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.
