by Anton Myburgh (Shofar Network)
The Empowered21 Global Congress, which took place from 20 to 25 May, was the largest gathering of Spirit-filled believers in Jerusalem since the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit described in Acts 2 and a group of Shofar pastors and leaders joined 4,500 others from every continent, including more than 100 pastors from China, 900 from Indonesia and 500 from Africa. There are 11 regions under Empowered21, all of whom were represented at the congress and it was amazing to see so many global leaders making the commitment to work together.
If you’d like to know more about Empowered21 and our involvement, take a look at Fred’s post about the history and vision of the movement.
More than 120 speakers travelled to the conference at their own expense and many leaders, including Lawrence Kong from Singapore, testified about the manner in which God spoke to them about His plans to unite the Church. It was a real honour to receive impartation from some of the older generals of the faith like Jack Hayford and George O. Wood.
The humility and Christ-centred messages of the speakers were very reassuring. Enoch Adeboye, who leads the largest church in Africa with more than a million people under one roof every Sunday, came onto the stage, went on his knees and simply started to sing Come let us adore Him.
When Niko Njotorahardjo, who has a very large following in Indonesia, came onto the stage and started singing Your presence is heaven to me. There was an overwhelming focus by all the speakers on the simplicity of the gospel, the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses as opposed to performance orientated ministry. Singing and dancing with people from so many different cultures felt like a foretaste of heaven.
Jentzen Franklin emphasised the importance of “teaching our children the language of the Holy Spirit.” He and many others said that they were third, fourth or even fifth generation pastors, demonstrating the power of multigenerational impartation. Claudio Friedzon from Argentina and his daughter Daniela who interpreted for him was yet another example of impartation to the next generation. Daniel is a co-chair of Empowered21’s Next Generation Youth Network NGYN21.
On the final night the Global Council anointed and prayed for every leader. What stood out above all is the fact that Empowered21is a move of God, not of man. As the Shofar movement we’re very excited to be a part of God’s bigger plan!
Save these dates for events coming up over the next few years.
For photos of the congress, visit the Empowered21 Facebook page and for additional feedback, watch Anton’s sermon, What the Spirit is Saying (Part 1 & Part 2) on Shofar TV.