Groups.

Our colleague in Fukuoka, Pastor Shao, gave a heartfelt plea for a focus on the needs of Japan. I can't speak Mandarin, although there is some overlap with Japanese in the pronunication of some words, but even I could hear a difference in Pastor Shao's manner of speaking.

I learned later that it's the Beijing and northern China accent, and it stands out. Pastor Shao grew up in China as a loyal communist and atheist, until He met Christ in Japan. He's now introducing other Chinese to Christ in Fukuoka, where there are 40,000 Chinese living in the city.

I was thankful for the chance to represent the mission at the conference, and the swag was a bonus.