Church with Fire
The recent Leadership Conference in the USA took place on August 12-15, 2012. The event was privileged with having Ps. Daniel Hanafi leading it. The conference was packed with IFGF GISI Pastors from all over the United Stated and some from Ecuador. In addition, there were young leaders and participants joining this conference to move together to “the Next Level”. Before the session started, IFGF GISI LA greeted the pastors with a beautiful poem. It was then followed with Ps Daniel Hanafi’s sharing at the opening session on the topic “Church with Fire”, discussing the characteristics of one.
The Next Level
The second day started with a powerful sermon from Ps. Jimmy Oentoro “the Next Level”. So, how do we go to the next level? We need to take the road less taken and dare to be nothing, going from selfishness to selflessness. Selflessness is what will bring us to the next level. Ps. Mike Chrisdion, the youth pastor of IFGF GISI LA, later shared about “Generation IY- Moving Target”. This is a generation that was born in early 1980 and 1990 when most of our churches were struggling to connect and understand each other. Ps. Mike shared about the characteristics of this generation, compared them with those of the previous generation, and talked about how the church can connect with them. Then, the next session consisted of a discussion panel by some IFGF GISI young leaders in the US (Stacy Oentoro, Charissa Hanafi, John Mendez, Kevin Pranoto, Ching Ming Lie, Anh Luu, Cipta Harun and Disa Winata) with Ps. Mike as the moderator. When Ps. Mike threw the question on what they thought about our church, they shared about the struggles they experienced between the church and themselves. The sharing was eye opening for most pastors, helping them to understand more about these young leaders and how they should connect with them. The second day was closed with the discussion among IFGF GISI churches in the US based on their regional classifications (east, central, and west).
IFGF Momentum for the Next Level
The following day which was the third day of LC was first led by Ps Daniel Hanafi in the morning. The session was called “IFGF Momentum for the Next Level”. What are these momentums talked about? They are the vision, the discipleship process, the mission, the 2nd generation ministry, and leadership. Ps. Jimmy Oentoro was in the next session on “Press On” and followed by Ps. Fendy Hutomo’s teaching about “Building the 4 Pillars Ministry in the Local Church”. The evening session took on a slightly different topic, which was mainly on children’s ministry with Ms. Fida Pramono sharing about “Understanding 21st Century Children in the US and the Importance of Children’s Ministry for Church Growth”. During the evening, parents shared their inputs and discussed about what they expected from the children’s ministry. At the end of the day, a guide on how to run a Sunday Service was presented. On this very same day, a painting auction was held whose funds all go to the African mission.
Dare you to move- the Next Level of Thinking, Action, and Provision
The last day of LC 2012 finally came. But after spending 3 days in the conference, pastors and leaders became more on fire. On this day, Ps. Daniel Hanafi called all the young participants under 30 years old to come up and be prayed for. They are the next generation and future leaders of our church. As closing, Ps Jimmy Oentoro led the last session on “Dare you to move- the Next Level of Thinking, Action, and Provision”. It was truly a blessed leadership conference where the young generation had a chance to meet up, share, and walk together with all IFGF GISI US pastors in one direction, which is “to The Next Level.”
Original story: http://www.ifgf.org/index.php/en/news/1-latest-news/1255-2012-lc-usa-the-next-level
