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Year after year, the move of His Spirit always surprises us, moving the hearts of all who attend our conferences, and transforming the spiritual atmosphere of our cities and nations to allow us to see supernatural miracles. We know that this conference will be no exception. We are declaring that this will be a divine appointment with the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit, and that the Lord will transform our lives, our situations and our very nature. Let us remember how the Scriptures begin in Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light” (Genesis 1:1-3). Can you imagine the initial scene of creation? Everything was
When Jesus came into the world, the world was in complete darkness. But His coming allowed the Sun of righteousness to come and shine in our hearts. “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12). Jesus is not just any light - He is the only light of the world; He is the Word of God and all things were made through Him. Beginning a year in victory and plenitude requires you to first remove everything dark in your life, your character, your family and your ministry. Declare in the name of Jesus, with faith and authority: “His light will shine on my life at this time and scatter the darkness.” There is no doubt that the Light of Jesus will bring light to every area of your life from now on, and that you will be able to bring light to the lives of all those around you.
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You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
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-Matthew 5:14
We are so happy to have you here at our conference: We Are The Light. We hope you will feel welcome and able to experience the presence of the Lord during every preach, ministry time and worship time. We trust this will be a time when Jesus transforms your life, ignites a passion in your heart for the ministry, and shines His light on you for all to see. Pastors
Cesar & Claudia Castellanos
Vision Visión
e know that every year is a new opportunity to conquer. We saw how the Holy Spirit sent both the early and latter rains in 2016, which He promised to pour out on all who prepare their hearts to be filled with His Spirit. God sent the rain of His reward, restitution, growth and multiplication upon our lives.
chaotic, formless and empty; there was no clarity. But God spoke His Word of authority and declared with power, “Let there be light!” And immediately the lights went on. We need to understand that God’s spoken Word has enough power to bring light to everything that has been submerged in darkness - His Word has the power to change circumstances.
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WELCOME
Presidents: Pastors Cesar & Claudia Castellanos Directors: Julian & Lorena Gamba Executive: Elkin Gamba
Contents
We are the light
Production: G12 MEDIA Art Directors: Andrea Nuñez & Esteban Rios Creative Director: Raul Arevalo Contributing Writers: Paola Sanchez, Yekaterina Pachon, Johanna Alvarez, Leonardo Gonzalez & Luke Page. Graphic designers: Andres Villamil, Luisa Ariza, Rogers Mantilla, Diego Cifuentes, Jessica Garzon, Daniel Mantilla & Andres Ochoa. Finished and Prepress: Daniel Duran Photography: Federico Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Sandoval, Adrian Gamba & Nicolas Sabogal Translation: Rich Harding, Roxanna Bayat & Doris Rybaltowski
Pages 14-15
Special Guests
Pages 6-7
Experiencing the miracle Pages 8-9
G12 worship Pages 10-13
Acknowledgment
Pages 44
Colombia: Ruth Jimena Castañeda Daniel & Erika Berrios Sara Castellanos USA: Rich & Manuela Harding Douglas & Marcia Vergara UK: Wes & Adriana Richards Sweden: Lennart & Carolina Torebring South Africa: Bert Pretorious Singapore: Lawrence Khong Philippines: Oriel & Geraldine Ballano Argentina: Omar y Alejandra Cabrera Mexico: Saul & Gloria Salamanca Ecuador: Abelardo & Sandra Rojas Peru: Hugo & Juanita Hoyos Brazil: Eliemerson y Johanna Proenca Laudjair & Eline Guerra Chile: Rafael & Jenny Pérez Venezuela: Jorge & Patricia Rojas South Korea: Lee Seung Bang
Pages 46-47
The articles and the content, style and opinions expressed within them, reflect the implementation of the G12 Vision around the world. Similarly, they relate the experiences of leaders passionate about making the love of Jesus known in different cities and nations.
Pages 50-51
G12 Vision © 2017 - All rights reserved. Total or partial reproduction of this magazine in any form (including covers, graphics and photos) printed, electronic, audiovisual or otherwise - is prohibited without prior written permission from the publisher.
The impact of Lifeclass Pages 16-17
End of construction, thank you for your patience Pages 18-21
The ladder of success Pages 24-25
The beauty of being woman Pages 28-43
The Vision in the world A heart full of compassion and hope for Colombia Why you must go for the best and never give up
Passion for a mission
Misión Carismática Internacional G12 Congresos & Convenciones Fundación Un Solo Corazón G12 Editores SAS Recursos G12 VisionArt Generación 12 Music Soulfire Revolution Generación12 Generación 12 Kids G12 Radio
Some photos were acquired with rights from Shutterstock, Inc. Copyright ©. All Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright© 2011. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Pages 52-53
I am Colombia
Free annual distribution Pages 54-55
Lasting footprints
ISSN_ 2357-5123-01 Printed in Colombia, January 2017
Pages 56-57
Behind the steel door CALLE 22C No. 31-01 PBX_ (571)_745 73 73 Bogotá, Colombia contacto@g12media.net
www.g12.co/en www.mci12.com www.recursosg12.com
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“Many people become discouraged and defeated when they do not see an immediate change in the difficult situation they are facing after just one prayer�.
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lisha had a unique temperament. Whatever he focused on, he was able to achieve. He knew how to listen to God. When he spoke, every word had authority and power. He personally assumed the responsibility of praying for the Shunammite’s son who had died. Elisha was determined that God would reveal the most effective way to intercede for the boy. He was willing to do whatever was necessary, knowing with confidence that the child would come back to life. The woman’s hospitality toward the prophet in the past had become a powerful spiritual argument in her favor. Elisha decided to believe that God would answer quickly. “So he entered and shut the door behind them both and prayed to the Lord” (2 Kings 4:33).
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“And he went up and lay on the child…” (2 Kings 4:34a).
God’s breath of life came over him.
Lau, my son-in-law, recently went out with some of his friends and disciples to play basketball. Leonardo Neri, who was just thirteen years old at
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Everyone on the court began to cry out to God for Leo’s life. While they continued to pray, Lau spent the next 20 minutes performing CPR to keep the oxygen flowing to his brain, declaring loudly, “Come back to life, Leo! Lord, breathe Your breath of life!”
Faith, determination, compassion and perseverance all helped the prophet push through to see the miracle happen.
Leo’s situation was deteriorating rapidly until my son-in-law felt God put it in his heart to breathe into the boy’s mouth, just as Elisha had done with the boy who had died. As Lau did this, God’s breath of life came over him. The paramedics arrived soon after, and even though Leo lost his vital signs twice more while on his way to hospital, God in His infinite grace and mercy breathed life again and Leo did not die - He came back to life. The miracle did not end there. When he arrived at the hospital, the doctors said that Leo had suffered complete kidney failure, that his lungs were full of fluid, and that his heart was operating at just 10% of its strength. The church came together in prayer, crying out like never before; the blood of Jesus became their greatest weapon. The next three days were crucial. The medical diagnosis said one thing, but the promise of God said something completely different. On the second day, the doctors could not explain how Leo’s kidneys had returned to full strength, completely healed. His lungs also seemed to be completely new. By the third day, his heart had completely recovered and he was breathing by himself: Leo was completely healed!
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Faith, determination, compassion and perseverance all helped the prophet push through to see the miracle happen. Many people become discouraged and defeated when they do not see an immediate change in the difficult situation they are facing after just one prayer. Despite not seeing the miracle happen instantly, Elisha continued to pray, believing that the spirit of resurrection would be revealed with power; and it was! Stand firm in the promises God has given you; go through your house declaring again and again that you will see the victory.
the time, was with them. Everything changed within a matter of seconds. When Leonardo ran to get the ball, he tripped and fell onto an electric fence that happened to be just outside the court. When his brother realized what was happening, he ran over to try and pull him away from the fence, but he could not. Lau immediately ran over and was miraculously able to pull them both from the fence. Leo fell to the ground unconscious, convulsing and losing all signs of life.
Leo is truly a miracle!
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Although the body of the boy grew warm, there were still no signs of life. “…and [Elisha] went up and stretched himself on him; and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes” (vs. 35b).
Leonardo Neri
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“Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth…” (2 Kings 4:35a).
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Elisha put his faith into action by laying on top of the corpse, joining his eyes, mouth and hands with those of the boy, so that the warmth of his body might be transmitted to the corpse and result in life for the boy. The spirit of life in Elisha was the instrument God used to bring the boy back to life. The prophet’s lips were sanctified by the presence of God, and when they touched those of the boy, Elisha was not only canceling every incorrect word spoken by the boy, but also placing a new language in the mouth of the son of the Shunammite.
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It began with just a few of us who decided to write some songs for the church. We set out with a goal to write some songs in August 2016 and see what God would do with them. So a small team of us met up at the church in Bogota, Colombia for a few days to work, diligently writing and composing new songs. The process of writing each song included developing the theme, the style, biblical context,
Together we wrote a song called “New Creation”. The writing of the lyrics came from a desire to sing about making a decision to follow Jesus Christ. We wanted a song that the church could sing after the altar call, so we based it on 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:38-39 & Ephesians 4:22. These Bible verses all speak about making a decision to leave your past behind and fully trust in God with everything.
It felt like we “were breaking through into a NEW FREEDOM
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e believe that God has saved the best until now, and the greatest worship songs are yet to be sung by the Church around the world. Our prayer is that God might give us the creative ability to express our faith, hope, love, joy and thanksgiving through worship. Our praise changes the atmosphere and opens the heavens over our lives, our families, our cities and our nations. The Holy Spirit placed a dream in the hearts of Pastors Lorena and Julian Gamba, to begin a new project called G12 Worship. They got together a collaboration of worship leaders from various different G12 Churches in the USA, who serve in the ministry and are committed to winning souls and making disciples.
musical composition and the lyrical content. Our desire as song writers was to compose songs that the church could sing, not based on feelings that change, but solely on the Word of God that is unchanging. During our time together, we prayed and shared about what we wanted to experience in worship.
Another song that we wrote is called “Blood of Jesus”. It was so powerful for all of us, both in the writing process and then when we got to sing it live. We sat in the studio and began speaking about how much the blood of Jesus has affected our lives. Pastor Cesar Castellanos has taught us the power of the seven times Jesus shed His blood, and the declarations we find in the Bible about what the blood of Jesus has done for us. So together we were inspired to write a song about the power of the blood of Jesus. My favorite lyric from this song is in the second verse that says,
“Your scars speak of endless love. It is finished!” The experience we had when we sung this song for the first time in the G12 California Conference was incredible. There was such an anointing that came down as each declaration rang out, and we could hear people all across the auditorium shouting amen. When we began to sing the chorus, “There is power in the blood, the blood of Jesus,” it felt like we were breaking through into a new freedom. We are so excited for what God is doing through G12 Worship and we believe that it is going to be a great blessing to the Church. Our heart is that everyone who hears these songs might enter with us into this new movement of worship. That we might fuel our faith and reach out to the lost with these songs and raise up a generation that is passionate about the presence of God.
