Report on 13th Annual International Conference, Bogotà, Colombia, 2008
25,000 national and international delegates gathered in Bogotà, Colombia for the year's annual conference of the International Charismatic Mission (MCI).
The conference, which was the 13th International G12 Conference to be held in Bogotà, was held from 29th January to 2nd February 2008, and was titled "It's your turn". Pastors César & Claudia Castellanos and the leadership team of MCI hosted and led the conference. They encouraged each delegate and church that it was their turn to make a difference in this generation.
Guest speakers included Pastor Lawrence Khong from Faith Community Baptist Church in Singapore, Pastor Bray Sibley from Harvest World Outreach Ministries in the US and Pastor Wes Richards from King's Church International in the UK.
Worship throughout the conference was led by Generación 12, Soulfire and Delirious?. There were also special presentations from the Bogotà Youth Symphony Orchestra and the dance teams from MCI.
As in previous years, the conference had the honour of hosting the President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe. President Uribe recognised the importance of Christianity in the transformation of Colombia and thanked the visiting delegations for being "ambassadors of Colombia" to the nations they represented.
He also thanked Pastors César & Claudia Castellanos for their influence nationally and internationally, and for the presidential cell-group that runs every Monday.
The 13th conference also marked the opening of MCI's new church building. The building was constructed in 52 days after Pastor César challenged the church to follow in the footsteps of Nehemiah. The main auditorium can seat 14,000 people and was filled to capacity on the opening night.
The conference finished with over 100,000 people gathering for the final meeting in Simon Bolivar Park.
Pastor Wes from the UK said: "What is happening in Colombia is remarkable. The church in Bogotá together with many other outstanding churches is having a major impact on their nation and many nations of the world. The Colombian story shows that any nation, no matter what problems it faces, can be positively changed when the Christian gospel is modelled in an authentic way and spread with the help of committed Christians relying on the Holy Spirit."