Listening in silence to the radio as the weather report came through, our Ryukyuan friend explained to the team, “Two Typhoons are coming our way, and they may hit us!” Typhoons are common during this time of year and the Islands of Okinawa are often in their path.

Okinawa, Japan, a cluster of beautiful islands, is a cultural crossroads of many Asian and Western influences. Speakers of the Hogen dialect, “Okinawan,” number almost a million people. Although there are churches and Christians there reaching out to the lost, it was the opinion of locals there that

there are significant linguistic, cultural and social barriers that make it more difficult for English-speaking and Japanese-speaking Christian workers to effectively witness to and disciple these Ryukyuan people groups in Okinawa.

YWAM Okinawa, Aloha Ke Akua Ministries, churches in Okinawa and Hawaii, and three Create International teams partnered together to see a 15-minute dramatic evangelistic film produced in the Okinawan language. A crew of ten came together for three weeks, and were helped by local churches and YWAMers to cast actors, find locations, and film the scenes.

Two typhoons threatened the shooting schedule, but in the end, all scenes were completed and a rough-cut of the film was shown to the cast. Post production on the film will take at least six months. Please pray for the completion of the film and the effective use of it as an evangelistic outreach tool in churches and visiting short-term teams.