Jakarta held its inaugural Empowered Asia 21 Congress to inspire the future of the Spirit-empowered movement.
Contributed By Dawn Seow
Thousands flocked to the inaugural Empowered Asia 21 Congress. PHOTO: Raymond Delon Poh.
Jakarta, Indonesia, welcomed delegates from over 40 countries at the Empowered Asia 21 Congress held in Sentul International Convention Center Jakarta, from Oct. 25 to 28. The three-day conference saw over 10,000 Christians gathering to seek a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Organized by E21 Asia Executive Cabinet, the International Center for Spiritual Renewal and Healing Movement Ministry, the event aimed to address and inspire the future of the Spirit-empowered works in Indonesia.
Consisting of nine learning conversations, three morning sessions and three night revival meetings, the event saw preachers from around the world speaking on issues that face the 21st century Spirit-empowered church in Asia. They also shared contemporary methods needed for engaging new generations in Spirit-empowered living.
Besides listening to Niko Njotorahardjo, senior pastor of GBI Gatot Subroto and Billy Wilson, executive director of the International Center for Spiritual Renewal who co-chairs the E21 Asia Executive Cabinet, the congregation also heard from Lawrence Khong from Faith Community Baptist Church, Singapore, Margaret Court from Victory Life Centre, Australia, and David Mohan from New Life Assembly of God, India, among many others.
Kong Hee, senior pastor of City Harvest Church, also spoke at the E21 Asia Congress. Invited to give a word at the first night’s revival meeting, Kong encouraged the congregation to use creative methods to reach the 13/30 window: those aged 13 to 30 years old. Kong shared that many revivals, past and present, were usually started by youth. Without young people, the church cannot continue its legacy, he said.
Kong cited examples of how the Holy Spirit was moving in Asia among the Korean, Indonesian, and Chinese churches. For example in Taiwan, many celebrities were becoming Christians. Kong then went on to share that while the message of the gospel is sacred, the method is not, and explained how the young people of today would be looking for faith that is creative and colorful, fun and dynamic, filled with unconditional love, as well as supernatural and experiential. “That is why there is an urgent need for the Church to remain relevant to the world outside,” preached Kong. Lastly, he challenged the congregation to use creative and dynamic methods to win the young people into the Kingdom of God.
Kong also spoke at a workshop session, covering the topic of “Empowering The New Generation.” Speaking to a crowd of around 800, Kong used the Bible story of Samson, the strongest man in history, to paint a picture of the generation of youths God wants to raise in this generation. He shared four things about Samson that the young can learn from: his purpose, power, progressiveness and prayer. Illustrating each point with Biblical examples, Kong demonstrated how Samson fulfilled the four areas in his life and what Christians could learn from these.
At the end of the session, Kong challenged the congregation to lead a life of consecration, to be committed to prayer and the Word, constantly led by the Holy Spirit and bold in using new and unconventional methods to reach out to the lost.
The conference came to an exciting end on the third day. Many delegates left the meetings empowered with a greater desire to live a more Spirit-empowered life. With the success of the conference, the organizers are confident that those who have been blessed will share their experiences with others in time to come, a sentiment they put on their Facebook page: “E21 Asia is not an event that ends today, but a movement that will continue.”
