WOA 30th World General Assembly Brings together 1,500 Delegates at Olivet Asia Pacific Center in Korea

The World Olivet Assembly (WOA) held its 30th World General Assembly with the theme "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done in Earth as It Is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10) at the Olivet Asia Pacific Center in Hoengseong, South Korea. Opening on the morning of October 28 and concluding on the 31st, the WGA brought together some 1,500 delegates from every region of the world.

The event kicked off with a flag ceremony that featured the twelve regional Olivet Assemblies, its global ministries, and affiliated fellowships. A commemorative video featured testimonies from current and former ministers and missionaries who shared about the work of the Holy Spirit that allowed the movement to grow from a tiny mustard seed to a global denomination whose mission network now encompasses more than 160 nations.

After the opening ceremony and service, delegates went to one of the nine featured tracks, such as mission, prayer, education, family, business, medical ministry, and more. Each of the tracks featured prayers, reports, plans, best practices, panel discussions and other elements that helped delegates unite around the vision of building God's Kingdom within their respective sphere of society.

This year, a special lecture featured a medical doctor from Saint Luke Society, an affiliated fellowship of WOA bringing together believers in the medical field, speaking on health in mission and ministry. The mission track, which included the largest number of delegates, featured sessions on online and offline mission strategies, self-supporting mission approaches, a panel sharing about public engagement, and more.

Furthermore, the faith & order session reaffirmed WOA's long-standing tradition of faith as rooted in the Reformed faith and Westminster Confession; and the membership standards that emphasize a life of faith in Jesus Christ, the rebirth and new life in the spirit and a commitment to participation in the local church or ministry with their unique giftings God has entrusted to them.

Every evening, WOA's prayer ministry led by Elim Center International invited participants for prayer, with participants testifying about the fire of the Holy Spirit reigniting their hearts to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the end of the earth.

On October 30, the day of the anniversary celebration, WOA received warm congratulatory video messages from World Evangelical Alliance Secretary General Bp Dr Thomas Schirrmacher, Communion of Churches in Korea President Rev. TaeSeob Song, and Council of Presbyterian Churches in Korea President Rev. Seoyoung Jung. Each of them gave thanks to God for the way how He has blessed and guided WOA and for the warm and deep friendship and partnership in Christ.

The WGA concluded with a closing service that spoke about the importance of shepherding the Lord's sheep with John 21 as the main text. The resurrected Lord allowed the disciples, who fished all night without any success, to catch a large number of fish and the nets didn't break. And Jesus then restored the Apostle Peter's faith and reminded him that the true expression of loving the Lord is to take care of His sheep.

Reflecting on the event, WOA General Secretary Rev. Mark Spisak expressed, "we are very grateful to God that He allowed the 30th World General Assembly to be such a blessed time for all the participants. We could confess together that all these developments and the incredible growth that the movement has seen over the past three decades has only been accomplished by the grace of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit."

"We are all sinners overwhelmed by the great grace that has been poured down on us through the redemptive life of Jesus Christ. As we look ahead at the next year, we desire to always keep the heart of gratitude, and the attitude like the Apostle Paul who wrote to the believers in Rome that he is indebted to the whole world to preach the gospel (Romans 1:14), and that the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Verse 16)."

"With this heart, we wish to continue to dedicate our lives to Jesus Christ. And we seek to move forward with the prayer of the Lord on our minds that God's Kingdom may come, and God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."