White Wing Messenger October 2012 by White Wing Messenger

Calendar of Events Randall E. Howard General Overseer

Prayer Works! As we leave this Assembly and return to the harvest work before us, I feel like a little boy who has just found a formula for success at hitting a baseball. Though he had experienced failure previously, after hitting a game-winning single and feeling the gratitude of his team, he runs home leaping and shouting, ‘It works! It works!” For me, that is my mantra in these days after this greatly blessed Assembly, “Prayer works! It works, indeed!” Many know that for ten weeks prior to the Assembly there were weekly prayer targets to cover this Assembly with prayer. It was literally a march of prayer, bathing the Assembly and every component in prayer as we prepared to meet in Louisville, Kentucky. Each week, the General Overseer Prayer Council met to pray. Each week, the International Office leaders met and prayed through a lunch time. And each week, our Internet Prayer Network was joining in united prayer for these specific prayer targets. Actually, thousands were praying. Now as we reflect on the blessings of this Assembly, many of these can shout with joy, “It works! Prayer works!” Even as we walk back through the days of the Assembly, we are reminded that prayer was a central part of the blessings we enjoyed. Once again in this Assembly we spent the first hour praying over the key points of focus for the day. By 10 a.m. each day, thousands were lifting their voices to heaven for God’s touch on the ministry of that day. On the first night, hundreds of pastors came forward to receive a fresh renewal of anointing as the International Presbytery leaders anointed with oil in prayer. On Thursday morning, we saw youth and adults flow into prayer as we were called to pass the mantle of vision on. On Thursday night, pastors and lay leaders responded to the Spirit’s call to make the young harvest a priority in a glorious season of prayer. 2

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October 5–7 Southeast Regional Ladies Retreat Ridgecrest, North Carolina October 5–7 Youth Harvest Training—Mexico

On Friday morning, there was a deep prayer commitment made as hundreds responded to find their ‘Timothys’ and influence their lives for the ministry. On Friday night, the prayer altar filled yet again with Spirit-drawn seekers in response to the call of God’s Word. On Saturday morning, pastors and couples moved down to prayer after H. B. London challenged us about bringing healing into marriages around us. Many were moved with compassion to pray with tears for marriages. In the healing service, the anointing to heal lifted one man out of his electric cart and he began to walk with freedom and healing. Then, on Saturday night, we all responded to the Global Missions call with prayer inspired by the Word and Spirit. Remember our mission states, “Empowered by the Holy Spirit, through prayer, we will . . .” This Assembly was simply an illustration of that very declaration in our mission. We had prayed for the empowering touch of the Spirit for weeks and months marching into this Assembly. Then, in the Assembly we experienced empowering, inspiration, liberty, release, calling, and ANOINTING! I pray that pastors and lay leaders from every part of this movement are returning home with a leap in their step and a shout on their lips, “IT WORKS! PRAYER WORKS!” With this testimony in their hearts, may each church have at least one Upper Room Prayer Cell connecting to the Internet Prayer Network so that, “Empowered by the Holy Spirit, through prayer, we will!”

October 12–14 Youth Harvest Training—Trinidad October 31–Nov. 3 TeamUp—Kansas City, Missouri teamupconference.org October 31–Nov. 3 School of Practical and Advanced Studies I Cuba November 1–4 School of Practical and Advanced Studies II Toronto, Ontario, Canada November 8–11 School of Practical and Advanced Studies III Venezuela November 8–11 School of Practical and Advanced Studies III Colombia November 9–11 Regional Ladies Retreat—Lake Barkley Cadiz, Kentucky November 12–16 School of Practical and Advanced Studies III Turks & Caicos November 15–17 School of Practical and Advanced Studies II Chile November 15–18 School of Practical and Advanced Studies III Peru & Equador (tentative) November 16–18 Mid-Atlantic Youth Rally Executive Editor/Publisher: R. E. Howard, Managing Editor: DeWayne Hamby, Copy Editor: Marsha Robinson, Editorial Assistant: Pamela Praniuk, Graphic Artist: Perry Horner, International Offices (423)559-5100, Subscriptions (423) 559-5114 Please submit all material to the White Wing Messenger; Managing Editor; P. O. Box 2910; Cleveland, TN 37320-2910; phone (423) 559-5128; e-mail us at Editorial@cogop.org.