Luke Page G12 Worship
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Although we had previously had the opportunity to visit Israel with pastors from Colombia and other neighboring countries, this journey was very special because we were able to travel with Generaciรณn 12 and friends from other bands. Being a smaller group than at other times allowed us to receive more personalized teachings and more in depth talks about current situations. We were able to see how a lot of the news we see in our countries is distorted. Hearing the stories of the people who actually live there allowed us to see how things really are. The Jewish people are so generous and want to bless others; we saw one example of this when we visited the Rambam Hospital in Northern Israel, that cares for people who have been wounded in combat. Patients include individuals from people groups who have declared war against Israel. It is truly a work of unconditional service that can be accessed by all who need it.
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We were so impressed by their culture and way of life, and were blessed to be invited to eat in their homes and see how they celebrate the Sabbath. All this opened our hearts to love this nation even more and to want to tell the world what is really happening, using social media to renew the image the media has long tarnished and show that things are not as they seem. A very special element of this journey was being able to worship God in significant places, such as the Sea of Galilee, with our friends, Barak and Vanessa Vissepo. As well as being able to pray and learn about these historical locations, this experience marked our lives and allowed us to increase our prayer and service for this nation.
“We are sons
and not slaves, a generation that loves the presence of God
A miracle Our trip to Israel was God’s way of showing us the fulness of a miracle as a band; it was something none of us expected that year, but there was a desire in all of our hearts to be able to visit that place. Our first stop was Shiloh; we were with Grupo Barak, Bengie Garcia, and his wife Vanessa, when Roberts (vocalist of Barak) began to worship in the place where the tabernacle was first set up in the Promised Land. We were able to feel the presence of God in such a real way, in the very place where God heard Hannah’s prayer and promised to give her a son named Samuel. That was how we began to become good friends with the other artists, creating friendships that almost felt like family. Another moment from last year that we remember with thankfulness was when we had an idea about a song we were working on. “Tu amor no tiene fin” [Your love has no end] had a really long bridge we weren’t sure what to do with. We had made several attempts, but all unsuccessfully. That was when we had the idea to connect it to a rap from Redimi2. We began to plan the album for 2017, even though we only had a few songs and there was no pre-production yet. The Lord opened our ears to be more sensitive to His voice and to hear the songs for this generation. These songs are much more than just lyrics or repetitive words. Each song is a prophecy; when someone sings to God with all their heart, they are prophesying over their life, their family and the world around them.
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Being in Israel not only united our hearts to this nation, but also allowed us to become good friends with people who are now very close to us. We are so glad to have been able to keep in touch and share what God has been doing in our lives. Although we can’t always spend a lot of time together, we know that we are continually praying for each other, and whenever we see each other in airports or events, we remember our trip and share very happy memories together. We are so thankful to God for the lives of those who were involved in the live recording of Seamos Luz (We are the Light), because as well as having the opportunity to sing together, we were able to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit together. God has been using each song wherever we have had the privilege to minister. He longs to raise up a generation of worshipers who will be light, who will understand that we are sons and not slaves, a generation that loves the presence of God - and this is our commitment. We are so thankful for every person who was a great support in this project, because we have had the opportunity to become like a family in God.
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A confirmation Visiting the Holy Land brought with it the confirmation of promises the Lord had been speaking to us for some time. That confirmation led to the creation of a new musical structure for the band. Years before, the prophet Cindy Jacobs prophesied over our producer, Anthony Catacoli, saying that God would bring a new sound in music, which he had not yet understood in all its fulness. The Lord basically organized everything so that Anthony could produce the album Afterglow by Soulfire Revolution. The launch of the new album coincided with a conference in Ecuador, where Pastor Claudia Castellanos felt a new anointing come upon her life. We were able to see how the Lord used that situation to allow her to release the anointing and bring about the fulfillment of the prophecy. “I believe that part of this new sound is not only for my own life - a new sound is coming to the worship in our church at this time, and I would even dare to say that a new sound is coming to worship as a whole in the Christian market and hispanic churches. It is a new sound from the Spirit for His Church.” - Anthony Catacoli
An awakening “Seamos Luz (We are the Light) represents what the Word says: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). We are called to be the voice that this generation needs. There is a message in the world today that opposes all biblical principles; that is why we need to awaken.Lorena Castellanos in the arts and media to be able to bring a clear message of salvation.” - Lorena Castellanos
By Yekaterina Pachón Manager Generacion 12
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The Impact of LifeClass
“While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost” John 17:12 ESV
The ministry entrusted by the Father to His Son Jesus was to take care of the new believer, through a process of evangelism, until that person might become a true disciple. In this way, he left the Church a clear example of how we can impact and raise up a new generation. We must strive to bring the message of salvation and hope, preaching the gospel, with the sole purpose for each person to have a personal experience with Jesus. Furthermore, that the Word might penetrate deep into each heart in order to bear abundant fruit in their character and form strong foundations in each one to produce a victorious Christian life.
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The Gospels tell us supernatural stories of how Jesus was able to reach thousands of people and make a lasting impression on their lives. This was all fruit of His compassionate heart which He poured out for each one of them. The only thing He was interested in when drawing near to the multitude was to bring them salvation and restoration, to meet their needs, that none of them might backslide in their faith. Jesus understood the value of each soul and the importance that none be lost. These principles are a part of Jesus’ character and show evidence of His powerful call. They are the same principles, though no less impacting, that have inspired and motivated us to reach this generation in a different way. For this reason, LifeClass was established, a strategy given by the Holy Spirit to the church in order to strengthen the first steps of the new believer, and help each one to live a life full of vision and purpose. WHAT IS LIFECLASS? This course has been created to meet the need in those wishing to draw nearer to God, but who maybe don’t know how to, or they’ve found it difficult. It is simple to follow and implement, with a total of 9 weeks,
focusing on learning to study the Word. Through these 9 weeks the students are taught the foundations of a new life in Christ in a creative and practical way. It is also a place where they can affirm their decision for God and begin taking their first few steps towards the divine purpose for their life. This course joins three stages together: What was the Pre-encounter, now begins the first four weeks of the course, which is an induction to the Encounter. Here the student prepares their heart through each class, ready to receive a touch from Jesus, where they learn about the foundations for a Christian life. In the fifth week comes the Encounter weekend, an incredible experience over the course of three days where each person can experience new birth, receive forgiveness, restoration, healing, deliverance and the grace of God to understand the power that there is in His blood and the work of the cross. The course then finishes with four weeks of what was formally the PostEncounter, designed for each person to continue strong in their faith after the Encounter. Here they affirm their life in the rock that is Jesus, taking that all important step with Baptism in water and connecting with other believers in a cell group. Under the supervision and support of their leader they are able to move forward in their calling. In order to help in this process of spiritual formation, there is a specially designed Student’s guide book that each student will receive at the beginning of the course. This book is a series of 63 mini-lessons broken down into a devotional style reading plan with special activities for the reader to accomplish during the nine weeks of LifeClass. This is important for the new believer to stay in constant contact with the Word and create that habit of reading their Bible every day.
THE LIFECLASS TEAM There are many people who help make LifeClass a impacting, forming the foundation for the success of the course. The first is the spiritual guide for the whole course. In Bogota, this is one of the Pastors chosen from Pastor Cesar and Claudia’s team of 12. It is their job to organize the spiritual and logistical elements of the Encounter. There is also a general coordinator appointed for each Pastor’s ministry, who are in charge of all the spiritual preparation of the guides for each student embarking on LifeClass. This great team of guides are responsible for the spiritual care of those new believers placed under them during the nine weeks of LifeClass. They are there to help the new believers through the whole process, from the start of LifeClass until they are ready to begin that new stage of formation as leaders in Destiny Training. They are there during the Encounter to help in the ministry times, to pray for those attending, and to continue to support the new believers until the baptisms at the end of the course. Beyond this there is also a production team, a set-up team, security, logistics, catering or refreshments, coordinator of registrations and musicians for times of praise and worship. We also have a tremendous team of intercessors who support us in prayer during each message.
THE IMPACT
By Ruth Jimena Castañeda Pastor MCI Bogota
“OF THOSE WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN ME I LOST NOT ONE.”
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We know that God is calling us to raise up a new generation, not just of believers, but of true disciples who are willing to fulfill the purpose of God in their lives. There is only one way to do this: by raising up a generation of leaders and pastors who are willing to take care of every person the Lord has entrusted to them, so that we can say along with Jesus: “Of those whom you have given me, I have lost not one.”
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We have seen a great difference in the effectiveness of the ministry in MCI Bogota as we have implemented this formation program. In 2015, we held five macro-encounters, attended by a total of 11,466 men and women. We thank God because in 2016 we were able to see supernatural fruit in our church; we were able to reach more people through Encounters, even though we only ran LifeClass three times (compared to five Encounters the year before). We received 5,264 men and 8,812 women on LifeClass - a total of 14,076 people (a large proportion of which were young people who attended the third cycle of the course).
“ G O D H A S O F
A L R E A D Y E V E R Y
Y O U R
P L A N N E D H E
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D A Y S O U T ,
A L R E A D Y
H A S
T H E
A R C H I T E C T U R A L D E S I G N S
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Y O U R
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L I F E ”
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t all began when my sister and I traveled to North Carolina. One of the places we visited was the Billy Graham Library and I honestly felt like we were in the Christian version of Disneyland! Seeing all the places where this great man of God had preached the gospel, how many people had given their lives to Christ as a result of his message and the influence he had generated worldwide simply left me thinking one thing: “What am I doing with my life?!” There is a beautiful garden right outside the museum. As I was walking around and reflecting on my life (yep, sometimes I get a bit sentimental), I suddenly found myself standing beside Ruth Graham’s tombstone, Billy Graham’s wife. It was surrounded by the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. As I went to take a closer look, I could see that the epitaph read, “End of construction… Thank you for your patience.” Wow! Something special happened inside me when I read those words. I was able to understand something of what the writer of the Proverbs meant when he said, “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures” (Proverbs 24:3-4).
