THE CONQUEST CONTINUES
Pastor Francis G Alvarado
“The church will not grow outside the atmosphere of war,” said one G12 coach. When you commit yourself to the Vision, you will be in the position to receive the three major covenant blessings as declared in Psalm 105 – the blessing of your very own lot as your inheritance (v.11); the blessing of multiplication of disciples (v.24); and the blessing of what the nations labored (v.44). But before you claim these blessings, you must persistently fight and be in conquest.
Being aware of this, the Metro Manila North Region (MMNR) conducted series of encounters for new believers and re-encounters for the new leaders in line with its vision of winning souls and making them disciples. It has been the goal of MMNR to make every believer a leader.
MMNR started adapting the three day encounter only last June 2008. The whole team attended the training on how to conduct the three-day encounter at Masagana Mall on March 1, 2008 conducted by Doulos for Christ World Harvest Ministry. There has been series of team incubation so they can study how to run this new encounter and the preparations paid off. Remarkable testimonies were noted during June to August Encounters. People were freed from bondages and they literally threw unnecessary baggage off their lives.
What makes this three-day-encounter different from the previous two-day Encounter God Retreat is the celebration done in the afternoon of Sunday, when delegates go straight to their respective churches for a celebration with lively worship, salvation message and powerful testimonies.
At MMNR, we maximize the event by asking the delegates to inform their unbelieving families and friends to meet them at the church for their graduation from the Encounter. While they are in the Encounter, their cell leaders do the follow up so that the celebration becomes like a Sunday service with first timers trooping to the church to witness their loved ones receive their certificates and testify about the goodness of God!
What marked this year’s pack of multiplying activities is the Youth and Singles’s Camp held last April at Tala Resort, Laguna. This year’s theme, “R.O.C.K. THE NATION” is based on Acts 17:6b, “…These who have turned the world upside down have come here too,” whose acronym equals to the Ladder of Success: R (Redeem = Win), O (Overhaul = Consolidate), C (Conquer = Disciple), K (Knock = Send). Close to 200 young people gathered for the various sessions on the G12 Vision, specifically on winning and consolidation, discipleship and cells, plus exciting videos, team building activities, and mind-boggling games all geared to make them “rockers” of the nation.
We also held our first ever Macro Youth Net entitled, “ROCK ON,” a sequel to Rock the Nation, on June 14, 2008 at the Central Hall which gathered a mammoth crowd of 550 youth from the various MMNR families. The macro net became a venue that showcased the exceedingly talented young people in the region doing hip hop and theater. But the most celebrated thing about the macro net is the attendance of 147 first timers whose salvation was verified by the leaders of the local networks.
Keen on its objective of equipping its leaders with the best available training, we held our G12 Cell Conference on July 12, 2008. Most notable during the conference was the teaching on “The Paradigm Shift” which stressed that the G12 Vision being a new system cannot be operated using old patterns, rules and regulations. A “paradigm shift” is inevitable for the vision to run successfully.
With our efforts geared toward this end, our G12 team attended the G12 conference at the Rizal Recreation center on July 29-31 and the G1728 Encounter in Baguio City on August 26-28 to be in constant flow with what God is doing in the Philippines through this Vision.
Today, as JCSGO launches its Conquest 2008 Campaign, the Metro Manila North Region is on red alert with its army commanders led by its G12 team plotting the war in its territories. With its weapons of warfare in order, like the prayer of three strategy, consolidation follow up lessons and a scheduled encounter toward the end of Conquest, the battle is a sure victory and the inheritance is definitely at hand!