White Wing Messenger Editorial Board: Londa Richardson, Chair; H. E. Cardin; Daniel Chatham; Hanny Vidal; Cervin McKinnon; Perry Horner; Tapio Sätilä; Brian Sutton; Shaun McKinley; and Adrian Varlack White Wing Messenger (ISSN 0043-5007) (USPS 683-020) is published monthly as the official publication of the Church of God of Prophecy, 3750 Keith St. NW, Cleveland, TN. Send all materials for publication to Editorial Department; PO Box 2910, Cleveland, TN 37320-2910; e-mail: editorial@cogop.org, fax: (423) 559-5121. For subscription rates, visit wwm.cogop.org; call (423) 559-5114; e-mail: subscriptions@cogop.org. Subscription rate: $18.00 per year, payable to White Wing Messenger by check, draft, or money order. Periodical postage paid at Cleveland, TN 37311 and at additional mail office. Donations for the White Wing Messenger may be sent to the above address. All Scripture references are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated. POSTMASTER: Send address change to White Wing Messenger, PO Box 2910, Cleveland, TN 37320-2910.

Contents w w w w October 2012 • Volume 89, Number 4

Bringing honor to the WORD by the printed word, the White Wing Messenger strives to inspire Christian thought and practice as it imparts the “good news” of the Gospel while serving the connectivity needs of our church community.

Highlights 4 Introduction 5 Leadership Meetings Address 6 Annual Randall E. Howard General Overseer

Wednesday 10 Anointed to Lead Anointed to Serve Anointed with Vision

Thursday

Anointed with Vision Anointed to Grow Anointed to Reach the Young Harvest

14 Friday Anointed to Lead Anointed Mission Involvement

16 Youth & Children’s Activities 18 Saturday Anointed in Our Homes Anointed For the Miraculous Anointed For the World

20 Sunday Anointed to Go Make Disciples 21 Behind the Scenes 22 Sights & Sounds 24 The Holy Spirit’s

Call to This Assembly

Wallace Pratt

26 Special Events 28 An International Family 30 The Exhibit Hall Editorials 2

Facing Forward: Prayer Works! Randall E. Howard, General Overseer

Messages: Making It Happen DeWayne Hamby, Managing Editor

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“The exhibit hall at the Kentucky International Convention Center . . . lived up to its global name.”

—Peter Smith, Louisville Courier-Journal

More than 7,000 people from across the world converged in Louisville, Kentucky, for the 97th International Assembly of the Church of God of Prophecy. It was the first trip back to Louisville in a decade, but to a new location, the Kentucky International Convention Center, in the heart of downtown. As the local paper noted, the COGOP, long regarded as an “All Nations” church, never looked as international as it did this particular week. From the stage to the hallways to the streets, the diversity of our international body was well-represented. Outsiders, such as some of the management of partner hotels and convention services, remarked that it was the most diverse and friendliest church group they had ever encountered. From Wednesday to Sunday, the name of Jesus was glorified in song, in Word and in action from preschool to seniors, with church family representing areas such as Korea, Australia, Germany, Nigeria, Brazil, Ukraine, Swaziland, Argentina, Egypt, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and many more. The church’s mission statement was a guide for the week’s activities: “The Church of God of Prophecy will be a Christ-exalting, holiness, Spirit-filled, all-nations, disciple-making, church-planting Movement with a passion for Christian union.” We hope you enjoy this visual recap of the week’s events. Be sure to visit www.cogop.org/ assembly for more pictures, video archives, and more!

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LEADERSHIP

VISION WWM O C TO B E R 2 0 1 2

General Overseer’s Annual Address Randall E. Howard Vision is a view of where you want to go, a destination where you want to arrive. We can see five simple principles from Abraham’s call and journey. They might help us as we contemplate joining the journey of Vision 2020 today. 1. When God wants to do something, He tells us to leave. 2. When God tells you to leave, He does not always tell you where to go. 3. When God says move, there will be obstacles. 4. Resolution for these is found by spending time in His presence. 5. God paints the promise glorious! Genesis 12:1–3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

When God wants us to do something, He tells us to leave.

Genesis 12:1 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house. . .” We have to leave our comfort zone. Visionary leadership for change means shaking up the comfort zone. Staying the same is always easier than changing. Keeping the routine is always easier than changing. Changing is a sacrifice in many ways. We know if we always do what we have always done we 6

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will get what we always got. Another way to express this is to say the definition of insanity is doing what you have always done and expecting different results. Moving toward a vision will always call for change. Change means leaving something behind to adopt something different—which will lead you closer to the vision. Some leaders might say, “We don’t really need to leave anything; we just want to do better.” This exposes a subtle desire to keep the comfort zone in tact while hoping change will take place. It will not. God called Abraham to leave Ur and there was no compromise position. When leading vision for change, experts say, far above any other thing, there must be dissatisfaction with the status quo. In Christian terms, we must have a righteous dissatisfaction for things the way they are right now. Also, there must be an urgency to make the change. Everyone will agree that change is needed or change would help or change would make things better. But the challenge is to turn up the heat, raise the intensity level, and call for change that must be made NOW!