While God placed it in my heart to write a book some time ago, I knew I didn’t want to write about my achievements or things I might have accomplished in life, because to be honest I’m still pretty far off the goal. I feel like I haven’t made it yet, and there are still things that God is removing, refining and forming in my life. I know I’m not the only person who feels that way, or the only one who knows they still have a long way to go. Both your life and mine are houses under construction. And like every good construction project, they are going to require planning, effort, and above all, time. My prayer is that you would once again come face to face with your Creator and yourself through this book, Under Construction, and that you would be able to enjoy every stage and season of your life. God already has every one of your days planned out, He already has the architectural designs for your life, He has already prepared the foundation and now it’s simply up to you to surrender your all to Him and allow Him to construct every area of your life.
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What construction was Ruth referring to? It was as though my eyes were opened and I realized that our lives here on earth are construction projects that God Himself is building and consistently working on. God is continually perfecting us, just as His Word says - He establishes the foundations of our lives through understanding, and He fills each house (or life) with the most beautiful rooms.
God is the Architect of architects and Builder of builders. He really does know how to establish a foundation that nothing and no one could ever demolish. He understands the construction process, and He is an expert at making masterpieces out of the lowly and despised. He took the clay in His hands and created a human being in His own image and likeness. He made a glorious construction out of the most mundane thing in the world. God takes ordinary lives and constructs extraordinary works of art.
C A S T E L L A N O S
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iblical history reveals how God accomplishes His purposes: He always chooses a man or woman to reveal His will and His plans to them. He then surrounds that person with others who can identify with them and support them in everything they set out to do. These people become the driving force behind the vision God has given.
“Winning is the privilege God has given us to proclaim the good
The salvation of souls is the desire that burns in God’s heart. There is an art to winning souls as we combine the anointing with a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit so that we can move in His direction. Nidia García, a leader in MCI Bogota, has come to understand that winning is the privilege God has given her to proclaim the good news to every person, an act of humility and a demonstration of love. “Sharing Jesus with others means fulfilling the purpose for which God sent me. It is also the most wonderful way to thank Him for healing me of cancer. I believe that the love of God is so great that everyone needs to experience it. That is why I feel so blessed and privileged to know the Vision: because this vision heals hearts and restores families. Since coming to church fourteen years ago, one of my primary goals has been to win every member of my family. When I heard about the family miracle catch: Me and My House in October, I understood that this was God’s time for them. Along with my three brothers, who also go to church, we began to prepare the ground during the three weeks before the event. We made a list of all the people we were going to invite. Although many of them live in different cities, we believed God and stood firm, declaring that our family would be saved. We started calling and visiting every single one of them, without ceasing in prayer, and God surprised us in a supernatural way. We saw every family member for whom we had interceded come to the Family Festival in the G12 Conference Center. They were all there and they all accepted the Lord as their Savior. God rewarded our faith and obedience when we were called to the stage. We could feel the admiration and love of the whole auditorium. I believe the main ingredient for winning others should be: loving them as God loves them.”
Nidia García
Leader MCI Bogota
ANAR
WIN
A demonstration of love
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The G12 Vision is the resource God has given the church to fulfill the Great Commission in this time. Just as plants require four key elements: nitrogen, potassium, calcium and phosphoric acid to grow and develop fruit, there are also four steps that make the Vision fruitful. Applying these and caring for the plant as a whole brings forth optimal results. The same happens in our cell groups and ministry: growth is directly related to our passion for God and how we develop the Ladder of Success.
SOL
CONSOLIDATE
Conceiving and Caring
Consolidation demands total commitment from us to the formation of the new believer. It implies love, dedication, effort, and hard work. The Lord has called us to make disciples, and consolidation is the foundation for helping every new believer live by conviction in their decision for Christ, caring for them so that they will not get discouraged or think about turning back. “While we were at the conference in January, we heard about LifeClass for the very first time. We were so impacted by this new resource that a great expectation was awakened in our hearts and we began to dream about an Encounter for multitudes.
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“Our faith was renewed. Inspired by what was happening in Bogota, we began to follow the steps found in the Encounter manuals in September with great enthusiasm. It was a beautiful experience, because while we worked toward our goals, the team of guides experienced a powerful transformation. The ways of thinking that had previously limited us were broken down and we were set free from all fear. Focused team work and the excellent preparation provided by the LifeClass materials resulted in the victory of an Encounter for 250 women. “Without a doubt, this strategy enlarged our faith as pastors, as well as that of the whole team of guides. The consistent follow-up of each leader with each one of these new women, from the moment they were first won, all the way through to their baptism, has been a supernatural experience. We were able to see the impact made in each of their lives. Something incredible we have seen is that all the women who attended the Encounter persevered to the end of LifeClass. There is no doubt that the student materials and the devotional books have affirmed them in their new beginning. LifeClass has been a powerful resource that has allowed us to consolidate new believers and enable them to enter the discipleship stage with victory.”
“Consolidation is the Vision
foundation for helping
every new believer live by conviction in their
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decision for Christ
Jenny Perez
Pastor MCI Chile
Receiving and passing on the right spirit God has given us a Vision, which is the continuation of what the Lord Jesus Christ began on earth. He developed His ministry of redemption by working with a team of 12. The Vision allows every person who has had a personal encounter with Jesus to be taken care of and formed into a disciple. Jesus set us the example by calling twelve and forming them with such wisdom that they called Him, “Teacher.” A teacher is someone who forms, instructs, and guides.
DISCIPLE
“The G12 Vision turns the church from grains of sand into something solid, structured and united. I love the Vision because it has awakened a passion in me to make disciples. Developing Destiny Training has allowed me to understand that discipleship connects us to God as we strengthen our relationships. People want to grow in their knowledge of God without entering into relationship, but God created man as a social being. This means that we have been made to be connected - in this context, with the teacher/leader As a church, we have understood that our relationship with God is connected to the relationship we have with the person who supports us, takes care of us, disciplines us and motivates us - the one who becomes our spiritual parent. LifeClass brings great benefits to the Vision in that it removes the gaps between pre-encounter, encounter, and post-encounter, allowing people to persevere until the end without struggling with the transition. Destiny Training creates bridges between the leader and the disciple so that the disciple can receive the spiritual food that will lead them to stand firm and multiply, passing on what they have received.”
Laudjair Guerra
Pastor in Brazil
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A divine mandate
“When Paul said to Timothy, “Pay close attention to yourself,” he was referring to the special attention we need to pay to our inner self. That was exactly what I determined to do. I sought to develop right habits and prepare my spiritual life in such a way that the character of Christ would be formed in me. Being sent for a purpose is not something that happens by chance: it is a divine mandate.
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“Something I have understood from being sent to Mexico as a missionary is that God does not send someone before they are trained. Obedience, commitment, service, willingness, and humility were all necessary; these were the virtues God had been developing in my life little by little.
“God calls us to leave the past, our immaturity and our fears behind, and to put on a new cloak through the blood of Jesus. I believe that the Vision has what no other intellectual structure has: the formation a person receives at LifeClass and Destiny Training is what molds the discipline and character of Jesus in each person so that they can pass them on to others.”
Saúl Salamanca Pastor MCI Mexico
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Jesus showed how much He loved every sheep when He gave His own life for them. Now His mission must continue. We have been called to be reproducers of life by making every disciple into a leader who will pass on the torch of the Vision, influencing their surroundings: business, the arts, sports, education, and even their own homes.
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By Johanna Castellanos
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uman beings cannot choose the family they are born into; God simply places us in our families for a specific purpose. We grow up surrounded by beliefs and traditions, and we begin to learn things that are both good and bad. Many choose to follow in the footsteps of their parents; in my case, I was born into a Christian family and went to church for many years. As the pastor’s daughter, that was just what we did. When I turned 16, I didn’t want to continue like that any more. I longed to experience what I had often heard my parents speak about. I determined to seek God and went into my closet to pray! I persevered day and night, until one day I felt as though He came to sit beside me. His presence was so
strong and there were no words; I simply cried. That was my personal encounter with God. Everything changed from that point on. What had previously been tradition had now become so real: I had been born again. Every night became my opportunity to seek God; there was a thirst in me to understand, love and practice His Word. I had a vision during one of those nights of prayer. I saw a multitude of families and friends, all with different expressions on their faces - some were smiling, others crying, others talking. I saw that they were heading toward the edge of a cliff - there were so many people - there was no way for them to turn around and no one was warning them of the danger that lay ahead. I cried out to God to give me a message that would show many the path of life.
That was the day I decided to become a messenger of the gospel, not to follow a family tradition of being in the ministry or because of the influence of my parents, but because a passion to share the message of the cross was born in me. Sometimes the world seems to be so “topsy turvy.” Sin abounds, good things are no longer seen as good, and what is wrong has become fashionable. What can we do for our generations? We need to begin to teach the principles of the Word. You and I are able to transform our societies. God created us with a purpose and we have the opportunity to fulfill that purpose with passion! That was why I decided to write: The Beauty of Being a Woman. The book encourages us as women to develop 10 qualities in our lives, in such a way that we will also be able to teach others. The book is now available in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to fulfill His purpose and transmit life.
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Each chapter teaches about a Jesus answered, different woman in the Bible, I am the way and and includes a testimony from the truth and the one of the MCI pastors in Bogota life. No one comes that will encourage you to grow to the Father except in God. I also designed a section called: Let’s do it together, where through me you will find activities you can do with the women in your house or if you are a cell leader - with those friends the Lord has given you. Dear friend, you will bless many as you decide to convey the beauty God has given you.
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As you grow in God and His fruit begins to develop in your life, others will be able to say: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all” (Proverbs 31:10).
Testimonies from the tour “I truly believe that this tour marked a new beginning in the women of MCI Mosquera. When we received the news that Pastor Johanna Castellanos would be visiting, we began to call together the women who needed to receive this message. “We were surprised to see how quickly tickets sold out before the actual event! The women were so expectant and longed to have an encounter with Jesus. “I remember two important moments from that time. The first was when my team of 12 and some pastors from Cudinamarca were in a private meeting with Pastor Johanna. We were all inspired and challenged to strengthen our cell groups by genuinely loving our disciples. Pastor Johanna inspired us through her example, her love for the Vision and the testimony of her cell group in Miami, and reminded us that the essence of a cell is to be a place of refreshment for everyone who attends. “The second precious moment was when all the ladies in the church met together for a special evening. The message and the revelation of the Word allowed the Holy Spirit to release healing and restoration in each woman. Since that evening, many women have recovered sweetness and attentiveness in their lives, and have determined to live in that first love and place the seal of beauty on everything they set out to do. I am so happy that we had the opportunity to receive Pastor Johanna in Mosquera and that our women’s net was part of this beautiful tour.”
