Kingdom Family Conference 2018
What God is doing in the world today? Pastor John Lathrop tells us about a move of the Holy Spirit in Southeast Asia.
A significant Christian conference was held in Indonesia between July 4th and July 6th, it was called the Kingdom Family Conference. My wife and I had the honor of being present for this gathering. The conference was not put on by a Christian school or denomination. It was birthed out of a movement that began ten years ago called Fire Generation. This movement began as a youth ministry in a local church, grew to become an interdenominational youth movement, and is now an apostolic movement to build up the Body of Christ in Indonesia. And let me assure you the people in this movement are on fire! The spiritual atmosphere in the meetings was highly charged. No speakers are announced in advance, in fact, no big name speakers ministered at the conference. This is a grass roots movement.
One of the leaders, told me that seven hundred people registered for the conference but that they estimate that 1,400 people attended the evening revival services. The theme of the conference was “Time of Fulfillment.” The majority of the people at the conference were Indonesians but there were also people there from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Nagaland, India, and the United States. Fire Generation has grown from its early days. It has reached out and established relationships with other nations. In one of the services I was called on to pray for Indonesia as a representative of the United States. Some things in the services had to be translated for the English speakers who attended the services.
The conference consisted of seven services, one on Wednesday night, three on Thursday, and three on Friday, each service was three hours long! Prayer, worship, and ministry were the dominant features of most of the meetings. There were only two services that had a significant amount of preaching. The services were characterized by great joy, including dancing, as well as weeping, and indeed in some cases, wailing. Spiritual intensity marked the services. In a day when it seems like many young people in the West are indifferent or cold about spiritual things it was refreshing to see the spiritual zeal of these young people. They are zealous in worship, prayer, and service. They are also very open to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Dreams and visions are welcomed in this ministry. The people in attendance love God and they love Indonesia. They are also willing to invest their lives in helping to bring improvement to their country through Christian witness and service. Their eyes are also focused on other nations as well. There is no way to describe the power and impact of these services, you would have to be there to understand. I have never seen anything like it in my life.
In one of the meetings they had a reconciliation service between two tribes: the Javanese and the Mollucans. One of the emphases of Fire Generation is reaching the tribes (this is biblical, see Revelation 7:9), since Indonesia is made up of many tribes. Various tribal dances were incorporated into the conference. The young man who began Fire Generation in 2008, was honored during one of the sessions. In fact, there is a book coming out, with his picture on the cover. The book, which will be published in Indonesian, shares testimonies of some of the things that have taken place through this ministry.
This conference is not an isolated event. That is, it is not the only gathering of the year. There is a lot that goes on the rest of the year. This movement does evangelism, conducts revivals in schools, and has raised up houses of prayer in different locations. There are also “fire houses” that meet in different locations in the country that help to keep the fire burning and spreading.
On a personal note I am happy to say that I know two of the leaders of this movement. These two men attended the church I pastored in the USA before this movement began. These men and those working with them are making a significant difference. God is on the move in this country. This three day conference has thoroughly convinced me of that.
PR
