About nine months ago, I suddenly woke up on a Friday morning with a sentence in my mind: “Children love Bible stories, like Daniel and the lions’ den.”

Initially, I found this strange and didn’t understand its significance. However, as I prayed on my way to work, the idea of creating engaging social media videos to share Bible stories with kids began to take shape.

When I arrived at church for our team devotional at 9am, something extraordinary happened. The pastor paused during his message and said, “Children love Bible stories, like Daniel and the lions’ den.”

I was astonished! What were the odds that someone else would repeat the exact phrase I had woken up to, just an hour later?

I have to admit, connecting with children doesn’t come naturally to me. I often feel awkward around them and don’t know why. 

Despite this, I felt compelled to seek God’s guidance regarding this unexpected confirmation. Perhaps He was directing me towards starting a kids’ ministry.

This marked the beginning of a series of remarkable confirmations to come.

Getting started

Initially, all I had was the idea from God to make Bible videos for kids on social media. But it was all pretty vague, and I had no clue how to proceed. What would the theme be? How should the videos look? What tools should I use to make them? I was clueless.

As I leaned into God more over the next few days, I started seeing symbolic visions of Japanese anime during my prayers. I also had impressions that pointed me towards AI.

Over time, I sensed that God might be guiding me to combine traditional video-editing programs with AI tools to generate anime-themed Bible videos designed to teach kids.

Even so, I wasn’t fully sure if this was God’s direction.

Nonetheless, I decided to go ahead and create my very first draft video, testing out AI to generate anime images that told the story of Daniel and the lions’ den, animated in vivid colour.

I also made videos of other Bible stories, including Jesus’ parables and some fun Bible trivia.

Perfectly timed

A few weeks later, on a Thursday afternoon, I was sitting in a pavilion in my neighbourhood park. I prayed, asking God to give me confirmation that I was heading in the right direction with this mix of AI and anime for kids.

I had the first video draft on my phone, and while sitting there, I decided to send it to my former colleague, Huey Ying.

Unexpectedly, just minutes after sending the video to Huey Ying, a teenage girl who happened to be jogging around the pavilion stopped and started talking to me. I’d never seen her before.

“Hello, what are you doing here?” she asked, enthusiastically striking up a conversation.

When I asked her what she wanted to do in the future, she told me she hoped to be an anime artist. Even more specifically, she said her parents thought that AI would make her job difficult, but she believed it was possible to work together with AI to create anime art.

I hadn’t mentioned anything to her about my inquiring prayer to God. She shared these things on her own accord.

What were the odds that a “random” stranger would talk to me about both anime and AI moments after I had literally just been pondering the exact same things with God and had sent my draft to a colleague?

I took this as a perfectly timed confirmation from God. Encouraged, I decided to start asking Him for guidance on the audience I should reach with these anime videos via social media.

The world is big, and I had no target audience in mind. But I trusted God would guide me to reach the right people, somehow.

Anime for… Africa?

One day, as I prayed, asking God for guidance on my target audience, He showed me symbolic representations of African countries.

At first, I was unsure of what I saw because I knew very little about African culture or its people. I didn’t even know if anime was popular there. Regardless, I asked God for a confirmation to encourage me.

Amid my uncertainty, God graciously affirmed things in an unexpected way.

The very next day, while taking a break at the office after lunch, I overheard two of my colleagues chatting about the vibrant Christian faith in African countries.

Throughout my two years working there, this was the first time I’d ever heard them discussing this – and I hadn’t even told them about what I’d prayed to God! Once again, the timing of His confirmation was impeccable.

The pieces began to fall into place with this newfound clarity. I started using AI, Premiere Pro, and After Effects to create a series of short, easy-to-understand anime Bible videos for African parents to share with their kids.

Just months ago, I could never have imagined even attempting this!

The birth of Bible Bento

When I prayed for a name for this ministry, God showed me a vision of a Japanese bento box.

I asked Him, “Why a bento box?” He impressed on me that bento boxes contain small, easy-to-consume portions of a variety of tasty foods.

Similarly, He desired for me to create “small” or short videos that would help to “feed” the Bible in an easy-to-digest, compartmentalised way that people could easily “carry” with them as they went about their lives, just like a bento box!

And so, Bible Bento was born! I created profiles on both Instagram and YouTube, and within weeks, by God’s grace, people started discovering the anime Bible videos I posted and leaving comments.

The vast majority of followers come from African countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa. Many of them are Christians who love animated films, particularly Japanese anime, and a lot of them are parents who have shared the videos with their kids.

Initially, I saw this as God’s ministry to encourage African Christians and children with His Word.

But, in reality, I too have been immensely blessed by interacting with Bible Bento’s followers. Every day, I receive at least 30-60 direct messages from wonderful people, many of whom have shared their amazing, life-changing testimonies with me.

I try my best to respond to every message, devoting 1-2 hours a day to do so. I’m grateful when they tell me how God has touched and transformed their lives in radical ways, which, in turn, touches my heart as well. Some share their troubles and prayer requests, and it has been a joy to fellowship with them online.

God has also reminded me that this ministry is not about growing the social media numbers, per se.

The anime Bible videos are merely an avenue to focus on showing love to people. Without this focus, without this heart, there is nothing. The numbers are just a nice by-product of first caring for the ones that God loves.

This led me to start a Bible Bento WhatsApp group. Inside, I post additional anime Bible content that fosters conversations among members about prayer requests, personal struggles and more.

From solo to squad

I had thought that Bible Bento would be just a solo ministry, where I’d handle the social media, video-making and all the necessary tasks on my own. But God had other plans, as I’ve delightfully learned!

Over the past few months, I made a friend from Nigeria named Rume. He had followed the Bible Bento account, and we began chatting through DMs. Now, we have great video chats on WhatsApp!

A few days ago, I had a dream. In it, I was doing all the work for Bible Bento alone, but suddenly, someone stepped in to aid me with the work. Then I heard God say, “Let this person help you.”

I woke up and, minutes later, checked my phone and realised that Rume had sent me a voice message on WhatsApp just hours before, while I slept. In it, he shared how God had been telling him more and more to help me with Bible Bento.

So, he decided to let me know that he was willing to be a part of the ministry, aiding me in the things that needed to be done.

I was shocked at the perfect timing of all of this. Rume had no idea that I just had a dream about welcoming someone to join me – and here he was, offering his time and effort!

Long story short, a few hours later, other surprising supernatural confirmations happened between Rume and me – things that we both witnessed that absolutely defied probability!

The two of us were delighted as we saw how God was in the picture, moving with us to build Bible Bento together.

What began as a solo ministry has now expanded to include Rume – and perhaps others down the line. These early steps towards forming a team have been incredibly encouraging.

As Bible Bento continues to grow, I often reflect on the possibility of expanding our team further. One day, I hope to be able to afford to hire freelance illustrators to help with the process, supporting their craft and ensuring a good balance between human talent and AI.

In September 2024, I will also be leaving my job at Thirst Collective to dedicate more time to creating content for Bible Bento. I’ll admit – it’s a little scary. But I trust that, somehow, God will provide and will continue to let this ministry reach whoever it needs to, as He desires.

That is what really matters.

Giving thanks

Looking back, I am filled with awe and gratitude for God’s plans and guidance.

From the spark of an idea to create social media Bible videos for kids to the many unexpected confirmations along the way, God has been faithfully directing every step.

The blessings and interactions with followers, the growth of the ministry, and the early steps to forming a team have all been orchestrated by Him.

I am deeply thankful to God for the incredible journey He’s brought me on thus far. As I continue to follow His lead, I look forward to sharing His Word with others, one anime video at a time, bento style!