Pastors Johanna Castellanos & Fanny Quintero
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Mexico PASTORS SAÚL & GLORIA SALAMANCA
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exico is a place where we have been able to overcome great challenges. The prices for putting on events and conferences are very high in Mexico City, but there is an astonishing hunger for the Word of God. All of this has brought a new perspective because the people have been able to understand that every cost brings a great blessing. With a love for their nation, the people travel from every corner of Mexico to come to the national conference, regardless of the long and exhausting journeys by road or by plane.
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Every year God surprises us with His faithfulness and the way He does the miracle. Every conference is an opportunity to contribute to the nation in its spiritual growth, and even in tourism. It has been wonderful to receive messages from government officials from different cities, inviting us to hold conferences in their respective auditoriums, but our responsibility has been to focus on conquering what God has entrusted to us.
Our main goal has been to focus on winning the capital for Jesus, and so, with the help of the G12 Mexico team of pastors, we have been able to install our conference as a very important event in our nation. Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos’ visits have been key to all we have been doing, because as our spiritual parents, they bring a new anointing and a new direction from God every year. Another important element is the participation of Generación 12, a band who are very special to us and have always been part of our adventure in faith.
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Our main goal has been to focus on winning the capital for Jesus
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California PASTORS DOUGLAS & MARCIA VERGARA
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e declared that 2016 would be the year of fulfillment. We declared Isaiah 55:11 over us as a church and we have seen how God supernaturally fulfilled His Word this year. We have witnessed how God has been consolidating the G12 Vision in the state of California and we believe that the time has come to see the fulfillment of every promise we have received from God.
one of the 150 pre-teens who had their own personal encounter with Jesus. We know that this camp transformed their lives in a powerful way and that God will use these young people to change this nation.
Just two years after the inauguration of MCI San Diego and MCI Tijuana, God has surprised us greatly by strengthening our foundations and extending the ministry in these two cities, located on the busiest border crossing in the world. The individual needs of both cities have captivated our hearts, and brought us a genuine love for the people and a desire to see every family restored.
Our Send Your Rain Conference was held during one of the most crucial presidential elections this country has ever seen. Over 2,000 leaders came together with one voice to cry out for mercy for our nation. The success of this conference was the result of teamwork between the pastors in California and the team of volunteers who went to great lengths to give their best. One of the big goals we have as a ministry for 2017 is to welcome more than 5,000 people to our next conference.
One of our challenges in 2016 was holding our first We Are One youth conference in California in May. It was amazing to see the support of the Holy Spirit in that conference, which was attended by more than 1,000 young people. Tickets sold out three weeks before the opening of the event! The fire that God ignited in every young person has inspired us to work toward bringing more than 3,000 young people to We Are One 2017.
“You are the hope of this nation” was the rhema word Pastor Cesar spoke to encourage us to be light and hope to the United States.
The results we have seen are fruit of what we learned from Pastor Claudia Castellanos: Prayer + Team + Goals = Conquest. We only have words of thankfulness toward God in our hearts for all His help, grace and infinite love.
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You are the hope of this nation - was the rhema word Pastor Cesar spoke to encourage us
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We have also committed to connecting the new generations to Jesus, so we held the first pre-teens camp in California last summer. Every preach was prepared to speak to the heart and meet the needs of every
Peru PASTORS HUGO & JUANITA HOYOS
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016 was a great opportunity for us to move forward and conquer new challenges. Beginning LifeClass brought something fresh and new to our ministry. We were able to understand that God wanted to raise us up, giving each one of us a genuine compassion to help hundreds of people have an encounter with Jesus. Our remodeling of the church auditorium began in 2015, increasing the seating capacity from 500 to 2000 people. Motivated by what God has been doing in the church in Bogota, each of our 12 stepped out in faith to fill the auditorium with the help of their teams this year. We miraculously saw the auditorium filled on 12 different days. We also saw how the hand of God protected our lives and our church during 2016, helping us overcome health problems, administrative problems and different municipal issues related to the location of our auditorium. We are convinced that God is preparing our hearts and forming our character for the great opportunities that are coming our way. It all began in June when Pastor Lorena Castellanos and Generación 12 came to play at one of our concerts.
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When we met with Pastor Lorena, she challenged us, saying, “Peru needs to go to the next level. What you have achieved so far is good, but you cannot stay where you are.” The challenge had been set. We needed to look for a bigger place that would challenge our faith and
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lead us to believe in the impossible. So we went and knocked on the door of one of the largest venues in the capital, the Alianza Lima stadium. To our great surprise, the stadium was available on the dates of the conference. The door had begun to open. We spoke to Pastors Alain and Anita Alonso in Bogota to look at what we needed to do next. We called together the team of pastors in Peru, created a plan of action, organized a prayer strategy, and set our goals. The work had begun. In July, we received a call from Pastor Cesar Castellanos, who told us that he had heard about our step of faith to take the stadium for our conference. He shared words that brought great encouragement to our hearts. Just like the struggles Joshua had experienced as he took on the great challenge of bringing the people into the land God had promised them, we had been struggling to move forward in the challenges we were facing. We needed our pastor to remind us that if God had called us to take on this challenge, then He would support us. So we decided to continue moving forward with our pastor’s support. We shared this same message with the team of pastors and our team of 12, who received these words as though they had fallen from heaven. With hearts full of faith, we continued to work toward our goals. Our conference began on 20 October. We were all surprised to hear the sound of the multitude and see the west stand completely packed with thousands of people longing for the rain of God to fall on their lives and their families. We were truly broken when we saw all this. On Sunday 23 October, three of the four stands in the stadium were filled, with an attendance of over 26 thousand.
We were all surprised to hear the sound of the multitude and see the west stand completely packed
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Ecuador PASTORS ABELARDO & SANDRA ROJAS
The G12 annual conference could not be held in June as planned because an emergency law suspended large events for three months. During this time, there were 2,438 aftershocks in the country. Locations that could normally be used for church events were used as collection centers for aid for those affected. Our conference was suspended. We later found a date in September that seemed to work, but there was nowhere to hold the event.
On 11-13 November, we held our VII G12 annual conference: Send Your Rain. We experienced the favor of God and the great blessing of having Pastor Cesar Castellanos with us, who through his support and the Word of God, challenged us to continue taking ground. Pastors Miguel and Olga Morales, Pastors Orlando and Jimena Castañeda, Pastor Fernando Ramos and Generación 12 also joined us. Every word and ministry time opened the heavens and we experienced three days of healing, restoration and growing in faith. The Vision in our nation has experienced a greater consolidation of the fruit this year. We are growing in strength as a result of LifeClass. We have opened two new MCI branches in the cities of Santa Rosa and Arenillas, which means that we now have seven MCI churches nationwide.
All of this lead to our church entering into a greater level of intercession for our nation. We understood that every conference is a great celebration of spiritual significance that should not be canceled. We launched several intercession strategies and held all-night prayer meetings, and the doors began to open. We were able to find two places in the two most influential cities of the nation: Quito and Guayaquil, and we were able to set the date for the conference.
This has truly been a year of conquering the restoration of families through intercession. We are also seeing how pastors from other denominations are experiencing growth and consolidation of their teams as they implement the G12 Vision.
We believed that God wanted to bless us so we decided to hold the conference in both cities simultaneously. God used the difficulties we had experienced and turned them into a great blessing. “And we know
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We consider it such a privilege to be part of the G12 Vision, because it has enabled us to fulfill the great commission.
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As a church, we were able to come together and send vital aid to four of the most affected cities.
that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
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n 16 April, an earthquake shook our entire nation, although the coastal zone was the most affected area. We truly experienced the power there is in the blood of Jesus, because the church was kept from harm in the midst of tragedy. None of the MCI or G12 pastors in our nation suffered harm personally or in their church buildings. We were protected by the blood of Jesus.
Chile PASTORS RAFAEL & JENNY PEREZ
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e held our national conference: Send Your Rain in November 2016. This was one of the conferences that most challenged our faith. The expectancy of the church in Chile was high, and the prospect of how we would receive the rain of God was something that led every person to diligently prepare the ground of their heart. When we asked different pastors and our teams of 12 what they were expecting from the conference, they all answered: “We believe that the fruit of all our handwork and all we have sown over the years is coming, not only at a ministerial level but in every area.�
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The work did not end there. We encouraged every family to intercede for the nation during their devotional times and we organized a 24-hour prayer chain every Friday and Saturday to surround the preparation of our conference with a cloud of protection and power.
I can say with confidence that what made the difference was intercession. The Lord helped us understand that the rain only germinates what has been sown - if nothing has been sown, then the rain is useless. So together with all the leaders, we realized that it was time to seek the face of God through intercession and fasting - it was time to sow. That was our rhema word.
We truly saw the fruit of all this as we experienced the power of God during our Miracle Night. People were healed emotionally, and one of the members of our own family was healed from osteoarthritis, all because the anointing of the Holy Spirit was released through the apostolic authority of Pastor Cesar Castellanos. That night was a gift from God and the reward for all we had invested.
We called the church together for a powerful pre-conference, where we had the opportunity to share what the rain represents according to the Word, based on Deuteronomy 28, where God said He would send His rain on all areas. That evening was truly prophetic for the nation of Chile.
We are sure that the former and latter rains are coming at this time, and we are praying for all that is about to happen in the church, because God has awakened a thirst in the leadership to arise and take new ground. We are determined to break the glass ceilings that were limiting us, because we never want to be the same again. We want to see the heavens open and the church supernaturally enter into a new level.
God placed the assurance in our hearts that the conference would be our Pentecost - the beginning of the powerful revival we have long been waiting for; we did not want the Lord to simply come and do signs and wonders during the conference - our greatest desire was for
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His presence to remain. We spent six months preparing in prayer and fasting, and during the last 61 nights before the conference, the Lord placed it in our hearts to go out with an army of intercessors and circle the city of Santiago de Chile, as well as the surrounding areas. With one heart, we went out in 12 cars, with 5 people in each, to pray over five strategic locations around the city.
