Feedback – tell us more…

15 Oct Feedback – tell us more…

Re: Thank you for Seattle Missions Fest 2012!
Date: October 18, 2012
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the excellent Seattle Missions Fest 2012! The organizing, planning, and care which was an encouragement to many to the glory of God!
Thank you for all the extra details that made the weekend run smoothly in ministry.
The following are a few suggestions (simply suggestion which may not be practical and are certainly NOT criticisms in any way. These are only suggestions for consideration for future Missions Fest):
1. Has a study been done regarding why people attend Missions Fest? In other words, do they come for the speakers or do they come because of the encouragement and all they learn at Missions Fest? I personally do not think they come just for the speakers.
2. Possibly not have a plenary meeting on Saturday morning, but rather have a pastors, missionary, volunteer appreciation brunch.
3. Consider shortening the plenary meetings to about 1¼ hours and have very little music with one or two general mission-challenging videos which are in abundance, but which are exciting, challenging and convicting in sharing the needs of missions worldwide.
4. In the plenary meetings, have ushers pass out special announcements, encourage people and help with counseling if needed.
5. Have clearly marked volunteers walk around throughout the building throughout the day so people can ask questions, obtain information about Missions Fest, seminars, exhibits, etc.
6. Encourage all missions represented at Missions Fest to send an email to their mailing lists of friends, supporters and churches in Washington and invite them to attend Missions Fest.
7. Have someone personally call every church in the Seattle area and encourage them to make special announcements each Sunday of the month before Missions Fest.
8. Have a minimum of two Missions Fest personnel/volunteers to attend each seminar. Not only to help set up, but to distribute literature and to thank the people when they leave. They could also help with counseling and answer questions afterward.
9. To help save a lot of coordination, I would recommend that Missions Fest NOT arrange for projectors, equipment, etc., but to have all seminar speakers to provide their own. They could ask for help with a technician if needed.
10. You might want to consider limiting the number of “home missions” in relation to “foreign missions.” For example, if you have 15 seminars at one time, you can make sure that 10 are related to “foreign missions”, with 5 relating to “home missions.”

Thank you, again, dear friends. Let me state again that these are only comments for consideration. Very little could be improved on the conference this year. The time I spent on Friday and Saturday greatly encouraged me in my life for His glory!
I personally thank each of you for ministering to several thousand over the weekend to the glory of God with the gospel among the nations.
Let me encourage you with the following, ” . . . for a wide door for effective service has opened to [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][us], and there are many adversaries . . . Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men [be mature], be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:9, 13-14, nasb).
Sincerely in Christ,
Doug Nichols

Hello,
I personally attended the workshop put on by Kings High School Drama – It was fabulous!!! Only one of my students attended that one and we wished that all had.
1. This was my first experience at Missions Fest Seattle.
2. I would consider attending again next year.
3. My students enjoyed the day, but one comment from a parent (and the students agreed) was that if the descriptions had been more clear for each session, they might have chosen differently.
4. The pre-conference communication was great.
5. Other comments: We had a great day and I was blessed by the feedback from my students on Monday as they shared with each other the things that they heard/ learned. I asked them to “vote” about whether I should take future classes and almost all of them enthusiastically said that I should – that they thought they would enjoy it. Some of the seminars were “boring” to the students, but many were very engaging and they were excited to share what they had learned.
Suggestions: Use the multimedia equipment with the main session speakers…it would have been great to have pictures or something on those large screens – or even just to project the speaker up there or use a document camera so that we could see the items they were showing up close.
The students asked me to request that more exhibits be open for Friday Field trip!
Also – if there is a way to spread out the exhibits that ARE planning to be open for the kids, it would really help the traffic flow. There were several “exciting” exhibits placed right next to each other and students were packed into the walkway and some were kind of getting “trampled.” Then there were large areas where there were no open exhibits.
Thank you for your fabulous organization and preparation for Christian Schools. It was so nice to have a place just for us to go and get our bags, and be told exactly where to sit, etc. That felt very well thought out.
Thanks again! We had a great day overall.
Kelly Kidd
Cascade Christian Schools – Puyallup
5th/6th grade

Dear friends, I really enjoyed the Missions Fest and especially the plenary sessions and the seminars I attended.
Sincerely,
Dick Lasse, retired missionary

Bellevue Christian – with 4th-8th graders only, the “tone” of the event felt a bit young for HS kids. Several kids expressed with for expanded workshop descriptions. Very impressed with organization of event.

As far as the Friday field trip goes, I enjoyed it. I thought the plenary speakers were brief and engaging enough to hold the students’ interest. The seminar topic we chose was pertinent to students (5 ways to get involved in missions). The presenter was engaging and energetic. He basically did a 5-point outline of how to get involved in missions.
Warmly,
Dave

We attended the Friday Field Trip. It was very helpful having volunteers everywhere to ask questions at the beginning of the opening session. The speakers’ stories were very interesting, telling us about those whose lives are so different from us and how the missionaries are helping them. Ernie Klassen was a fabulous speaker: he kept all the kids’ interest with great story telling skills presenting his topic. The designated seats for home schoolers were not enough. Thank you all for the work you did to make this happen. May God bless you for encouraging us to get excited about His Great Commission. Nobi

Dear Heather,
Just wanted to write you personally and thank you so much for the opportunity we had to share at MFS. How exciting it was to see the seminars packed for all of the presenters (I had 50!) and to see such interest in the youth of today in missions. In fact grand total for the conference we passed out nearly 1000 brochures to interested youth and adults! So again thank you so much for the wonderful job that you do. We can’t wait until next year!
In Christ,
Ryan & Erin Fast

Heather,
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed yesterday! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of the field trip. I think we had 90 kids come through our workshop. My volunteer was a huge blessing. It was great to have someone supervising the door as they came in. She also helped me during the session. I loved the bigger room as well. Thanks so much for all your hard work in organizing.
In His service!!
Adrienne

I want to thank Beth for her persistence in contacting “live” people at various Christian schools. She sticks with a task! Great job, Beth! Heather[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]