When God tells you to leave, He does not always tell you where to go. The last part of Genesis 12:1 says, “. . . unto a land that I will show thee.” Abraham did not know where exactly to go most of the way. He had to go to Haran and spend some time there, but that was not his promised land. Haran was living between two worlds; he was not back home and he was not in his promised land. It was a ‘no man’s zone’. Consolation for leaders thinking they always need to know all the answers WWW.WHITEWINGMESSENGER.ORG

before taking the lead or launching a process: Abraham did not. In Gospel ministry, leading change toward a vision has much to do with walking by faith. That was what God was asking of Abraham. Pastors, what are we doing that requires absolute faith? Is there some step God wants us to take but it will require total trust to take the leap? Abraham announced it was time for a move. Abraham declared it was urgent and there was no time to linger. And Abraham had to trust God to lead him step by step toward the promised land. Pastors, if you have a deep conviction that God is calling your church to a shift, a step of faith, a stretch beyond your level, then announce it with anointing and conviction. Let the people know it is not a discretionary move, you know, one we could make or perhaps, we won’t need to. No! It is urgent! It is something worth dying for! Or, something worth living for and giving for. Let the people hear your deep conviction, your sense that God is stirring this in you, your passion that this is God’s call. Among our general presbyters and around the office, these leaders know there are five or six things that I am serious about. If you want to get me going, just start talking about those things. I get passionate and they know I feel a sense of urgency and priority!

of faith, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity” I know that pastors of every kind all around feel prayer has been far overvalued, many feel they have been there, done that, and so on. It has just not been that important or powerful for them. Don’t tell that to pastors from Africa, or China, or India, or Eastern Europe, or many places in Latin America. Those pastors are living in the five greatest revival areas of the world today and they know how prayer works. God walks among them as they pray fervent, passionate, and desperate prayers of conviction. The Holy Spirit partners with them as they cry out to God. Here, we live in a culture that is secular, humanistic, materialistic, sensual, and hedonistic, that is dull to the things of God, so naturally it is a battle, but prayer does work. Jeremiah says, to a people in captivity in a heathen land, under oppression, hard times: For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive (Jeremiah 29:10–14 ASV).

When God says move, there will be obstacles.

Change wakes up all the sleeping dragons. Abraham was not having problems in Ur. It was nice there. I heard of a church recently that touched some radical change and every dragon from the last thirty years woke up to resist together. They were sleeping along with little opposition until vision to change came. Even worse, the dragons that usually fought one another all united to fight the vision. To get to the promised land you have to go through the wilderness, over the Red Sea, past the Amalekites and Ammonites, over the Jordan River, march around Jericho, so that then you can fight the giants even after you enter the promised land. Yes, there are going to be obstacles, AMEN!

Resolution of all these is found by spending time in His presence (Prayer, a Core Value). How did Abraham cope with leaving? With faith, walking in trust? And with so many obstacles? If there was one thing Abraham was known for, it was building altars. Do a simple word search for altar in the book of Genesis and you will see Abraham building an altar every time he turned around. Abraham knew that the key to walking toward a vision from God was to stay in close contact with the God of the vision. Prayer was the answer for Abraham. Pastors, you cannot lead vision for God’s change if you do not know how to build altars. You can’t make it without tapping into the power of prayer and the well springs of God’s divine supply. Hebrews 4:14–16 says, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens let us hold fast our profession

There is a reason why one of our core values is prayer.

Finally, paint the picture of vision glorious!

Listen to see how God did this: “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” God’s visions are glorious! We don’t have to fabricate anything. Eternal life is out of this world! Grace is far beyond what we deserve. Heaven is incomprehensible. Spirit filled living is dynamic! Tell the people what God’s promise land looks like for them as they begin to consider the call. What is it going to look like having a ministry that reaches lost hurting people, sees them redeemed, delivered, restored, and empowered to live again? What is it going to look like to reach the young harvest and touch kids who would never have a chance without your help and ministry? What is it going to be like to pray over your city and for the nations of the world and experience a rising surge of the Holy Spirit in your lives and church? Help them taste the milk and honey in the promise land of God’s vision for their church. WWM O C TO B E R 2 0 1 2

We feel that we should invest all the resources that we can raise or find, sending them right back into the harvest, preaching the Gospel, and bringing people to Christ. So Abraham gives us five simple ideas as we talk about vision for the COGOP.