Argentina PASTORS OMAR & ALEJANDRA CABRERA
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e held our annual national conference: Send Your Rain on 15-17 September in Cordoba, Argentina. The conference had to be split between two locations with various schedules to accommodate the number of attendees. Nine of the G12 Argentina churches met together in the Orfeo Superdome, while the Visión de Futuro church met in the Predio Ferial for morning and afternoon sessions. More than 18 thousand people from all over Argentina came together that weekend. My wife and I declared that the church would enter into a new level of conquest so that we could be “ministers of the new covenant.” “Hope does not depend on the circumstances: our hope does not change because it is firmly established in God.” Pastor Alejandra Cabrera
Pastor Betty Rojas inspired us to acquire the characteristics of giants, saying that, “A giant never removes their focus from the purpose of God.” The G12 Argentina team of pastors were also part of this beautiful celebration and helped to minister the powerful Word of God. Among them were Pastor Roberto Gliget, Pastor Emanuel Ramos and Pastor Marcelo D’Emilio. Over 27 thousand people attended the closing event of the conference in the impressive Mario Kempes Stadium. We believe that our nation will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea! And together we will be able to declare: Argentina, a country redeemed by God!
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We believe that our nation will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God
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Pastor Juan Carlos Rojas also challenged the churches in Argentina to grow in faith, highlighting that our faith should never remain the same, but should grow every year. He encouraged us to remember that Jesus has called us to “go and bear fruit.”
Brazil PASTORS ELIEMERSON & JOHANNA PROENÇA
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ne of the most impressive conferences in the history of the Vision was held in July 2016 in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. One whole year of planning and preparation enabled the national team of pastors to reach their goal of filling the Allianz Parque Stadium, with 30,000 people registered to the conference. This dream was born in the hearts of Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos, who challenged Brazil that it was time to see supernatural growth in their churches. They spent the year spiritually preparing a large team of leaders, increasing their faith, imparting the spirit of conquest to them, and using different strategies to see great multiplication.
One year later, we saw the fruit of all this as the number of attendees doubled from the previous conference in 2015. The conference was a powerful encounter with God and all the sessions and ministry times touched the heart of every person. We experienced a powerful time of praise and worship on the Saturday night as GeneraciĂłn 12 Brazil and Fernandinho played at the closing event. We also had the privilege of having evangelist Reinhard Bonnke with us, who shared a powerful word and released the anointing for miracles. These are new times for Brazil, times of conquest and seeing revival in every corner of this beautiful nation.
Venezuela PASTORS JORGE & PATRICIA ROJAS
It is precisely this situation, however, that has caused a supernatural awakening in the church. Over the past two years, we have seen that the G12 churches in Venezuela are truly a team that has decided to rise above the circumstances, to be a light that brings hope and healing, and to mark out a path of freedom for the nation, with strategic times of increased prayer and fasting, sharing the gospel in homes, on the streets and in the long queues. We have never lost heart when faced with the circumstances. Instead, we have overcome every obstacle, releasing an atmosphere of miracles. Despite the shortage of food, medicine and money, the church has decided to continue moving forward, holding a conference for more than 14,000 people in 2015 and a conference for 11,800 people in 2016. These numbers are a complete miracle because large gatherings are almost banned in the country. The difficulties
The G12 Vision has not only brought a strategy of multiplication to the church, but it is also the covering that brings healing, unity, faith and strength to protect the nations.
Venezuelans face every day also mean that traveling from their homes to the city of Barquisimeto is almost impossible. Nevertheless, the grace and favor of God has been with us, and we had an excellent time together in August. We experienced three days filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, where the Lord sent His rain on Venezuela. We have been able to achieve great things because of the faith of Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ team of twelve, who have remained faithful to the Vision and have set an example for the rest of the churches, as they have continually been at the spearhead of what God is doing in the nation. Our goal for this year is to hold the conference in a baseball stadium with a seating capacity of 25,000. “By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight� (Hebrews 11:33-34 NLT). We thank God for the G12 Vision because it has not only brought a strategy of multiplication to the church, but it is also the covering that brings healing, unity, faith and strength to protect the nations.
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enezuela is currently experiencing one of the greatest conflicts in the world in terms of government. This has caused a great social, economic and public order crisis, and the country is experiencing some of the highest inflation rates and the violation of human rights. This situation has also been created by a spiritual chaos caused by the influence of idolatry and false doctrine, which have affected the spiritual atmosphere of the nation.
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Sweden PASTORS LENNART & CAROLINA TOREBRING
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s well as being the G12 coordinators for Europe and pastors in the city of Stockholm, Sweden, we have also been developing an important social and spiritual project in India through the Love Linn Foundation. August 2010 was a time of great pain for us as a family, because our 25-year-old daughter left this earth to be with the Lord. Our daughter had a beautiful heart and was passionate about Jesus and the salvation of souls. Linn (that was her name) had a cell group of 12 young women whom she loved and who continue to serve the Lord through the Vision today. But she also had a dream: to travel around the world, making a difference as a pastor and a missionary. She was particularly passionate about children who have had to live through many difficulties. The year that Linn went to be with the Lord was the same year we had planned to take her with us to visit India. Linn had lived with us in India when she was younger, where we had served as missionaries for approximately two years. She loved the country and its people. When Linn died, God spoke to us and said that many people would be saved because of what had happened. We decided as a family, along with our beautiful congregation, to follow Linn’s dream and somehow help the most needy children.
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In 2011, we traveled to the most marginal neighborhoods of New Delhi and spent two weeks there. Our hearts were so broken by what we saw that we began to earnestly seek God. A door opened supernaturally which allowed us to begin a school project for children in those neighborhoods who were living on the streets or in extreme poverty. After one year, it was wonderful to be able to visit our first school and see hundreds of children raising their hands to receive Jesus during their first encounter with Him. The Love Linn Foundation was born and brought great encouragement to our hearts. When our Indian collaborators offered to provide teachers to work with the children, we committed to traveling to the schools once a year to train those teachers in both the emotional and spiritual needs of
These children could never have received the gospel with hungry stomachs and lice in their hair. We first wanted to provide them with a daily food portion and a school uniform so that they could feel a sense of pride, just as children with access to better resources do. Each child received a school bag and teachers who loved them.
the children. We use these opportunities to minister to the teachers and to teach them the Ladder of Success as a model to help reach the heart of every child, enabling the children to develop in every area. We also go to India to visit the schools and hold an Encounter for the children, focusing on the revelation of the cross and inner healing. This allows the children to know Jesus, and receive hugs and gifts. We have had several Encounters in Delhi, and we are currently preparing to travel to the Himalayas to hold two Encounters for 600 people, more specifically for leaders who live in grave poverty, to help them do the Vision. In one way or another, we are preparing the ground so that Pastor Cesar Castellanos, the apostle of the Vision, can meet with those leaders. We thank God for what He has done through the Love Linn Foundation. We have not found the work in India difficult at all, because the anointing of God has been upon us, supporting us at all times. God has blessed us with 17 schools to educate 1,700 children. we love to be with them and show them our love, because their hugs have healed the hole left in our hearts by our beautiful daughter linn. Being connected to Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos and the G12 Vision has taught us to dream and believe for great things. We want to encourage everyone who has given their heart to the vision of Jesus to receive the dreams God wants to give them so that they can make them a reality. This is our time dream and you will win the world!
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Russia
We wanted to do everything with excellence and we longed for the Holy Spirit to come in power
PASTORS EDWARD & OLGA DEREMOV
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ver since God brought the Vision to our ministry, we have experienced amazing miracles. The year 2016 was no exception. Around 5000 leaders from over 100 cities across Russia came together to take part in the Send Your Rain national conference. There is no doubt that the Lord has chosen to release His restoration in our nation so that we experience a great revival. Conference speakers included Pastors Ryakhovsky, Pastor Jorge Andrés Cataño from Colombia, and Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos, who shared powerful messages that brought emotional healing to thousands of families and provided us with spiritual principles to transform every person into a leader who is fruitful in every area of their lives. There was a special moment that has touched the church of Russia forever. One evening, Pastor Cesar Castellanos asked Pastor Mikhail from Moscow to pray for the social and political arena in Colombia. During a time of prayer and intercession, Pastor Mikhail began to cry like a child who had lost his parents. The whole experience took us all by surprise. The Holy Spirit helped us understand that his intercession was a prophetic prayer for the children of Colombia, crying out for the protection and redemption of their country. The next day, we were all witnesses of the miracle that prayer brought about and how God began to change the political panorama of Colombia into a blessing.
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After the G12 international conference in January 2016 in Bogota, we received a promise specifically for Russia: “After a long time of drought, God will pour out His rain on our land.” The Word of God has been in short supply in our nation for many years and the family unit, the economy, education and the moral conscience have experienced drought as a result. That word gave real meaning to the name of our national conference, Send Your Rain Russia 2016, because we believe that only through the rain of God can our land experience a great revival.
We wanted to do everything with excellence and we longed for the Holy Spirit to come in power, so we determined to raise our level of faith. Prayer and fasting were our spiritual weapons as over 5,000 leaders cried out to God to open the floodgates of heaven - floodgates that no one can close, even during difficult times in our nation’s economy. God showed up powerfully. We experienced a unity of spirit with Colombia as we came to understand that although we are located in two different continents, the prayer of one nation for another brings a special unity. All barriers of indifference were broken down that night. As we continue to work toward seeing a great revival in Russia, our next challenge for 2017 is to raise up a team of 7,000 disciples for Jesus.
South Korea PASTOR LEE SEUNG BANG
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ne of the challenges we faced this year was mobilizing all the people needed to put on a three-day conference. Although the G12 churches are steadily growing in Korea, they are still considered small scale. Bringing 5,000 attendees together over three days in one place was a big challenge for us. Although All Nations Church, the host church, has over 1,500 members, not everyone was able to attend the conference, which was to be held on the mainland. Only around 300 people from the host church were able to attend the conference. This helped us understand the importance of teamwork with other G12 churches. Teamwork was one of the things that gave strength and unity to the G12 network. The challenge of hosting the conference has brought unity to the churches, people and pastors who may have previously thought that their churches were too small to make an impact. The G12 conference has helped them realize that this is simply not the case and has brought a fresh hope to small churches.
The number of people who attended this year’s conference was almost double that of the 2015 conference. We find this so encouraging because it shows that it is possible to set goals and achieve great things, even in the midst of the challenges we faced. Pastor Cesar Castellanos challenged us to reach an attendance of 10,000 at the 2017 Korea Conference. The 2016 conference has shown us that we are able to use our resources and work together as a team. There is a great expectation among all the churches that we will reach this goal.
These events ignited a fire in the hearts of all the churches to win souls. The show was so easy to invite people to and allowed us to share the gospel in a way that was easy to relate to and visually accessible. The results were amazing as 1,000 souls came to accept Christ. The churches are once again on the move to win souls. We have faced many challenges and have reached many goals, but we would not have been able to do any of this if it were not for the united teamwork of all the G12 churches. We believe that the Holy Spirit is showing us that with God anything is possible. When you enjoy serving the Lord, everything you do for Him will bear much fruit.
