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Coming from over 70 nations, 45,000 Pentecostal and charismatic believers recently gathered at the Bethany Indonesia Church in Surabaya, Indonesia for the 21st Pentecostal World Conference.

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Chairman of the Pentecostal World Fellowship and Presiding Bishop of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Dr. James D. Leggett noted, “The theme of the conference, ‘Pentecost Today: Impartation to Impact Our World,’ expresses our confidence that God is moving by His Spirit today.”

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Clearly, the Holy Spirit is moving in Indonesia, the world’s largest populated Moslem country, as evidenced by the 21st Pentecostal World Conference being the first ever of these global interdenominational gatherings to be held in Indonesia. Representatives from the Indonesian government, along with Indonesian Islamic and Hindu leaders, attended the opening ceremony held at the 25,000-seat worship center built in part with Church of God assistance through the YWEA youth ministry.

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Indonesian Bethel Church of God Pastor Dr. Willy Josep, who served as host committee general chairman, voiced his prayer that global delegates attending the 21st Pentecostal World Conference not only “receive Holy Spirit impartation, but return to their homelands to impact their nations.”

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Keynote speakers included such Pentecostal luminaries as International Evangelist Reinhard Bonke, Senior Pastor of Hillsongs Assembly of God in Sydney, Australia Reverend Brian Houston, and the President of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel Dr. Jack W. Hayford.

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The climax of this historic meeting was during the closing service, in which the local host pastor, Lee University graduate Dr. Alex Tanuseputra?still recovering from a stroke?preached a most unique sermon translated by Church of God missionary to Indonesia Reverend A. Tommy Smith, Jr.?

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Dr. Tanuseputra used all of the holidays (“red-letter” date) on the Indonesian calendar to expound on how man can fellowship with the Holy Spirit, sharing Jesus’ life and ministry as observed on the calendar of the world’s largest Moslem populated country. The 25,000 people attending the service were challenged to impact their nations until a new “red-letter” date is added to the calendar: the second coming of Jesus Christ!

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The Reverend Dr. G. Dennis McGuire, presiding bishop of the world’s oldest existing Pentecostal denomination, the Church of God, officially represented this cutting edge movement, which has more than two million members in the Indonesian nation alone.? The Church of God finds herself in the center of the Holy Spirit wind blowing mightily across the Indonesian archipelago.

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Former Church of God General Overseer, Dr. R. Lamar Vest, who is currently the executive director for Ministries of the American Bible Society, spoke at one of the numerous workshops, as did the sitting national overseer of the Indonesian Bethel Church of God, Dr. Jacob Nahuway.

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Representing the Church of God World Missions department was Dr. W. Harold McLeod, field director of the Church of God in Asia Pacific, the region hosting the 21st World Pentecostal Conference.

The next Pentecostal World Conference is scheduled for Stockholm, Sweden in 2010.

 

A. Tommy Smith, Jr.
Missionary to Indonesia
Project Number 0600089