The Holy Spirit is moving in Winnipeg. You could sense it among the crowd at the Mennonite Brethren Church on February 11, 2017. The church was full of Seventh-day Adventists, from churches all across Winnipeg. They had closed their respective churches for that Sabbath and united for a special service to launch Impact Winnipeg 2018.
President David Ripley
“What a blessing it was!” said Dr. David Ripley, President of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan (Man-Sask) Conference. “To be in the room with hundreds of Adventist believers and know that we were united in our hearts to serve God! From all across Winnipeg, and from many cultural backgrounds, we sang, prayed, and studied to prepare for God’s mission, to save souls.”
In partnership with It Is Written Canada, Impact Winnipeg 2018 is a city-wide effort to reach the city of Winnipeg for Jesus. For the next year and a half every church and church member is encouraged to join in coordinated evangelistic preparations that will culminate in a city-wide evangelistic series from November 2-24, 2018 with Chris Holland of It Is Written Canada. It is similar to previous successful Impact events in Edmonton and Calgary in the past.
Pastor Manzanares (left) and Pastor Potts
The February 11 Sabbath launch was special, says Pastor Elmer Manzanares, Impact Winnipeg Coordinator; “the spirit of worship really stood out to me. It was an excellent event. Everyone was in the mode of worshiping, appreciative of the program.”
Pastor Jeff Potts, Executive Secretary of the Man-Sask Conference echoed this, saying, “I sensed real enthusiasm at the event. Seventh-day Adventists in Winnipeg are excited about what God is going to do in their city. Our church members are committed to helping people come to faith in Jesus and be prepared for His soon coming.”
Pastor Chris Holland, It Is Written Canada
Pastor Holland was present to share the sermon for the launch and noted, “The unity of God’s people in revival is something that always excites me. Throughout Biblical history in every major advancement of the kingdom of God, it was preceded by a special time of revival. To see the membership of the Winnipeg churches to rally together with an attendance over 700 people tells me that our people are serious about winning Winnipeg for Jesus.”
The service included special presentations and music from all ages with people from every church across the city. It was a day of prayer, preaching, teaching, training and praise.
The next Impact Winnipeg event is Training and Equipping – Light Your World for God. Spread across April 28-30 there will be various training and equipping events in giving Bible studies, visitation ministry, literature evangelism, and prayer ministry. There will also be special training in giving health outreach weekends. Churches are encouraged to to use “Thunder in the Holy Land” Bible DVD series for personal Bible studies with friends in the home.
“There is a place for everyone. Not everyone has to give a Bible study or have a small group,” Pastor Holland points out. “There will be ample opportunities to be trained in a variety of ministries. However, one doesn’t need to be trained to demonstrate compassionate Christian living. This can be done in the simplest of ways…smiling and saying hello, taking some bread or soup to a neighbour, praying with someone, kind words toward someone, and the list could go on. Too often we have relegated the principle of evangelism to paid professionals. But evangelism is sharing good news. Each of us can share good news no matter the circumstance or our training.
“I urge our church members to pray daily for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Winnipeg,” says Pastor Potts. “Additionally, I urge our members to spend time each week with friends who are far from God, and then invite those friends to participate in a Thunder Group.
“We are called to make a difference”, says Pastor Manzanares. “We are called to preach with power and the Lord has given us the promise of the Holy Spirit, that if we come together, it doesn’t matter the size of the group, the Holy Spirit will be able to make a big difference in Winnipeg. It is when the people come together that the the Holy Spirit does powerful things.”
The Man-Sask Conference has a new Mission and Vision, received through prayer and God’s guidance that includes doubling our number of churches and doubling attendance at each of our churches. President Ripley states, “I believe that what God has asked of us as a conference will become reality in Winnipeg. Double Attendance and double churches. In a short time, we will need an even larger facility to meet together! I urge all members who were inspired by what God did for us at our Impact Winnipeg 2018 launch, to hold fast to your resolve to be involved. Personally we must build relationships with many people around us. God will bless and we will have a great growth in the church.”
SOURCE: Manitoba-Saskatchewan Conference
http://www.mansaskadventist.ca/impact-winnipeg-2018-launches/