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We encouraged each church to set their own goal for attendance at the conference and to monitor their progress. The total goal across all the churches was over 6,000. Although we did not reach this goal, we were able to gather just under 5,000 people, which was a huge accomplishment for us.
During October 2016, the G12 Korea churches had the precious opportunity to win souls through a magic show performed by Pastor Lawrence Khong. Pastors Lawrence and Nina Khong took time out of their busy schedules to come to Korea to perform the show, starting in Jeju and continuing on to Daegu, Pohang, Daejeon, Wonju, Suwon, Incheon, and Seoul.
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We encouraged people to attend the conference through promotional videos and by raising an atmosphere of excitement and expectation. We shared how important it was for the conference to be successful so that God could use us as an example to all the churches in Korea to show that revival is possible in our nation again.
Philippines PASTOR ORIEL BALLANO
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e are certain that Jesus is the Lord of our nation, and we will continually fight for the Vision He has given us, to transform the Philippines by winning more people and bringing them to Him. We have faced different challenges this year which we have been able to overcome as a team and family in the G12 Vision in the Philippines. God has allowed us to continue fighting for the dream He has given us as a church. During the 2016 National Conference, we experienced an overflow of anointing as God sent His rain upon every person and family. Delegations from different regions around the Philippines flew to the capital to experience the move of God. Every delegate was inspired by Pastor Cesar Castellanos and the other conference speakers who shared their experiences in God and the Vision He has given us. The G12 National team received a special welcome and brought a message of rebuilding and unity among the churches in the Vision. We understood that God desires to restore families and strengthen the love between parents and children. We were reminded how important it is that families work together to serve in the house of God.
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We heard how more churches are constructing large auditoriums to accommodate the multitudes as they prepare for the call God has given them. We are overjoyed to know that every ministry is advancing the kingdom in the different regions of our nation.
We are so excited about all that God has for us this year. As a team, our challenge is to gather 100 thousand people for an event in Rizal Park in Manila on April 8, 2017. We will stand together to declare that the Philippines will be won for Jesus. To reach this goal, our teams across the country are carrying out various evangelistic campaigns to win new people and invite them to this great party for God! We are always seeking to provide leaders with resources, training and pastoral direction from one of our team of 12, to enable them to accept and achieve every challenge we have as a church. We trust that in 2017, we will see miracles and multitudes coming to Jesus. As a team, we are committed to fulfilling the Great Commission of making disciples who are passionate for God.
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Delegations from different regions around the Philippines flew to the capital to experience the move of God
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Singapore PASTORES LAWRENCE & NINA KHONG
The closing of the conference, which was also FCBC’s 30th anniversary service, marked a change in season for FCBC – with FCBC’s Deputy Senior Pastor, Rev Daniel Khong clearly defining FCBC’s vision and specific goals for the next 10 years. Together with his wife, Pastor Serene, they will be the key driving force for these goals. Apostle Lawrence and Rev Dr Nina will play a mentoring role as they continue to make inroads into the nations, particularly Asia – to pave the way for the church to come alongside to make disciples, plant churches and transform communities in Asia.
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In October 2016, Apostle Lawrence had the joy of bringing his magic show “From Illusion to Reality” to South Korea to bless the G12 churches there. The show was performed at eight cities starting with All Nations Church in Jeju Island, which is pastored by Pastors Lee Seung Bang and Choi Jin Sook, to Gimpo. All the shows saw full-house crowds with over 1,000 salvations and re-dedications. All in all, the impact and purpose of this trip was clearly summarised by Rev Dr Nina who said, “A person will only retain a small percentage of what they hear. But if you give them visual illustrations along with the lesson, their retention factor increases greatly. Add a mystery or surprise ending and you give them something they will long remember! As such, when sleight of hand and illusion are harnessed for the purpose of explaining gospel principles, they become powerful communication tools from a psychological and educational point of view.”
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In November 2016, Apostle Lawrence together with Gateway Entertainment (GE), FCBC’s production and entertainment arm that produces illusion theatre performances, brought its world-class production “Christmas Magic” to two cities in Taiwan, Kaohsiung and Taichung. GE combines magic, music, drama and dance to establish God’s kingdom in the Arts and Entertainment world. This was the second time “Christmas Magic” was staged in Taiwan, and of significant note was the positive response from Senior Pastors
Herein lies the crux and foundations that Christmas Magic is built upon – where sleight of hand and illusion are harnessed for the purpose of explaining principles in an engaging and powerful manner. “If the presentation is an accurate representation of Biblical truth, the audience will be more impressed with the message, rather than the illusion itself. That has always been GE’s vision – to entertain and engage the masses in a meaningful way,” said Apostle Lawrence. The shows yielded a total attendance of 15,000, with over 2,600 salvations and re-dedications. The results of GE’s tour in Taiwan is testament to Apostle Lawrence’s vision and the effectiveness of this innovative way of sharing the gospel. GE will travel to China in December 2016.
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. FCBC successfully completed the redevelopment of our new worship centre, Gateway Theatre. This nine-storey building, which includes a 950-seat theatre and 300-seat black box theatre, is FCBC’s third worship venue. Gateway Theatre elevates FCBC’s ability to influence and make an impact in the Arts and Entertainment world, while fulfilling the vision of making disciples and transforming the community.
When the arts and talents are harnessed for the purpose of explaining gospel principles, they become powerful communication tools from a psychological and educational point of view
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Over four days, the conference delegates received impactful messages from Pastors Cesar, Claudia and Sara Castellanos, Art Sepulveda, Bert Pretorius, Bray Sibley, Rick Seaward, Dr Zhao Xiao, Brother Yun who’s also known as The Heavenly Man, and of course Apostle Lawrence and Rev Daniel Khong.
of various churches who came for this visual spectacle. Delighted and thoroughly entertained, they were impressed by not just the showmanship of Apostle Lawrence and his daughter Priscilla Khong, but also how professional the staging, props, costumes, performance and magic were carried out. It was certainly a visual treat and a first for many of them as they had not witnessed such a unique evangelical engagement of such quality or standard. All the pastors who came to enjoy “Christmas Magic” were genuinely awed and amazed by the performance, calling it a truly magical show. They also voiced their support for Apostle Lawrence’s efforts in using the performing arts as a platform to spread the gospel.
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G12 Asia Conference 2016, themed “Send Your Rain”, saw a strong turnout of 9,614 delegates, with 2,137 foreign participants from 230 churches in 19 nations gathered in Singapore. The presence of God was powerful at the conference as God’s people gathered in longing for His rain and having their passion reignited for the Lord. Through this conference, it was evident that God is moving Asia into a new season, where He promises to pour out His rain.
By Rossemarie Rizzo PASTOR MCI
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or over 5 years, the Un Solo Corazón Foundation has been working to prevent and detect any kind of violence against women and children, raise awareness of adoption possibilities for families, and seek to improve health, nutrition, education and recreation provisions for families in Colombia.
Semillitas de Amor Foundation, the Médica Foundation and a team of MCI volunteers, served 225 families in Tibú. A team of dentists, physiotherapists, psychologists, oral hygienists and opticians were among those who provided medical support, and over 200 people from Tibú prayed the prayer of faith as a result of our evangelistic strategy, “The Greatest Love.”
2015 was a year when we focused on serving one of the poorest departments in Colombia: La Guajira. As well as being able to identify the most pressing needs of the population through our research, as a church we were able to offer solutions and answers, resulting in the installation of water desalination plants and a social campaign that helped over 1978 Wayuu families.
We have also been committed to working in La Guajira to continue improving the quality of life for the indigenous Wayuu communities, this time focusing on Amaichon, Aloulian, Lounay, Zucaramahana and Sabaneta. Humanitarian aid, along with legal and psychosocial support, all provided by local businesses and members of MCI, enabled us to hold a social wellbeing campaign in April. We were able to provide the communities with Bibles, as well as material to kickstart a production project in Maicao, equipping the people there to create indigenous handcrafts to generate alternative income. Such projects are helping the people there earn enough for a dignified life, as well as encouraging the development of Wayuu culture through the art of weaving and marketing blankets, hammocks and bags.
We are determined to continue impacting our society because we believe that the church plays a key role in our nation - to bring life. Our new project this year was located in Tibú, North Santander, where we held a social wellbeing campaign on 24-26 June. Our project, “United for Tibú,” with help from the Air Force, the Army, the Navy, the Capi-Silva Foundation, the
We have accomplished so much through all of our projects, and we have established in our hearts what it really means to go and serve others. But we want to do more! Our next goal is to build a school classroom for girls and boys from over 40 families from Lounay on the outskirts of Manaure. The National Army - Cartagena Battalion will provide the architectural designs and labor force, and Un Solo Corazón Foundation will provide the supplies. We trust that “the little of many is enough.” It’s time for us all to put our faith into action!
You can find out more about our projects and discover how to become part of the change by writing to us at; info@unsolocorazon.org
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By Pastor Wes Richards
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CI Bogota has a special place in my heart, because it is through the ministry of Senior Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos, founders of the G12 Vision, that God has brought great restoration to my life, my family and our church. When I first visited Colombia, there was great sadness in my family as my wife and the mother of our three children had died a few months before. Late one evening in the G12 International Conference in 2003, Pastor Cesar met with me and my sons Wesley, then 25, James, 23 and my daughter Melody, 19. I was impressed by the kind words Pastor Cesar spoke to us. I then asked Pastor Cesar to pray for me. Instead he knelt down beside me, put his arms around me and wept over me. I was not expecting that or the peace that came to my heart in those moments.
Through that encounter, I immediately understood that the love of Jesus is at the heart of the G12 Vision. I also saw that Pastor Cesar was simply but radically following the example of Jesus in training up teams of 12 disciples, who in turn would multiply to care for and disciple multitudes. From that moment great and positive change came to our church in Windsor, home of the Queen, in the UK. In the months that followed, we also saw great restoration in our family when my two sons Wesley and James met and married two beautiful Christian sisters, Wilana and Vasti from Robertson, South Africa in one weekend. Two years later, my daughter Melody married Drikus, the brother of the two sisters.
