Asia-Pacific DSes Experience Breakthrough Event

Thirty-six district superintendents from sixteen nations gathered in Singapore, November 11-14, for the first Asia-Pacific Region District Superintendents’ Conference.  Regional Director, Rev. Verne Ward reports, “We had a wonderful time this week, experiencing God’s presence in every service and workshop.  There were moments of spontaneous prayer and praise.   Many of the participants spent time early each morning in a designated prayer garden to intercede for each other and their nations.  The messages of Dr. Jesse Middendorf, Dr. Louie Bustle and Rev. Kow Shih Ming were truly anointed.  We were blessed by the Spirit-filled music of female duet “By Grace” from Australia. The testimonies of district leaders were inspirational, moving us to times of confession, repentance and forgiveness.  We believe this event will prove to be a breakthrough for the church on this region!”

The denomination’s mission statement -- “to make Christlike disciples in the nations” --  was intentionally chosen as the theme for this transformational event.   In a series of strategic seminars and sermons, the mission statement was closely examined through several guiding questions. Who are the “nations” that God is calling us to reach?  What does it mean to be a “Christlike” leader who develops Christlike followers?  What is the essence of true “discipleship”?  What is the process of “making” disciples and building the kingdom?

Throughout the event, testimonies by various superintendents proved that the Asia-Pacific leaders are catching the vision.

One leader, serving in a challenging area enthusiastically expressed, “God loves Muslims.   They are our neighbors.  We must share Christ’s love with them.   We have thought the doors were closed, but now we realize the door has already been opened because Christ has already entered.  We want to go back and bless them and serve them.” 

A superintendent from a struggling district admitted, “God needs to break our hearts sometimes to get us to love and forgive other people.  I need to go back and care less about doing “church” and more about loving people.”

 

The leader of one of the oldest districts on the region committed himself to “stand in the Spirit’s power and do the things I need to do to lead our district.”   “We are not lacking resources,”
 he said,  “and yet we are just sitting doing nothing.   Our poverty is in relationships.  We need unity amongst each other.  We need to confess together our lack of respect and forbearance with each other and repent.  So I will be persistent and have the heart of a hero to move ahead with great plans for the future of the church!”  

As the testimonies continued, one leader confessed,  “I was tempted to resign the DS’s role and concentrate on my local church and my family.  But I have realized that perhaps my own heart has been closed.   At this event, I have recommitted to making myself more open, more vulnerable.”

Two pastors from PNG summed the week up with their comments.  One said, “this week, I feel like we’ve been in the upper room. This isn’t a conference, it’s a time of prayer and fasting.  I’ve been crying all week and I’m still crying.  I saw on one of our videos the ring of fire surrounding our region and I feel this fire is around me.”  The other pastor concluded, “I am full of joy, along with my 12 brothers from PNG.  God has done a great thing in our lives this week!

this post was filed under Around The Region on Nov 21, 2007