Report - “The Gathering”

The First European Missions Conference

November 4, 2007

“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’”
Nehemiah 1:8-9

Nehemiah’s prayer reveals a solemn yet awe-inspiring eternal truth. It is our Sovereign God who “scatters” His people because of their unrighteousness. Then those few, who repent by seeking Him with all their hearts, our gracious Father “gathers” this remnant from the “farthest horizons” to carry out His purposes. On the weekend of October 19-21, God gathered in London, England more than a hundred souls from as far away as Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Poland, Pakistan, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United States and of course England! Most excitingly, “The Gathering” on Sunday was the inaugural service for the London International Christian Church! Many thanks will someday surely be given in heaven from the now untold millions who would have died untold if not for the courageous proclamation of the 19 sold-out disciples of the London Church and especially their beloved leaders, Tim and Lianne Kernan. So encouraging was that through the Spirit working powerfully at the conference, God’s new movement of sold-out disciples is rapidly spreading (2 Thessalonians 3:1), as disciples from Paris have decided to join us and start a Bible Talk this week in the heart of continental Europe!

Thursday evening was the beginning of the festivities as we were able to participate in the Speakers Dinner. Speaking for the European Missions Conference were: Argo and Anu Lips of Tallinn, Estonia; Maxim and Natasha Potopov of Kiev, Ukraine; Matt and Helen Sullivan of Phoenix, Arizona; Lance and Connie Underhill of Los Angeles, California; Bob Bertalot of Portland, Oregon; Tim and Lianne Kernan of London, England; and Elena and me. The incredible singing throughout the seminar was led by Chuck Hess of Corvallis, Oregon. Most of the speakers sacrificed of their own means to participate in the seminar, though some of us were supported by the sacrifice of our home congregations and the London Church. The Speakers Dinner was indeed an awesome time of exchanging encouraging accounts from our home ministries as we ate with the London disciples at a little restaurant near the Thames River.

Friday night the opening session was held at Kings College in downtown London. I was privileged to speak on the theme of “The Dream.” Jesus’ dream was to change the world by giving every man and woman an opportunity to have a personal relationship with God, and thus eternal life. We studied in detail from all four gospels how Jesus personally made disciples. Interestingly, very early in His ministry, Jesus shared His dream to evangelize the entire world. While speaking in His hometown synagogue, Jesus said He was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy He had just read in Isaiah 61. At this point, Luke records “all spoke well of Him.” Jesus goes on to explain that He had come “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners,” both to the Jews and the Gentiles, and then Luke writes, “all the people in the synagogue were furious…They drove Him out of town” to kill Him. (Luke 4:28-29) When Jesus first preached world evangelism, the freeing of both the Jews and the Gentiles, the people of his hometown –those who knew Him best– hated the dreamer and tried to murder Him for this vision. In closing the sermon, I challenged the disciples that the price to accomplish Jesus’ dream is the same in the twenty-first century as it was in the first century. The price is tears – Tears of Repentance, Tears of Discipleship and Tears of Persecution.

Saturday, the program for “The Gathering” had the men meeting in the morning and the women in the afternoon, with a special singles event that evening. Particularly moving to me was the preaching and testimony of Lance Underhill, one of our shepherds at the City of Angels Church. He shared that his prayer and dream was that all of his four children would be baptized, and they were! Yet, when lukewarmness came into the church and then into his life, each of his children fell away. As a victory story, three of the four are now in the City of Angels Church and the other son, upon his return from Iraq, wants to be a disciple with us as well!

Sunday was the inaugural service of the London International Christian Church. To begin the service, Tim and Lianne invited each of the other 17 sold-out disciples to introduce themselves and share why they are members of this new congregation. Their testimonies were so joyful and enthusiastic, yet tears were shed over the ways God was working in their lives. Especially powerful were the testimonies of the five disciples from South Africa that are now part of the London Church. As a surprise, at the end of the sharing, Jack Diamond proposed to our sister Kasia and she accepted! It’s great to be family!

Then, Steph Brown of Montreal, Canada – a dear friend and brother – gave a most endearing introduction of his son-in-law, Tim Kernan. In turn, Tim delivered one of the most stirring messages I have ever heard by a young minister. Tim’s sermon was entitled, “For The Honor of God.” He preached about Phineas in his zealous younger years (Numbers 25); his mid-life crisis years of mediocrity (Numbers 31); and then in his senior years, where he had matured, but once again possessed the zeal and idealism of his youth. (Joshua 22, Judges 20) The message put an even greater resolve in Elena and me to make these last years our most zealous, for as Paul writes, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.” (Galatians 5:6)

Disturbingly, on the day Elena and I arrived, Tim pulled me aside and shared there was, according to the London police, a very credible death threat against him, Lianne and me. Therefore, as with the 200 soldiers that guarded Paul from a plot to kill him (Acts 23:23), so several “bobbies” (London police) escorted the Kernans and us during the entire weekend! Truly, the dream to evangelize the world in a generation is just as dangerous today as in Jesus’ day!

Upon our return home, good news awaited us. During the past ten days there have been six baptized into Christ, three of whom are college students from the Cal State Fullerton ministry, led by Kyle and Joan Bartholomew! Also, I had received an email from Raul Moreno, who flew from Santiago, Chile to Honduras to preach at the first anniversary service of the San Pedro Sula International Christian Church. During this past year, with no full-time people, the San Pedro Sula Church has grown from 50 to 75 disciples! At their anniversary service there were 320 visitors and 105 kids, giving a total attendance of almost 500! Dorian and Rosa Bonilla, who lead the congregation, had 27 visitors! Amazingly, 240 of the visitors expressed a desire to study the Bible! Truly the world is being evangelized in this generation!

Let’s all start praying for next year’s “Gathering” in London. The second European Missions Conference will be on October 17-19, 2008. And to our God who is gathering His remnant from the nations be all the glory, honor and praise!

Kip McKean