Management by Commitments

(Commitment to Our Vision/Mission/Values) In the business world, what we have been doing for the last four years would be called strategic planning, vision casting, or possibly other names. Tonight, I will use the business term “management by commitments”. Naturally, it is quite different in God’s business, yet there are applications that can be made. In simple terms management by commitments means that a business has decided that they want to make a shift, they want better results, they want to expand their product, and they want to see some radical progress in something. Can any pastor identify with that? What are you dreaming, Pastor? What advance in ministry is stirring around in your spirit? Now, there are several strategies for attacking this desire for change in management by commitments. Let me share one just as an example. They use the acronym BAHG. It represents the words BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! A company uses this when they want to shake things up and get every department cranking. They set a goal so great that it is almost unbelievable and then they challenge every level of the company to reach for it, to really attempt to make it happen! Marketing begins to think, “What will it take?” Sales begins to think. Production begins to plan. Everyone begins to work at an entirely new level with an entirely new perspective. Doing business as usual is thrown out the window because that will never result in reaching this BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! Everyone can relax because this is not the commitment we feel God has led us in for Vision 2020. But I believe we can see biblical examples of just this kind of leadership. Moses walks into the Hebrew children and says, “God has told me to lead you out of Egypt!” Those Hebrews probably thought this stuttering shepherd was blind as well. He obviously did not see all of Pharaoh’s task masters, or his army, or the fact that the Hebrews were slaves in captivity here. When Moses said, “Let my people go,” that was a BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! It even shook up Pharaoh. It was incredulous and arrogant and absurd. But it changed the thinking of everyone involved. What about the time Jesus walked out of the wilderness and His 40-day fast, and He said, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe the Gospel!” All these people had ever known was the Law, the temple, the priests, scribes, and Pharisees. They had never heard anyone talk like this. They 8

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had never seen anyone approach religion like this. Believing the Kingdom of heaven had come was a BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! And it shook their world in that day. Like I said, relax, God is not leading us to call the church to a BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! Unless, of course, 21 days of fasting and prayer to start each new year is that challenging for someone. It may seem like a BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL to some. But on a side note, God apparently has millions in this world that don’t see 21 days of fasting and prayer as a BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! Pastor Duke Stone told me this testimony and I think it captures the concept extremely well. A young Nigerian student had come to the USA to go to high school. The school closed before classes started. Now, he was all alone as a teenager in a foreign land. He tried to go to another school and that deal fell through. The boy wound up in Atlanta, Georgia, waiting to get a flight back to Nigeria but he decided to fast and pray for 21 days for God to make a way for him. One thing led to another and this student graduated from the Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in May. Pastor Stone says that TJ is the most spiritually mature high school student he has ever seen. Church, God has got some radical children on this planet that are attacking some BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOALS! For His glory, against all odds, defying logic unless the Holy Spirit steps in to help! The Church of Jesus Christ has always been called to the BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOAL! That goal Joshua called out for; “Give me this mountain!” Or the one David volunteered for, saying, “Is there not a cause?” And he went out and cut Goliath’s head off. Or when the little prayer group at Mary’s house believed they could take on the Roman guard, the Praetorian prison gates, and the Sanhedrin judgment that said Peter would lose his head at dawn! When you put it in those terms, management by commitments sounds a lot like faith to trust God for the impossible in a world full of influences hostile to the Gospel. BIG, AUDACIOUS, HAIRY, GOALS! It is so reassuring that the Holy Spirit understands all of these concepts in the secular business realm because He is the author of the universe and author of all knowledge. There is nothing new to him. Back to business language: A transformational commitment helps break free from past behaviors, or inertia. Let me take you to another illustration of management by commitments, it is one we know very well. Turning to the Harvest was an application of management by commitments. We can now see very clearly that Turning to the Harvest was a transformational commitment. We may not have understood the terms, but the Spirit touched Brother Murray’s heart and he announced to the church that the Spirit was calling us to turn back to the harvest, to restore evangelization as our highest priority and calling. Our commitment to this new way of prioritizing ministry transformed us as a movement! Can we remember how much Turning to the Harvest transformed this church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God brought us to a new commitment that rearranged our corporate WWW.WHITEWINGMESSENGER.ORG

