Next Generation of Spirit-Filled Leaders Gathers in Dubai

Empowered21 hosted emerging young leaders from around the world at the E21 NextGen Summit, Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 2019, in Dubai in a successful effort to equip and inspire them to meet the challenges they face in their globally influential ministries. The summit was part of E21’s Next Gen Network (NGN).

Summit sessions addressed the key goals to be met in facilitating another great outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the next generation of leaders: rallying Spirit-empowered movements and people, creating a global community of emerging Spirit-empowered leaders, the witness of Spirit-empowerment in the marketplace alongside the local church and the need to identify crucial issues that potentially stand in the way of the next generation becoming Spirit-empowered.

“Authenticity, approachability and accountability are vital in ministry to new generations,” said Terry Parkman, E21 NGN Co-chair and Nextgen pastor at River Valley Church in Burnsville, Minnesota. “Young people are looking for an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit. They need to see the Holy Spirit as approachable and a part of their everyday lives, and seek environments where there is accountability in the expressions of the Holy Spirit.”

As NGN liaison to the Global Council, Rob Hoskins, president of OneHope, encouraged the group to stay in constant contact and share resources and best practices to guide them in living the Spirit-empowered life.

“This is just the beginning of greater things to come as we work together to see all the world reached with the gospel of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit,” said Caleb Wehrli, Executive Director of Empowered21.

Dr. Billy Wilson, E21 global co-chair and president of Oral Roberts University, addressed the NGN leaders sharing that, as a spiritual father, he was grateful for this season of life to witness the fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:14—”[T]he earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the seas.”

“These are the most exciting times to be alive,” said Wilson. “What God is doing in the earth has never been superseded, and you are going to be part of that and the future.”

Next-generation believers will also participate in the upcoming Empowered21 Latin America Congress in Bogota, Colombia June 5-7, 2019. This year’s Congress will feature spiritual fathers and mothers in ministry side by side with their spiritual sons and daughters. It will begin with a Latin-American ceremony on Wednesday night and close with an anointing service for the next generation on Friday evening. The days will feature Spirit-empowered workshops to equip leaders for next-generation ministry.

The NGN executive council will also construct plans to mobilize global next-generation representation at Jerusalem2020, the Empowered21 celebration of Pentecost, May 31- June 3, 2020. The Global Congress will unite thousands from each generation to celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit and begin to anticipate in 2033 the 2,000th anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit recorded in the book of Acts. {eoa}

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. Their 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. Get more information about Africa 2018 and Jerusalem 2020 at www.empowered21.com. Empowered21 is a Kingdom initiative served by Oral Roberts University, www.oru.edu.