Missions Fest Northwest to

feature subjects of coming movie

   CLACKAMAS — Their amazing story is the kind of stuff of which movies are made. In fact, a movie about it is coming out nationwide in theaters next month.
    But Steve Saint and the Ecuadoran native Mincaye aren’t telling their story of reconciliation in Christ only through the upcoming major film End of the Spear. They also are telling it in person, including at the 2006 Missions Fest Northwest Jan. 20 and 21 at New Hope Community Church in Clackamas.
    Saint is the son of Nate Saint, one of the five famed Christian missionaries who died as martyrs in 1956 at the hands of the Waodani tribe in Ecuador. Mincaye is the tribesman who led the spearing raid of the five missionaries.
    Within months of the killings, a Waodani woman who had fled the village helped the wife of one of the missionaries and the sister of another to gain access to the Waodani village. They eventually saw the gospel of Christ dramatically change the culture of the tribe from violence to peace.
    That same gospel is why Steve Saint today shares such not only a church stage but also a movie script with his fellow Christian, Mincaye. The lives of both have intertwined in a tale of redemption and forgiveness that is outlined in End of the Spear.
    As an indicator of the timeliness of their Portland visit in relation to the movie’s release, Saint and Mincaye are scheduled to be featured in an interview on ABC-TV’s Good Morning America on Friday, Jan. 20.
   “Where else but in the Body of Christ could something like that happen,” said Bill McLeod, missions pastor at Greater Portland Bible Church, as he chaired a meeting last month of Missions Fest Northwest’s steering committee.
    Saint, who today is an author and conference speaker as well as founder of I-Tee, developing technologies for indigenous peoples, will be keynote speaker at Missions Fest Northwest. Other speakers will be Randy Alcorn, author, speaker and founder of director of Eternal Perspective Ministries in Gresham, and Justin Speerstra, frontier church planter among indigenous peoples.
    Theme for 2006 will be “Whatever It Takes!,” to cause a radical awakening to God’s call of believers to fulfill the Great Commis-sion.
Missions Fest also will offer more than 100 informative workshops, more than 60 mission exhibits and resources, and special music.
    The annual event is open to all with free admission. It is sponsored by Northwest area churches; location is rotated each year among several of the Portland area’s larger churches. The 2007 edition will be held at Sunset Presbyterian Church in Beaverton.
    On Friday, Jan. 20 there will be special pre-conference intensives to equip church missions leaders to direct their churches toward a more strategic missions focus.
    Missions Fest Northwest will be precended by a prayer rally from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, also at New Hope Community Church, 11731 S.E. Stevens Road.
    In a letter to local pastors, Rick Calenberg, Northwest regional director for SIM (Serving in Mission) and a member of the Mission Fest Northwest committee, expressed his belief that this year’s event will be of great benefit to the local Christian community.
   “I am convinced Missions Fest Northwest is going to be one of the most significant events in the Portland area in 2006 and is part of what God is doing in igniting a new passion for revival and missions outreach in the churches of our city,” he wrote.
    For more information about the event, go to www.missionsfestnw.com
KPDQ and KFIS “104.1 The Fish” radio will broadcast live from Missions Fest Northwest. A special conference program will be inserted into next month’s edition of Christian News Northwest.