International (MNN) ― It's summer, school's out, and for many it's the beginning of vacation season. Global Advance's David Shibley says otherwise. "There is no vacationing from the Great Commission. The advance of the Gospel goes on."
Shibley's team takes that to heart with a summer schedule aimed at empowering national church leaders to minister in their own nations. "Global Advance has conducted 40 conferences, both Marketplace Missions Conferences (MMC) for business leaders, and Frontline Shepherd's Conferences (FSC) for pastoral leaders. We have another 57 conferences scheduled for the rest of the year."
Specifically it helps men like Pastor Ilya. GAM recently held an FSC in Nobokuznetsk, Siberia, a secondary city situated in the remote northeast part of the country. Over 400 pastors and church leaders attended the conference. Before he came to Christ, Ilya was a convicted felon.
About 14 years ago, he and his wife planted a church that began to grow. Local authorities suspected Ilya of being a spy and thought his church gatherings to be suspect. As a result, the church had a very hard time finding places to meet as a church body.
Today, that church has over 1000. It is planting other new churches and has finally won the respect of the city authorities.
The connection between GAM and men like Ilya, notes Shibley, is that their training sessions helps them encourage the unsung heroes of the church as they work toward expanding the reach of the Gospel. "We continue to partner with these brothers, providing ongoing training, providing resources for them, helping them in new church plants, and continuing to have this ever-growing network around the world."
