Our global story has been one of the most amazing aspects of the past one hundred years. It is truly fitting that our Centennial be global in nature!
–Jim Bradford, General Secretary AG USA
We celebrated the 100 years of the great work of evangelism. It is simply one thing to rejoice about for we have experienced an exponential growth of the Assemblies of God from our humble beginnings of a few hundred people in Arkansas.
Delegates from the Americas and some 120 countries convened in Springfield for the world’s largest Pentecostal Fellowship in a week-long celebration from August 10-15, 2014.
Peoples from different countries shared their progresses and testimonials about how the AG is moving in their home towns. John Apami from Papua New Guinea who reported a growth of 100 AG churches across the country since the Australian missionaries planted them in 1948.
Ghanaian assemblies of God president Dramani Mahama shared the incredible growth of AG in Africa, where there are currently 17 million AG adherents.
The week was brimming with activities. In the kickoff service in JQH Arena, AG superintendent Dr. George Wood rekindled the mission in the hearts of the people, while commemorating the accomplishments that the church has done. But amongst the reports, what resounds was the emphasis on what else is left to do to keep moving forward.
“We measure our success not by how many people we have, but by the tremendous task that still lies before us. There are a couple billion people who’ve never had an adequate presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Dr. Wood said. “Let’s finish the task.”
One of the Filipino pastors who attended the event is Pastor Joseph Bercero of Word of Hope Church. He recounts “It was an awesome experience. Not what I was expecting in a celebration. As Dr. George Wood said, the plan was to do a celebration/summit/missions’ convention. We were reminded of our heritage and what the Assemblies of God stood for: Missions. Missions exist because worship does not. We, as a movement need to go back to that very purpose why we exist. Every session ended with a clarion call to go and make disciples. Being obedient to God.”
Sources:
ag.org
AG offices photo by @sstrang
