Billy Wilson, George O. Wood Share Details of Empowered21 Global Congress at NRB

Empowered21 Global Co-Chair and Oral Roberts University President Billy Wilson shared details surrounding the Empowered21 Global Congress to be held in Jerusalem May 20-25, 2015, at a press conference held during the annual National Religious Broadcasters’ (NRB) International Christian Media Convention.

“This global congress could be a pivotal event for the future of the Spirit-empowered movement from around the globe,” Wilson said. “Jerusalem 2015 will be a moving experience, as thousands of Christians from around the world join together to ask for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”

The fastest-growing segment of Christianity is the Spirit-empowered movement, boasting approximately 620 million believers worldwide. These Christians believe that the full power of the Holy Spirit that came at Pentecost is available to them today. Spirit-empowered Christians take many forms, from charismatic Catholics to historic Pentecostal denominations to nondenominational churches.

Empowered21 is a relational network that 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. Its vision is 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. The Empowered21 Global Council recently affirmed Dr. George O. Wood, general superintendent for the Assemblies of God USA and chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, as global co-chair to serve alongside Wilson.

“Being selected to serve this esteemed group is a humbling honor,” Wood says. “I have committed my life to reaching more people with the salvation message of Jesus Christ and the full power of His Spirit. This new leadership opportunity is exciting for me because we are all working toward this same end as a world conclave of ministry leaders. I pray that God continues to give us wisdom of how to impart the full power of the Holy Spirit to the world and through new generations.”

The Jerusalem 2015 global congress will begin with a grand opening celebration in the Jerusalem Arena on Wednesday, May 20. The next day will feature general sessions and focused tracks, including prayer and intercession, discipleship task force, next-gen youth leaders, pastoral leadership, scholars’ consultation, prophetic themes, missions/global evangelism, the land of Pentecost, signs/wonders/healing, marketplace and church planting, and the book of Acts.

On Friday, May 22, an outdoor worship event will be held in Manger Square in Bethlehem. This will be a time of praise, prayer and preaching focused on the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem.

There will be a special service on Saturday, May 23, at the Jordan River, at the spot where it is believed that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. This part of the river also narrowly divides the nations of Israel and Jordan. Christians will gather on both sides of the river to pray and worship God together in unity.

Also on this day and other points in the week, conference attendees will spread out to bless the land in an outreach called “Hope in the Holy Land.” Attendees will work on a variety of service projects, including hosting blood drives, cleaning neighborhoods, feeding the poor and serving at community centers to show love and appreciation to the Holy Land.

On Sunday, May 24, attendees will spend the entire day in continuous worship and prayer at several points around the city of Jerusalem, including King of Kings Community.

The global congress will end Sunday night in a full-throttle Pentecost celebration at the Jerusalem Arena. Believers from around the world will unite to ask for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to reach the ends of the earth. This event is the celebration of Shavuot, occurring the same day as Pentecost Sunday on the Western calendar.

“There has been an amazing outpouring of support from Christian ministries and organizations from around the world toward the success of this event,” says Ossie Mills, global director for Empowered21. “We are thankful to see strategic partnerships forming and all of them working for the greater good of advancing the cause of Christ around the globe.”

The Empowered21 Global Congress in 2015 is a call to all believers from around the world to celebrate Pentecost in the land of Pentecost. Individuals can register online at jerusalem2015.com. Groups will get an 11th person free for every 10 people registered. 

The global council is encouraging Spirit-empowered Christians from around the world to join them for Jerusalem 2015. The global council includes E.A. Adeboye, Doug Beacham, Lisa Bevere, Charles Blake, Reinhard Bonnke, Jürgen Bühler, Isak Burger, Glenn Burris Jr., Omar Cabrera Jr., Juanita Cercone, Lazarus Chakwera, Hugo Sai Keung Chan, Ishmael Charles, Rick Ciaramitaro, Kenneth Copeland, Margaret Court, Daniel De Leon, Ulf Ekman, Chady El-Aouad, Ingolf Ellssel, Jeff Farmer, David Ferguson, Jentezen Franklin, Claudio Freidzon, Alton Garrison, John Glass, Jonas Gonzalez, Mart Green, Prince Guneratnam, Arto Hämäläinen, Jack Hayford, Tom Hess, Marilyn Hickey, Wayne Hilsden, Al Hollingsworth, Rob Hoskins, Brian Houston, Cindy Jacobs, Bill Johnson, Scott Kelso, Lawrence Khong, Young Hoon Lee, Dennis Lindsay, Ron Luce, Gordon McDonald, Gordon Moore, Robert Morris, Myles Munroe, Sandor Nemeth, Niko Njotorahardjo, Opoku Onyinah, Michel Ouedraogo, Oreste Pesare, Gordon Robertson, Samuel Rodriguez Jr., Steve Strang, Greg Surratt, Vinson Synan, Matthew Thomas, David Wells, Mark Williams, Wilson and Wood.