Empowered21 Global Council Precedes Latin American Congress

Spirit-empowered leaders from six continents are gathered this week in Bogotá, Colombia for the annual meeting of Empowered21 (E21) international leadership. The five days in Latin America are filled with strategic meetings and fellowship gatherings designed to advance and resource the Spirit-empowered community around the world.

The Global Council of E21 opened their annual leadership session on June 4 at the Grand Hyatt in Bogotá with introductions and reports from the various global regions. Global Co-chair of E21 Dr. Billy Wilson stated that while there are 65 members of the Global Council, more than 650 leaders are represented across 14 regions of the world.

“Empowered21 is a kingdom initiative, which God has entrusted us to steward,” Wilson told the Council. “This movement functions and succeeds through the efforts of the hundreds at the regional and local levels who have embraced the E21 mission and vision.”

This week’s E21 Global Council and Latin American Congress is the first such gathering to be held in South America.

Wilson introduced Caleb Wehrli, a missionary, evangelist and pastor who was named late last year as executive director of Empowered21. Wehrli reported on the growth of E21, particularly as it relates to engagement and social media.

Wilson also paid tribute to former director Ossie Mills, who before his passing in February, served E21 as executive director for five years.

The Council heard reports from leaders of other initiatives of E21, including “Next Gen,” Discipleship Commission, Global Evangelist Alliance, and a Scholars Consultation, which convened in the same location on June 3-4. Scholars from around the world presented papers on “Poverty, Its Impact, and the Responses of Spirit-Empowered Communities.” Other scholars joined by video conferencing.

“The presentations stirred deep emotions for the social brokenness being experienced by many that the Spirit-empowered communities seek to help,” said Dr. Mike Rakes, Global Council Liaison to the Spirit-empowered Scholars. “The perspectives varied dramatically and exposed the contextualization that has to be done by scholars to formulate suppositions and lead Spirit-empowered Scholars to asking the hard questions that lead to the future.”

The remainder of the June 4 afternoon session focused on discussion of plans for the upcoming Jerusalem 2020 Global Congress, set for May 31 through June 3, 2020. Highlights of upcoming events in Bogotá include a day-long meeting of the Global Evangelist Alliance on June 5, followed by the Latin American Congress which begins Wednesday evening at the G12 Convention Center and concludes Friday night.

How Every Person Could Encounter the Holy Spirit by Pentecost 2033

Leaders for whom evangelism is their primary call to ministry met to strategize ways the Global Evangelist Alliance (GEA) can continue spreading the message of Jesus Christ around the world. The gathering was part of the annual meeting of Empowered21.

“We want to be guided by and in strategic alignment with the Holy Spirit,” said renowned evangelist Daniel Kolenda in his opening statement to the room of over two dozen evangelists. “Gathered in this room are those who have the ability to reach the world … we need one another to collaborate and cooperate. If we are to meet the 2033 goal, it can’t be done without evangelists,” said Kolenda, who leads the organization Christ for All Nations.

The goal to which he’s referring is the vision of Empowered 21, which states in part “that every person on Earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit by Pentecost 2033.”

Kolenda accepted the call to lead the GEA last year at an Empowered21 meeting in Johannesburg after the idea for an alliance geared toward mobilizing evangelists around the world was proposed in 2017 during a gathering of the E21 Global Council in Singapore.

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“We are in a new season of harvest,” said Jean-Luc Trachsel, co-chair of the GEA and director of the International Association of Healing Ministries and a member of the core team of Europe Shall Be Saved. “We need the Holy Spirit behind us as a rushing, mighty wind!”

During the day-long session at the Bogota Grand Hyatt, the group discussed several concepts for the GEA to potentially adopt. Kolenda introduced the framework of an app that would connect tens of thousands of evangelists around the world, offering a platform for posting and creating events, social networking and tracking salvations through a vast network of leaders. Kolenda also unveiled a proposed chain of leadership which included representatives at the city, district, national and regional levels. Core leadership would come from the GEA Executive Committee under the Empowered21 Global Council. The leadership network would have representation from various denominations and ministry organizations and would include focused discussion on demographics to be reached such as women, children, pastors and schools.