Between them they have been very faithful and fruitful in multiplication and produced thirteen grandchildren - nine grandsons and four granddaughters. But this amazing story of God’s grace to our family did not stop there. Last year I discovered that although I had been a widower and a single pastor for 14 years, God had not forgotten me either. And he had not forgotten a very beautiful and faithful Christian lady from MCI Bogota. Adriana Bastidas had also experienced a lot of sadness in her life. Her parents divorced when she was four and she did not see her father again for 40 years. Her mother, who had been her best friend, died after a car accident, when she was 18. At the age of 24, her marriage was over and she had the responsibility to bring up two young sons and a daughter, just six months old. For five years, she combined home life and a job in local government with daily early morning study in university. After she graduated with top marks, she began a successful business. But she said, “Life was very difficult and there was great pain in my heart.” One day, nearly ten years ago, her hair stylist, a member of MCI, invited Adriana to a big gospel event in Simon Bolivar Park. The preacher was Pastor Omar Cabrera Junior from Argentina, and he said that there was a paradise on earth available for many women who felt abandoned.
“Life was very difficult and there was great pain in my heart.” Adriana Bastidas.
Adriana said, “I always believed that it was possible to know paradise here on earth, but I had never experienced it. In those moments, I believed that there was hope for me. I had a revelation that God was real. I knelt down and asked Jesus to help me.
“I cried so much, but when I got up I was different and the pain had left my heart. I believed God had a new future for me.” From that moment on, Adriana became a fully committed Christian and a faithful member and later cell group leader in MCI. And year after year, although she didn’t see her answer, she continued to pray for the right husband to marry. At the G12 International Conference in Bogota in 2016, she discovered that her husband was to be a pastor from England, who had written a book called “Hope and a Future.”
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Well that pastor was me, and after support and advice from our families and Pastors Cesar and Claudia, we got married in June last year in Miami.Since then we have had the opportunity to tell many thousands of people in different nations that you must always “go for the best and never give up”. God has been faithful to us and He will be faithful to you too.
Pastor Wes Richards has been the UK G12 coordinator for many years. He is the senior pastor of King’s Church International, a multi-racial church based in Windsor, UK and Robertson, South Africa.
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Pastor Adriana Richards has run her own insurance business for many years in Bogota.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
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I believe that this powerful verse in Matthew is still applicable today, because it truly reflects the desire in God’s heart for every person who is in darkness to know the Son, to experience Him supernaturally, and to be born into a new life in Christ. This is the driving force that moves us as a church - compassion for every soul that needs to hear that voice of hope. We know that it is our responsibility as Christians to communicate the powerful message of the cross, which brings restoration, healing, redemption and eternal life. We understand that it is time to speak up and reach those who have not yet had the opportunity to experience the love of Jesus.
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These were the words Jesus used to speak to His disciples after His resurrection, helping them understand the importance of spreading the gospel to all nations. He was entrusting them with a mission and commanding them to dedicate their lives to bringing the message of salvation to those around them. The commission the Lord gave His team to “go and make disciples” was what allowed them to awaken to a new level of conquest, leading them into a maturity in their calling to win souls, activating the gift of evangelism in them, which we know is given by the Holy Spirit.
The MCI church in Bogota is committed to working 365 days a year to fulfill the Great Commission. Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos always motivate us through their example as they work tirelessly to win souls for the Lord. During 2016, we launched LifeClass - a strategy given by God to reach and form every new believer. This experience powerfully motivated us to evangelize. Our church has always been focused on impacting our city and nation by the only means possible - by preaching the Word of God. Every ministerial challenge has allowed us to develop a new evangelical strategy, given by the Holy Spirit to reach large numbers of people.
During 2016, we had the privilege of developing the following evangelistic strategies: Miracle Nights, the We Are One Challenge, and the Family Miracle Catch: Me and My House. We were also faithful in our commitment to win people through cell groups each week. Each strategy was focused on bringing new people to know Christ. Miracle Nights, which have been incredibly important, have created the opportunity for every leader to invite new people to the closing event of one of our conferences, to be prayed for and receive healing, freedom and salvation. The We Are One Challenge was used before the third cycle of LifeClass, and focused on winning young people and taking them to an Encounter. It was a powerful seven-week challenge that encouraged each leader to personally apply the seven times Jesus shed His blood, enabling them go on to successfully win others. Each team of leaders and Encounter guides were given weekly goals: their overall goal was to win 12 young people who would attend LifeClass and their first Encounter. As a result, approximately 4500 young people attended an Encounter, and they were all impacted by the Word and transformed by Jesus.
of families. We made prayer posters to help us in our devotional times and shared the message of salvation with our family members. We saw thousands of families coming to know Jesus during our services and witnessed how 4781 people were won for Christ in one weekend. Our various evangelistic strategies allowed us to reach 22,000 people for the gospel in 2016. We need to remember that winning souls is the first step in the Vision, and is therefore essential if we are to see multiplication in our churches. If we determine to prioritize working with cell leaders to help them win souls and reach this generation to fulfill the Great Commission, our meetings will never be without fruit and we will see many come to know Jesus. Let us remember what the Word teaches in Proverbs 11:30: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise wins souls.”
By Daniel Berrios
Coordinator of Winning - MCI Bogota Lastly, the Me and My House strategy focused on winning entire families. We spent 21 days praying as a church for the restoration
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Our hearts are filled with joy to see how our main goal as a church has impacted the lives of thousands of people in different cities throughout Colombia, allowing them to experience a personal encounter with Jesus and receive the revelation of the power found in His blood. As a result of being able to see the need to be a light in our nation and to bring the gospel to many families, Miracle Nights was born - a tour across 6 main cities in Colombia, with the goal of imparting an anointing of healing and miracles. The cities we visited in 2015 were so blessed that we were inspired and motivated to impact even more places across our nation. We decided to hold our second Miracle Nights Tour in 2016, visiting Ibagué, Cúcuta, Yopal and Mosquera, experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit wherever we went. The understanding people have received about the blood of Jesus has been so powerful that we have seen miracles of both physical and emotional healing, like never before. The church has understood that everything we need has been conquered by the blood Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary. This revelation has taken the church to a higher level of victory and has ignited the flame of revival in our hearts. Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Cúcuta /Colombia
“Everything was ready that Saturday evening for our Miracle Night with Pastors Cesar and Claudia Castellanos. Expectations were high among our leadership, given that we had spent several weeks clearing and preparing the spiritual atmosphere over our city through intercession and fasting.
city have experienced open heavens. We would like to say a special thank you to the MCI Bogota production team, who served alongside our team with love and excellence to make this event, which has had a profound spiritual impact on our department, a reality.” Jorge & Patricia Rojas Pastors MCI Cúcuta
“Coliseo Colegio Municipal was where over 5000 people came together to receive a miracle; we all experienced the presence of God release freedom, and physical and emotional healing. We also had a great time of celebration with the band Soulfire Revolution.
Yopal /Colombia
“Miracle Nights marked a before and after in the heart of the church in Yopal. This tour challenged us to believe for something we had never seen before and to be certain that God would answer every need with miracles. Miracle Nights was the answer our city needed to enable us to turn to God and see His power in our times of need. We had seen how several cities had received the privilege to have that special time with Pastor Cesar Castellanos in 2015 and we longed to also have a Miracle Night in Yopal. “We were so surprised when we received the call telling us that we were one of the four churches chosen for the 2016 tour; and we were filled with great excitement. Our first challenge was to believe for the provision we needed to hold the event. Our church mobilized in prayer and intercession, asking God to open the doors and provide the miracle we needed. “We conquered every area step by step, the venue, the permits… Although there were hurdles to overcome, we saw how intercession moved God’s hand in our favor. We closed this season of prayer and intercession by walking around Parque del Resurgimiento (where the event would be held) seven times. Four teams of over 200 intercessors anointed the place by praying and worshipping the Lord. When Pastor Cesar arrived, he received news regarding one of the pastors in his international team of 12, who was experiencing some health issues; in spite of his clear concern for his friend, Pastor Cesar began the sermon with genuine compassion and love for those in need. The willingness in the hearts of over 9000 people was almost immediate; many received a miracle simply because they were led in prayer from the front. Moreover, we were moved when we saw that, despite being the season when heavy rain was expected every day, the rain stopped completely at 2pm on Friday 27 May, and the Holy Spirit moved with power.” Victor Manuel & Stella Murcia Pastors MCI Yopal
“Because our city is on the border, some Venezuelan brothers joined us for our Miracle Night; a prophetic word given by Pastor Claudia moved their faith to be there to receive God’s touch. “We can truly say that we haven’t been the same since that day; both the church and our
“We have experienced a new beginning as a church since holding our Miracle Night in Mosquera. We experienced an awakening in our leaders as men, women and young people all longed to enter into a new level of faith. Preparing for the Miracle Night motivated the whole church to step out of their comfort zone and take up the challenge to once again go out and win souls for God. The time we spent in prayer and sanctification was key; 800 people met together once a week to intercede and go out to different neighborhoods to evangelize. More than 20 MCI churches in Cudinamarca supported us in all our hard work and we saw over 18,000 people come together in Villa Olímpica, thirsty to hear the Word of God, because we were willing to renew our consecration to the Lord.
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“Something very special happened on the evening of Saturday 28 May. Pastor Cesar was already on the stage, ready to minister to the people, when a heavy rain began to fall - heavier than we had seen in Mosquera for a long time. But to our surprise, neither the people nor Pastor Cesar allowed the weather to distract them from the presence of God or their desire for a miracle. The rain became the resource each person used to activate their faith, because Pastor Cesar encouraged us to visualize each drop of rain as the blood of Jesus, falling on our lives, purifying and healing us. The power of faith and visualization allowed hundreds of people to receive their healing.” Julián & Fanny Flechas Pastors MCI Mosquera
Miracle Nights challenged us to believe for something we had never seen before
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/Colombia
18,000 people came together, thirsty to hear the Word of God
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We all experienced the presence of God release miracles
I have wonderful memories from my childhood, in the heat of my home and the company of my parents and siblings; moments that have sustained me throughout my life, places and experiences that have moved my heart and set the course for me. I am Colombia - because this is where I was born, where I grew up, where I got married, where I developed my career, where my children were born and where I discovered my purpose.
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his year has been a time of many contrasts for our nation; the political, social, economic and structural foundations of our nation have been shaken like never before. All this has led me to revisit the teachings of my inspiration and mentor, the one who taught me how to have a love for our country that goes beyond the frontiers of reason, knowledge and experience, a love that touches the heart. Today I would like to honor the memory of my late father: Luis Alfonso Rodríguez. Encouraged and inspired by my father, I became the first Christian woman to make incursions into the unknown and hostile arena of politics, a little over 25 years ago. Although I was very young, I determined to serve the Lord with all my heart wherever He would ask me to go. The unconditional support of my husband, the encouragement of my children, the vitality my grandchildren have given me and the unfailing support of MCI members all keep that flame of love for Colombia alive in me.
