January 01, 1995 by Rick Wood

"We've never seen anything like it before--God is doing tremendous things." That's the consensus of 235 Christian leaders from 60 countries who met in Colorado Springs on Nov. 28th. Leaders representing dozens of ministries from Bible translation to church planting all reported accelerating growth in their ministries. Luis Bush, the International Director of the AD2000 and Beyond Movement, attributed this to the sovereign work of God in response to prayer and the unprecedented unity, cooperation and networking by thousands of grass-roots Christian leaders all over the world.

The Christian leaders came to evaluate the progress of the growing AD 2000 and Beyond Movement and to lay the foundations for the massive Global Consultation on World Evangelization (GCOWE 95) where 4,000 delegates from 200 countries will gather in Seoul, Korea, from May 17-26, 1995. Ralph Winter, founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission said, "The AD2000 face-to-face global meeting in Korea may be the most strategic Christian gathering in history." The AD2000 Movement strives to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in every ethnic group on earth by the year 2000. The Honorary Co-Chairmen of this movement include Christian luminaries such as Billy Graham, Luis Palau, and Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ of the United States.

Delegates from every continent listened with rapt attention as Christian leaders such as Thomas Wang, Luis Bush, Ralph Winter, Paul Cedar, George Verwer, C. Peter Wagner, Dick Eastman and many others reported the accelerating spread of the Gospel throughout the world. Patrick Johnstone, the author of Operation World, reported that "Evangelical Christians are the fastest growing major religious group in the world today and it is the only one that is growing rapidly by conversion." Dick Eastman, Director of Every Home for Christ, reported that following the AD2000-sponsored prayer initiative titled, "Praying Through the Window 1993," the number of decisions for Christ they experienced grew from 426,000 in 1992 to over 1.2 million in 1993 and 1.5 million in 1994. This prayer initiative involved over 21 million people worldwide.

The growing ranks of the AD2000 Movement include leaders from 200 countries and numerous ministries, ethnic groups and denominations who have rallied around the goal of bringing the Gospel to all the ethnic peoples of the world. This has never happened before. George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization, said, "I see God breaking down the barriers between different Christian groups, focusing on the basics to reach the whole world with the Gospel. I see God bringing the third world into the center of the arena with Western people like myself being willing to serve and facilitate rather than lead."

God has brought together a vibrant group of energetic and committed Christian leaders from all over the world who have a passionate commitment to seeing the goals of the AD2000 and Beyond Movement realized in the next few years. All of the leaders attending GCOWE 95 next May must sign a declaration of their commitment to this movement and its goals. This unity of vision and purpose on the part of so many Christian leaders bodes very well for the ultimate success of the AD2000 and Beyond Movement in reaching its goals. Many efforts in the past have failed because there was more talk than real commitment to specific goals and the strategies to accomplish them. Stay tuned and see what God is going to do through this powerful new global movement.