priorities. It launched a new evangelization surge among us. In the following 12 years, we quadrupled our worldwide membership. Our identity began to shift. It rescued us from introversion and stagnation. It opened us to partnerships, collaboration, and Kingdom relating. It renewed our purposes with new meaning for current times. Our ministry culture changed. Our leadership culture changed. And, most important of all, our local churches began to shift, change, and develop with our new commitment—a transformational commitment! We said, “Yes!” to the Spirit and began to turn to the harvest! Hallelujah! We all declare it was a work of God. Turning to the Harvest changed this movement; Turning to the Harvest renewed this movement. Turning to the Harvest refocused this movement! We give honor to the Turning to the Harvest Task Force: Perry E. Gillum, John Pace, Adrian L. Varlack, Billy Murray, Oswill Williams (Chair), and William Wilson. Now let’s move ahead in time. Today we stand 18 years removed from that significant call to commitment that changed this movement. The leadership body of this church feels it is time to renew our commitment, it is time for us to redefine our commitment with our current day in mind, it is time for us to recruit a new generation to Join the Journey! After 18 years, we continue to celebrate what God did and we continue to rejoice in the benefits we have experienced from this redirection of the Spirit. But now, in Vision 2020, we believe it is time and there is a call to fan those flames once more. Today the context has changed. Today the church has changed. Today the world has changed. Today we are closer to the Last Days and the return of Christ than ever before. God is not calling us to simply affirm the former call to turn to the harvest. Let me give you some background. Six years ago, or four, we may not have known the concepts, management by commitments or the power of transformational commitments, but we were feeling a strong sense of urgency in our spirits, so we began to cry out to the Lord for help. Our urgency was quite different than before. God had caused us to reap in His harvest so abundantly we literally could not grow further without His help. We felt the last days harvest was only just gaining momentum and we knew new advances would be needed if we were to continue to participate. We felt the urgency that, right now, we were in a critical moment of opportunity for gain or loss. We believed this church was at a crossroad to see our gains dissolve or to act to see continued harvest progress. We felt that we must respond with our best efforts and investments now, meaning greater focus would be needed and difficult stream lining decisions would have to be made. In that season of desperation, God gave us a confirmation and a passion that, whatever we did, it must affirm and strengthen our previous commitment to God’s great call, Turning to the Harvest! Whatever we do in Vision 2020, we intend to expand and push forward the Turning to the Harvest call. There is no doubt this has come from God. And that call has not ended.

As we considered how God was stirring in our hearts, it seemed evident that we could not continue to do all the things as we were doing six years ago. The priority of the harvest was joined by the priority of developing leaders. And finally it seemed right that the high priority of prayer should be added, forming the three core values we have to date. Using our business term we felt led to call the church to a new stage of commitment, much like we had seen in the Turning to the Harvest call. As in management by commitments, we believed the time was now to refresh our sense of urgency. We felt the Spirit stirring us to extreme focus on the few things most high in God’s priority. We felt new energy must be applied to avoid inertia and to empower our ministries further. We felt today was the day to call the church to seek renewed vision and to step up to new commitments. We believed that God was speaking to this movement saying that for this decade our highest priorities should be harvest, prayer and leadership development. These things ought to receive our greatest attention, our greatest efforts, and our greatest investment of resources. Prayer—We feel that for this decade, from the year 2010 to 2020, we must do all that we can to maximize our efforts in prayer so that this ministry network in 130 nations of the world will actively join the world wide prayer movement that God is mobilizing today. At this point, we have over 2000 active prayer cells spread through our global network and we are believing for much more intensive activity in prayer. Harvest—In this ten years, we feel that we should invest all the resources that we can raise or find sending, them right back into the harvest, preaching the Gospel, and bringing people to Christ. In these ten years, we are aiming at some specific targets, such as nurturing strong local churches, planting churches as efficiently as possible, reaching out to the young harvest, and fanning the flame of our global missions call. Leadership Development—It is our deep conviction that to be effective in each of these goals we must build or find mechanisms to develop leaders in every region and nation where we minister. So, in summary, the leadership of this church is committed to become a people of prayer and to develop leaders with excellence so that we can be as effective as possible in working in God’s great days of harvest in this decade. Our motto says it simply: Glorifying God through Prayer, the Harvest, and Leadership Development! These are our core values that we believe God has called us to give priority in these days. These are our commitments for new alignment to God’s work and purposes in this world today.

