Asuncion International Conference Update
12 July 2007.
Dear Carlos ,
Greetings in Christ's name. It is a joy for me to write you directly from Asuncion, Paraguay. God has blessed with a venue that gives us internet access, so I will be able to send regular updates from the international conference. Please expect to hear from me every few days, as the busy schedule of leading this historic event permits me.
The first ILI international conference in Spanish began two days ago with the ILI vision session taught by Dr. Wes Griffin. The group was enthusiastic and seemed to catch the vision through the translation into Spanish.
Though the weather was cold and humid, there was nothing cold about the presence of God or the enthusiasm of the leaders. The weather here in Paraguay "threw a curve" at all of us. Just a couple days ago it was a pleasant 25 degrees celsius, but as our participants began arriving Asuncion, temperatures plunged to about 8 degrees and the pouring rain and cold winds made it feel even colder. It was a surprise for some of our leaders coming from the tropical nations like Colombia and Venezuela who are having a hard time coping with the cold nights.
The temperatures are begining to warm up, but the spiritual climate in the
conference room is much higher than that, as you can see by the picture of participant Walter Omar Villagra from Paraguay. Leaders came from nations ranging from Mexico to Argentina. They represent a wide range of denominations. Some are local pastors with great potential to train people locally and nationally, while others are national church leaders with hundreds of thousands of people under their leadership. Some are young and others are older and seasoned men and women of God.
In the first day of the conferece Joy Griffin brought God's challenge to go deep as she taught the first
session on Intimacy with God. She reminded all of us again of the need to slow down and let our relationship with God to be priority in our lives. As usual, her teaching was very well received by all. She brought a strong bible study on the real meaning of knowing God. I was translating her and felt God convicting me of often focusing more on knowing about God than knowing Him in an intimate sense.
One of the groups in the final workshop of the session shared their insight about how to deepen their relationship with God. Their words were "We must quit allowing our schedule to be in control of our lives and begin to take control of our schedule."
May that be our prayer even as we continue to serve God faithfully in our ministries around the world.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Report from ILI Conference in Paraguay
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