Dr. Billy Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University and co-chair of the Empowered 21 Global Council, addressed the GEA in their afternoon session stating, “If we are to reach every person on earth by 2033, evangelists will be on the front lines. We must use every means possible.”

The GEA finished their session late in the afternoon, following a noon adjournment of the Global Council, which had been in session since Tuesday.

This week’s E21 Global Council and Latin American Congress is the first gathering to be held in South America. The Latin American Congress began Wednesday evening at the G12 Convention Center with keynote speakers Cesar Castellanos and Cash Luna. The congress continues all day Thursday and Friday, concluding Friday night.

E21 Launches Historic Global Evangelist Alliance

Evangelists from around the world and various Spirit-empowered denominations and ministries gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa to launch the Empowered21 Global Evangelist Alliance (GEA), chaired by Evangelist Daniel Kolenda, President and CEO of Christ for the Nations.

“The purpose of this very influential group of evangelists in coming together is key for the success of the movement,” said Dr. Billy Wilson, Global Co-chair of Empowered21 and President of Oral Roberts University. “Our heart mission is that every person on earth would have an encounter with the Holy Spirit by the year 2033. To do that we must have massive collaboration and integration with evangelists from all sectors of the Spirit-empowered world.”

“The Spirit-empowered community is the fastest growing segment in the Christian faith,” Kolenda stated. “The Global Evangelist Alliance is designed to bring evangelists together to connect, strategize, and identify key influencers from this anointed segment of ministry. Together, we can connect with the broader Christian world and reach the lost for Christ”

 

Kolenda gave a report on the formation of the GEA to the Empowered21 Global Council when it met earlier this week in Johannesburg. He stated that, in order to accomplish the year 2033 goal, “evangelists will have to be involved in a big, big way… I interact with thousands of evangelists and they need a platform. Establishment of this alliance places the gifts of the evangelist within the movement.”

 

On Wednesday, Kolenda met with a group of nearly two dozen evangelists in Johannesburg to officially launch the Alliance. It is one of four initiatives under the covering of Empowered21, including Next Gen, Discipleship, and a Scholars Consultation, which also met earlier this week. Progress reports on all four initiatives were presented to the Council.

 

Attending the Johannesburg gathering were Vlad Agapov, Pulse Movement; Mac Barnes Jr., Precious Pearl, Inc.; Russell Benson, Christ for All Nations; Steven Booysen, Christ for All Nations; Brian Brennt, YWAM Circuit Riders; Andy Byrd, YWAM Circuit Riders; Stephan Christiansen, Jesus Revolution; Ben Fitzgerald, Awakening Europe; Daniella Friedzon-McCabe, Kink of Kings Church, Argentina; Mikel French, Mikel French Ministries; Teo Hayashi, Circuit Riders; Jeri Hill, Steve Hill Ministries; Tim Innes, Luis Palau Association; Daniel King, Soul Winners Alliance; Daniel Kolenda, Christ for All Nations; Michael Koulianos, Jesus Image; Ron and Katie Luce, Teen Mania; Ron Maddux, Assembly of God World Missions; Bernie Moore, Bernie Moore Ministries; Nathan Morris, Shake the Nations Ministries; Joe Oden, Joe Oden Ministries; Ladonna Osborn, Osborn Ministries International; Christopher Overstreet, Bethel Redding; Ta Ralekholela, Gospel Fire Ministries; Donna Schambach, R.W. Schambach Foundation; Levi Stewart, Christ for All Nations; Jean-Luc Trachsel, Europe Shall Be Saved; Mattheus van der Steen, Mission and Revival; Marina Mariane Vilela, Iris Global; and Todd White, Lifestyle Christianity

 

On Thursday, thousands of delegates from more than a dozen African nations and other countries from around the world took part in the first full day of the 2018 E21 Africa Congress. A morning session featured speakers Fakhry Hanna and Frank Chikane, with a keynote message from Niko Njotorahardjo, senior pastor of the 250,000-member Gereja Bethel Church in Indonesia. George Wood and Cindy Jacobs closed out the second half of the morning session. The afternoon was filled with a variety of track speakers leading sessions on a variety of topics including evangelism, business, and children’s ministry. The evening general session featured a keynote message from Daniel Kolenda followed by an extended time of prayer for miracles and healings.