To read the second part of the General Overseer’s Annual Address or to watch it online, visit www.whitewingmessenger.org

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While it features many moments of worship and prayer, the International Assembly is also convened to conduct business and provide direction for leaders. Wednesday, the first day of the event, was a day of inspiration, information ,and affirmation. Bishop Randall E. Howard was confirmed to serve another term as General Overseer and Bishop Sam Clements was also confirmed to serve

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again in his role as North America General Presbyter. After acknowledging the great loss of Bishop Sherman Allen, the Assembly received and affirmed the selection of Bishop Stephen Masilela as the General Presbyter for Africa. Also during the morning session, David Bryan led a time of prayer with worship provided by Angela Lawson. General Overseer Emeritus Fred S. Fisher greeted the delegates and called for a holy fire to settle down on them. “Today, we have traveled here from far and near, by jets, motor homes, cars, and vans—gathered in downtown Louisville, Kentucky,” Fisher said. “God has built another fire, right here in our midst. He is calling us together as a family, to warm by this fire.” More business was conducted during that day, including reports from the Finance and Stewardship Committee, the Bible Doctrine and Polity Committee, and the Tomlinson Center board. It was also announced by Bishop Paul Holt, Director of Finance and Publication, that the COGOP has been accepted as a member of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability. Wednesday night, the Assembly’s first evening service began with a concert by the Bahama Brass Band. Bishop Howard delivered the General Overseer’s Annual Address (see pages 6–9). Other offerings during the Wednesday evening service were worship led by Ron Scotton and company, a greeting by Bishop Scott Gillum, and special singing.

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The young harvest was a key theme on Thursday of the International Assembly as Kathryn Creasy, International Children’s Ministries Director, began the day with prayer directives and concluded the evening by asking for commitments from the congregation on behalf of the younger generation. “I want you, who are over 40 years old, to write something down that you will do to release the next generation in ministry,” Creasy said during the evening service. “Young people, I want you to write something that you will do to walk in obedience to God’s call to ministry. Can you imagine what will happen years from now if we have all done what we have written down? I believe God wants to work through us to produce a generation of Daniels, Hananiahs, Azariahs, and Mishaels.” Bishop Trevor and Aileen Reid, International Youth Ministries Co-Directors, also directed portions of the morning prayer time and the “Anointed to Reach the Young Harvest” evening session, a celebration and challenge toward the emerging generations. It featured youth-led worship through testimony, song, and dance. In the morning session, there was a “Passing of the Mantle,” where Elva Howard and Bishop Levi Clarke represented a generation affirming the calling of the younger generations, represented by Ethan Bagley and Lilli Feliz. Prayer, the Harvest, and Leadership Development, core values in the COGOP’s VISION 2020 plan, were also highlighted during the morning’s session. Members of the Administrative Committee presented portions of the plan, followed by a talk show-style format moderated by Pastor Brian Sutton featuring pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders. Sixteen workshops were offered during the afternoon (see page 26), covering subjects such as addiction recovery, Pentecostal ministry, mission work, leadership, and worship ministry. The classes were well-attended and many were filled to more than capacity.

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The process of leadership transference to a new generation, a recurring theme of the International Assembly, was once again spotlighted on the third day of the event. In the morning, Angela Lawson led the Assembly in worship with the song, “Hosanna,” while national and international leaders from Finland, Belarus, and Brazil delivered prayer directives regarding elements of the VISION 2020 goals. Bishop Vitaliy Voznyuk, overseer of Ukraine, shared encouragement from his ministry and Bishop Carswell Leonard of North Carolina gave a presentation on “The Biblical Model of Mentoring.” Special guest Mario Vega, pastor of Elim Church in San Salvador, was featured during the session, delivering a message entitled, “Transferring the Anointing.” “The calling of God is a calling to the cross,” Vega said. “Ministry is not as fun as some people think it is. If a grain of wheat does not die, it will not become fruitful. The calling of God always involves death.” Worldwide leaders and volunteers represented mission areas during the afternoon’s Mission Encounter (see page 28) before the evening service brought the Assembly back in session for praise and inspiration. Ron Scotton and company led the congregation in worship, followed by the Assembly Mass Choir. Dr. Hector Ortiz, director of the Center for Biblical Leadership, delivered a message entitled “Destiny: The Voice of Divine Intent.” “I have a dream that this present leadership will build a great trans-generational bridge for our youth, the vitality of the present, and the hope of the future, so they can cross over to the sphere of greater heights and deeper depths,” he said. Dr. Ortiz was joined during the evening program by CBL staff members, national overseers, and special guest, Dr. Vinson Synan. WWM O C TO B E R 2 0 1 2

