For me, the entire experience of Adelante could be summed up
by Joshua 1:1-9. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage;
be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
Joshua was the insufficient heir to Moses’ legacy. He had been Moses’
right-hand man, and followed the Lord with understated faithfulness. Now
he was slated to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.
The word adelante means “go forward” in Spanish. At this conference,
we, the second generation of the Sword of the Spirit, are the insufficient
heirs to the legacy of the first generation. Born into community or adopted,
we have been called to pick up the baton and run with it. However, like
Joshua, we are called not just to circle the same desert, but to extend
the territory and move into the new land the Lord is promising us.
As I was meditating on the words given during our worship times at Adelante,
I felt the Lord tell me, “Go out and move forward. Every step you take
will be consecrated to me as holy. Take the land I am giving you.” I know
he wasn’t just speaking to me, because many of the prophecies we heard
later confirmed this.
The Lord is calling the second generation of the Sword of the Spirit
to move into new territory and forge out new paths for this mission. I
like what Martin Steinbreithner said at his missionary training workshop:
“Some of you may be thinking to yourselves, why doesn’t the Sword of the
Spirit do more of ________? That’s because you haven’t started it yet.”
Ellen with students in Detroit
What is my response? For now, I know more clearly that my call is to
“take the land” in Detroit.
I have been working as a missionary there for a year and a half, and I
am beginning to see more clearly the new paths the Lord would have me carve
out. For me, it’s to bring the light of Christ to a dark world plagued
with violence, addiction, and the sorrow of broken homes.
However, that’s just for me. In talking with my brothers and sisters
at Adelante, I was encouraged to hear all the great ideas they had for
being salt and light in their respective regions. I am doing my small bit
in Detroit, but there are hundreds of others like me doing the same in
Belfast, Dusseldorf, Leuven, Syria, etc. The possibilities for new mission
are endless.
And you? Where will you “adelante”?
[Ellen Karagoulis is a Women’s
Mission Leader in YouthWorks-Detroit,
an inner-city ministry of Detroit Community Outreach.]
Moving
forward as a new generation of Joshuas
a personal reflection
on Adelante by Daniel Spokoinyi
The Adelante conference impacted me greatly. I could really sense that
God was very present among our generation. My guiding thought of the week
was that God is moving us all forward as a new generation of Joshuas to
enter together into the promised land even though we are all different
– but the goal is the same.
The most amazing experience was the prayer times at Saturday night and
Sunday night, when so many people responded to God knocking on their door,
and the atmosphere made it possible with ease to respond to this call together
as a nation of Joshuas.
At the World Youth Day in Madrid, we hosted the Soul Food Café.
It gave us a visible presence there and enabled us to show many others
who we are as Kairos. It was especially challenging to tell people from
many different countries who we are in words they could understand. We
really had to be totally open, welcoming and strategic to capture their
attention and to be able to witness about the role of Kairos in helping
us live for the Lord. Having a charismatic prayer meeting in the middle
of World Youth Day, praying for people there, and together praising the
Lord was a powerful and great experience, and I believe that it had a good
impact on many people’s lives.
[Daniel Spokoinyi is originally
from Berlin, Germany. He is a university student in Glasgow, Scotland and
a student mission worker for University Christian Outreach in Glasgow.
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Return to Adelante
2011
