June 5, 2019–Bogotá Colombia—Leaders who claim evangelism as their primary call to ministry met Wednesday as the Global Evangelist Alliance (GEA), part of the agenda of a week of events in conjunction with the annual meeting of Empowered21.
The idea for an alliance geared toward mobilizing evangelists around the world was proposed during a gathering of the E21 Global Council meeting in Singapore in 2017. Renowned Evangelist Daniel Kolenda, a member of the Global Council, accepted the call to lead the GEA and a formative group came together for the first time at E21 in Johannesburg last year.
“We want to be guided by and in strategic alignment with the Holy Spirit,” said 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.” Kolenda, who leads the organization Christ for All Nations, was referring to the vision of Empowered 21which 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.”
Jean-Luc Trachsel, co-chair of the GEA said, “We are in a new season of harvest…we need the Holy Spirit behind us as a rushing, mighty wind!” Trachsel is the director of the International Association of Healing Ministries and a member of the Core Team of Europe Shall Be Saved.
During the day-long session at the Bogotá 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 Empowered 21 Global Council. The leadership network would have representation from denominations and other ministry organizations and would include focus groups, 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.”
“What we are talking about today can change the world,” Kolenda continued. “We are creating a platform for evangelists to arise. We are the tip of the spear and I believe God has His hands on it.”
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. Empowered21 was launched in 2010 with a global conference on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2015, leaders from around the world gathered in Jerusalem. Subsequent meetings during the week of Pentecost have taken place in London (2016), Singapore (2017), and Johannesburg (2018). Other regional E21 events, particularly in Asia, have occurred through the years as well.
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. Livestream of the conference is available at E21bogota.com.
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About Empowered21
Empowered21 aims to help shape the future of the global Spirit‐empowered movement throughout the world by focusing on crucial issues facing the movement and connecting generations for intergenerational blessing and impartation. Get more information at www.empowered21.com. Empowered21 is a Kingdom initiative served by Oral Roberts University, www.oru.edu.