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On Saturday, the Assembly hall rang with the chorus of thousands of voices singing, “I believe You’re my healer” and the God from whom all healings flow was glorified and called upon for miracles. “Anointed and Healing in Our Homes” was the theme for the morning session. Special guest, H. B. London of Focus on the Family, delivered a timely address for leaders and their families before a time of prayer for families and marriages. “Your salvation, your marriage, your children are a covenant to God,” he said. The afternoon session focused on physical healing, with a message from Bishop Sam Clements, General Presbyter of North America, a testimony of healing from Sophia Smith from Palatka, Florida, and a final challenge from Bishop Clayton Endecott, General Presbyter of Europe, CIS, and the Middle East. There was then a powerful time of prayer for those in need of physical healing. The evening service centered on the nations, featuring the Assembly highlight, the Parade of Nations, with music from the Bahama Brass Band. Three new flags were flown for new COGOP ministry in the Czech Republic, Nepal, and Kirabati. National overseers from Korea, Egypt, Botswana, Bosnia/Herzegovina, and Italy/Malta ministered through song and testimony regarding their respective areas. A special honor was also given to the family of Bishop Ntambwe Beya, former overseer of the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the evening message, “The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me,” Bishop David Bryan, Global Outreach Director, spoke about the challenges facing ministry around the globe but reminded the congregation that “Jesus is the victor!”

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In the final session of the International Assembly, newly-ordained bishops were comissioned, while delegates were encouraged to share VISION 2020 components such as leadership development and a harvest emphasis with their areas. “It is not enough to be recognized as a leader, to have read the right books, and know all the right words to say,” said Bishop Ben Feliz during a “Final Challenge” message. “The anointing of God must rest on your shoulders. There is no greater need behind today’s pulpits than anointed preachers; men and women who have been with God, and have received a fresh word from Him.” Fittingly, the Bishop Ordination Service took place during the morning, which carried a theme of enabling, blessing, and recognizing the contributions of church leadership. State, regional, and national leaders were on hand to pray for the new bishops of their areas. During the final appointments, while some stepped into new assignments, others were recognized for their contributions. The family of Bishop John Doroshuk, who passed away after leaving a great legacy of church growth in the Ukraine, was given a special moment of honor during the service. As the new appointees stood on the platform, the worship team led the Assembly with the song “Teach Us to Pray,” followed by a time of prayer and a final consecration by Dr. Wallace Pratt (see page 24). 20

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n the opening service on Wednesday morning of this International Assembly, Bishop Fred Fisher, General Overseer Emeritus, shared how the early pioneers of the Church of God of Prophecy were being led by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Our present general overseer, Bishop Randall Howard, followed with a breakdown of the 2020 Vision and how we must be led by anointing as we embrace the core values of Prayer, the Harvest, and Leadership Development. While business filled Wednesday afternoon’s session, it was evident that we must seek the Holy Spirit if “The Pursuit of the Holy God” is to become more than a BDP (Biblical Doctrine and Polity) committee document. In reality, this spiritual journey has to become a passionate desire of our people.

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On Wednesday evening, the general overseer’s address was laced with tremendous challenges. He spoke about several urgent areas that must be passed on by every pastor to every church: 1. We must have visionary leadership. 2. We must have management by conviction, which means “walking by faith.” 3. We must have a transformational commitment; that is, a “covenant of commitment.” 4. We must be anointed leaders who influence other people to move with anointing. 5. We must see the study on holiness not as something to debate, but to cause leaders and churches to pursue the holy God that purifies us to move in His anointing.

6. We must not miss the reason for anointing: to reach lost people. On Thursday morning, prayer for our children and youth ushered in this eventful day. The key phrase gleaned from this session was “Emerging Leaders.” The Assembly sensed the urgency to pray for leaders to rise up among the present generation in the anointing of the Lord. All excuses that hinder or distract us from raising up this generation of emerging leaders must be laid aside. We were convicted that this would require us to recognize, welcome, and develop this gifted young generation. While Thursday afternoon was set aside for many workshops, each one simply guided us back to the call of God that relies on the Holy Spirit anointing. Vinson Synan’s workshop was packed

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with excitement as he punctuated his teaching with a powerful J.O. Patterson quote: “Get your learning, but keep your burning!” As Thursday evening unfolded, worship was awesome and led expectantly into Kathy Creasy’s message on “A Young Harvest Mandate.” This remarkable Spirit-anointed message left us with sobering imperatives that gripped this Assembly with conviction. Some of these included: 1. We must focus more on eternal values rather than the non-eternal physical things for our children. 2. Our actions must allow faith to be sustained in the next generation. 3. We must give “intentional discipleship” to believers to move toward Christ-likeness.