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Watching the events that were affecting Colombians in August 2016, understanding that the church are the only ones who can establish the heart of God in government, we began 90 days of intercession based on 1 Chronicles 13:14: “The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.” Our main goal was for the church
to arise and prayerfully bring about the correct destiny for our nation in the areas of family, education, government, economy, media, the arts, childhood, young people and the church. For us, Obed-Edom represents Colombians, Obed-Edom’s house represents Colombia, and the ark of the covenant is the presence of God, which protected his descendants, family and nation. “Prayer not only changes the destiny of a family, but also that of an entire nation. We cannot be indifferent when faced with situations in the world that want to affect us; we need to rise up and take action to defend our families and our generations.” Our 90-day intercession strategy focused on praying for different areas of our society over different weeks. While we were praying for the education sector, a controversy regarding some books that the Ministry of Education wanted to nationalize for schools was revealed. These books would have opened the way for the promotion and imposition of varied gender ideologies under the slogan of tolerance. Unexpectedly, over one million Colombians across 50 different cities mobilized on 10 August to go out onto the streets and make their voice heard. They spoke out against an ideology that was attempting to misdirect the education of our children, and they
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Prayer not only changes the d e s t i ny o f a f a m i l y , but also that of an entire nation
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During September, we cried out for Colombia. We prayed that everything undisclosed in the peace process would come to light and that everything threatening our Constitution would be dismantled. We were not only praying as a country; I was with Pastor Cesar in a G12 Conference in Russia at the time, where the Lord spoke to us and showed us how that nation, which had once been the cradle of communism in the world, was where we should pray to cut every influence of the doctrine that had intellectually influenced the insurgent groups in Colombia. The pastors from that nation joined us in prayer in an act of faith, asking God to hold back evil and bring about triumph for our nation. As a result, Colombia and the world witnessed how citizens voted NO to the plebiscite that sought to approve the peace agreement. The moment we cried out in prayer for every Colombian to awaken to the reality of the situation, something was broken in the spiritual world; this was a prophetic act of blessing for our nation. The Lord is the One who fights for us and brings protection.
a space for political participation and make public the proposals for the new peace agreement. Without having planned it that way, the Lord gave me the opportunity to become the spokesperson for Colombian believers who supported the NO vote, defending the principles and values that are pillars of both the Word and democracy, and rejecting all influences from ideologies that have sought to put an end to the institution of family. Today I can truly say that we need to be sensitive to the voice and call of God, because His desire is for us to be light in every area of society. We are called to extend our territory at this time, just as the Word reveals in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10:
“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”
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claimed the rights of parents to educate their children according to their principles. Not only did prayer bring the plans of the now former minister of education to light; our prayers protected our generations.
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The situation in these past months has demonstrated the influence of the Christian church in Colombia; this has allowed the church to create
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This last category includes questions like: Is what we do for children worth it? Or the question that parents often ask themselves: Have I been a good parent to my child? Do they know how much I love them? Or questions in the hearts of kids ministry leaders like: Is what I invest into the children really important? Will it bear any fruit? Last year, Andrea, one of our amazing kids leaders, had to personally walk through one of those questions that has no answers. She fought one of the greatest battles of faith as she faced the terminal illness of her 13-yearold son. In the midst of this great trial, she learned the true meaning of prayer, and the power of intercession and truly walking in FAITH. Above all, she learned what it means to accept the perfect will of a Loving God, who through the life of her son, has left an unforgettable legacy, not only in her own life and family, but also in all those who knew him and whose prayers became part of his story. This young boy, Jacobo Latorre, is a loud answer to our questions: what we do for the children in our churches is so worth it.
in March, when Andrea said her last goodbye to her beloved After afternoon son, who entered into eternity to be with Jesus, there was a question that that weighed heavy on her heart: Was I a good mom to Jacobo? Did I do everything God called me to do? Did I go the extra mile for him? This mighty woman of faith and amazing kids leader, who had ministered to many little ones and taught them the love of the Father, witnessed a battle raging in her mind. Had she been faithful in all that God had entrusted to her? But that was when God intervened. One day in December, she found the answer she was longing for. As she was tidying their apartment, she found a postcard Jacobo had written in January 2015. Although there was no delivery date, God knew that this was the time for its delivery. As part of an activity during a talk on family at the pre-teens camp, Jacobo had answered those unspoken questions:
“Mom and Dad, you are the best people in the whole world. Thank you for accepting the greatest and most difficult job in the world. I love you so much. Thank you for loving me, taking care of me, forgiving me, correcting me, waiting for me and playing with me. Thank you for taking care of my siblings (who are the best). Thanks for everything Mom and Dad.” Jacobo left an unforgettable legacy in our hearts. His testimony will continue to declare what the perfect love of God is and that what we do for children - the work that is sometimes so anonymous - has an incalculable value, because what we sow into the children of our church will be what they bring to the house of God when they are older. God decided to answer. He clearly told Andrea that everything she had done for her son had been worth it, that he had felt loved by his parents
and that he had loved them too. This message brought her great comfort. Moved by his words, she decided to thank God for her son’s message and to give thanks for all the church had done for him:
¨Thanks to the Encounters and camps, and every activity where many invested their time, their money, their gifts and their talents, my son was able to have a true encounter with Jesus. Because of his experience in January 2015, I can now receive the healing balm that has brought comfort to my soul, because the church made space to minister to children. Thank you because it was there that my son came face to face with Jesus and was born again. Although he is no longer here with us on earth, he is alive in the kingdom of God, and I am confident that he is in the presence of the Lord. The testimony I have is that nothing that happens in kids and pre-teens church is ever in vain.¨ - Andrea Silva Today it is important to pause and reflect on whether we are investing the best into our children, or whether there is still more to give. It is time to make space for them, not only to introduce them to the God of their parents, but to a living and personal God. As parents, pastors and kids leaders, we have an important mission: to leave footprints that they can follow - showing them Jesus and teaching them His truths so that the Word in Proverbs 22:6 can be fulfilled: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Our purpose is to achieve that great goal: that they would never turn from Him. That is why we have activities like Kids Conferences, Pre-teens Camps and Kids Encounters, where we help children encounter the cross so that they will never be the same again. We would like to honor the work of those who have felt the burden for this ministry on their hearts: pastors in Colombia and other MCI churches around the world. The G12 Brazil conference in 2016 mobilized volunteers from many parts of the country, along with a team of coordinators from Colombia, to make the first Kids Conference in that nation possible: it was a glorious time where over 500 children were ministered to and received the rain from heaven. We also want to highlight the work of the churches that have gone to great lengths to hold pre-teens camps, preparing everything so that young people can have a supernatural experience with the presence of God, as we were able to see in California and MCI Mexico.
“We all leave a mark. May the one we leave be worthy of following, and guide the little children to Jesus.”
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questions: some are easy because we are well aware of the answers; some make us uncomfortable because the answers embarrass us; and some are hard, because we are not sure or because we do not like the answers. But there are other questions for which we have no answers, such as: Did dinosaurs really exist? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or there are more profound questions that leave a question mark in our minds and hearts.
Erika Silva
Kids and Pre-teens Coordinator MCI Bogota
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By Richard Harding PASTOR MCI
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Exactly two years ago, an idea was born: what if we could take the great tools of the vision, and streamline them, making them easier to understand, to implement and to get a hold of. VisionArt came into being out of that idea. A few months later the space that is now the home of this creative team was opened up after a long dormancy. I’d like to take you on a short tour of the office behind the steel door. Once the accounting department, the area was left guarded by a large steel door to ensure security and safety. Now the home of the VisionArt team, this door has become the gateway for the G12 vision to go beyond and reach further with the message of the hope of Jesus Christ. This small space now houses several groups that form the backbone of the VisionArt team.
As you enter the door, you will come face to face with an incredibly talented and dedicated team of animators, seeking to honor God with their skills by providing the next generation with a simple insight into the truths of the Bible through its great heroes of the faith. Little Big Heroes, the brand behind these animated series, has become a channel to transmit the message of the Word of God to a generation long overlooked. When we started down this road we began to see a great need. Whilst there were hundreds of different TV shows that mesmerize kids day in and day out, there is much less in the way of Christian material, specifically for the younger ages, between 2 and 4. We are seeking to turn that around. Little Big Heroes, the animated series is a very fun way of helping younger children engage with the Bible. We currently have three episodes in the final stages of production and face the great challenge of completing a total of 12 episodes by the end of 2017.
We are so happy to be able to announce the completion of this material which has some great interactive lesson guides, extra materials and so much more. Possibly our favorite development in this has been the collaboration with the animation department to produce 12 animated narratives for each of the heroes found in this curriculum, explaining the story right out of the Bible in an engaging way for kids. (You can find this material in the commercial zone or visit www.pequenosheroes.com - currently only available in Spanish, but coming soon in English). If you wish to support us in any way or would like more information on this project, please check out our webpage, pequenosheroes.com or contact us at info@visionart.org
However, Little Big Heroes doesn’t stop here. As you head deeper into our offices, you will come across our Little Big Heroes Curriculum team. We are dedicated to do whatever we can to see the next generation of Christian Heroes rise up. We’ve spent the last two years developing and completing a year’s worth of material specifically for weekly Kids church.
Then we come to our main office, where most of the day to day action happens. Here we complete the process of each project one stage at a time, from writing to rigorous edition, all the way through to design. We are also in the process of developing our customer support team so that we can try and open that big steel door for all of you to be able to step through and pick our brains on what this is all about, and how you can best use it, whenever you need to.
Vision
As you head even deeper down the narrow corridor, through the English phone booth (yes I am English, but I cannot take credit for this marvellous idea), you will come to a junction where we have our final two rooms. To your right is the quiet room. We seek to write, edit and form new material, which sometimes requires that level of quiet that cannot be achieved in an open office. Here we are able to think, form and write (where some of this article itself has been written), in order to try and produce well-rounded, thought-through ideas and materials that we endeavour to make easier for you to understand and use in your churches. With our editorial team we have developed both LifeClass and Destiny Training, and are committed to continue working on improving these tools for you and your churches.
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So I hope you’ve enjoyed your mini-tour, but more than that, I hope that what we’re doing can help you in some way to fulfill what matters most, to: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…” Matthew 28:19-20, NASB.
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