4. We must allow emerging leaders of the next generation to thrive. 5. We must release expectantly this next generation to be “led by the anointing.” On Friday morning, the Holy Spirit used the voice of Mario Vega to penetrate our hearts. Speaking about “The Calling of God,” Pastor Vega stressed the mentoring process of Jesus Christ. In so doing, this anointed pastor preached concerning five distinctives of the calling of God: 1. The calling cannot be taught, it must come from God. 2. The calling that comes directly from God transforms a person’s life. 3. The calling requires us to lose everything and it includes self-sacrifice. 4. The calling carries with it conviction, a passion that sees beyond the doors. In two other important messages, Vitaly Wolzik and Carswell Leonard demonstrated how the Lord wants to lead this body to allow the next generation to be unleashed within this church. On Friday evening, the ministry of Leadership Development gave us powerful images and numbers of how leadership development is turning the tide among both present and emerging leaders. But it was the saturated anointing upon Dr. Hector Ortiz that proclaimed “The Voice of Divine Intent.” Using the life of Daniel and others, the Spirit guided us to understand that anointing is more than academic knowledge. Spiritual discernment became the watchword of the evening, as the Holy Spirit emphasized five unforgettable truths:

Wallace Pratt Biblical Doctrine & Polity Committee Chairman

1. We cannot have a destiny without a divine plan or purpose. 2. We want leaders with a balanced understanding of academic learning and spiritual discernment. 3. We must continue to pursue spiritual character in our ranks. 4. Both the young lions and the old lions need each other in this fight.

5. Our destiny offers not a fearful future, but His Spirit leads us into a victorious destiny. Pastor H. B. London led us into Saturday morning. Speaking about marriage and the family, this wise servant used the biblical truth of Ephesians 4 to encourage couples to embrace the four principles of marriage and family: 1. Forgiveness 2. Communication 3. Commitment 4. A Godly Example On Saturday afternoon, Bishop Sam Clements spoke about deliverance power. He reminded the church that we all have needs we should not try to hide. Rather, our needs require more than preaching to resolve them; they require divine intervention. He emphasized two words used over and over in this Assembly that we often attribute to the subject of leadership: anointing and released. We need to quit trying to explain the unexplainable; what we need is the miraculous work of Jesus Christ. Saturday night, Bishop David Bryan closed out an enlightening day with a message entitled, “Anointed for the World.” Used by the Holy Spirit, Bishop Bryan unfolded three ways to respond to the overwhelming threats and the worldly ethos challenging us today: Praise—a glorious jubilation and trust that transforms our perspective. Petition—a fervent praying that articulates God’s desire and places us in God’s will. Proclamation—a boldness to declare God’s Word that is a result of the filling of the Holy Spirit. As this Assembly passes into history, may we leave with the certainty that we have been impacted with the reality that we must be “Leading with Anointing.” This is the only way we can fulfill the destiny that God has for this movement in this critical hour throughout the earth. Let us rise up to declare together, “Anointing Fall on Me!”

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MESSAGES

DeWayne Hamby, Managing Editor

Making It Happen If you were at the International Assembly and walked into the main hall, the first thing that came to your mind may not have been what it took to get there. Most likely, you thought of where you would sit, how the stage looked, seeing people you know, and possibly, “Is this room going to hold all of us?” (It did.) You may have been gloriously caught up in worship, inspired and energized by the messages and testimonies, and excited by the homecoming-style fellowship with your international family. But there was a lot more going on, for many months, than what met the eye. Hundreds of people, including International Offices staff members, international leadership, and national, state, and regional volunteers worked hard in the months and years leading up to the event (some are pictured in “Behind the Scenes”). After a brief resting period, they will start again planning the summer of 2014. On our end, our White Wing Messenger staff morphed into a reporting pool, joining other volunteers in recording a transcript of the week. Our editorial board (pictured, right middle) also met together to discuss and receive feedback. We also took in a great number of new subscriptions, thanks in part to an iPad giveaway promotion. Congratulations to Pastor Billy Stevens of Moulton, Alabama, whose name was drawn to receive the prize (pictured, top right). God richly blessed at the Assembly and He deserves the glory and honor for that. I am also thankful for the willing vessels that cheerfully responded to the need to serve His body through a variety of tasks related to this event. If you want to pass along a note of thanks, you can contact the Assembly Task Force Chairman, Paul Holt, who will share your greetings with the committee—pholt@cogop.org.

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