Observations on the 4th IPHC World Conference
May 13-17, 2008, Vancouver, BC, Canada
By James D. Leggett, Presiding Bishop, IPHC Ministries

A comment by a pastor spoke volumes about the Fourth World Conference of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Looking at the large gathering of IPHC family in beautiful Vancouver, Canada, he said, “I wonder if the founding fathers ever imagined the church reaching every continent and reaching these numbers around the world.” Maybe some in their vision of a bright future did see the church impacting more than 110 nations. Maybe they saw a foretaste of the great gathering described in Revelation 7.
The Fourth World Pentecostal Holiness Conference was the largest and, described by some, the best of our family gatherings. The conference began with a banquet on Tuesday night with over 400 people and concluded with a communion service on Thursday night. The hours between were filled with many inspiring accounts and messages revealing the work of God through the Pentecostal Holiness Church around the world.

There was a sense of awe and deep thanksgiving as we listened to the stories of what God is doing on the various continents. From a very small beginning over a century ago, the Lord has wonderfully blessed the denomination to spread around the world. Some of the national churches have celebrated their centennial, while others will soon celebrate their centennial. There were churches that have joined the fellowship in recent years. The world conference gave abundant testimony of the continuing power of Pentecost in the world.

We listened to pastors of some of our largest congregations in the world: Donavan Ng of Hong Kong, Hernando Brochero of Venezuela, Ron Carpenter, Jr., USA, Eduardo Duran, Chile, and Valeriy Reshentinsky of Ukraine. It was exciting to hear these leaders and to see them sharing with each other.
The Pentecostal Holiness Church has always opened doors to women in ministry, for we know the promises of Joel: “Your sons and your daughters will prophesy … Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28, 29).

Beatriz Lopez, superintendent of Cuba, inspired the conference as she did five years ago in Costa Rica. Her anointed message stirred the conference. Joanne Wong, lead pastor in the large Wing Kwong Church and Lazlone Mezes of the church in Hungary blessed all of us with their messages.

One of the most encouraging events was the reports of the missionaries who have been sent by national churches to open churches in other nations. In other words, the “receiving” nations have become “sending” nations. The churches in the Philippines have sent missionaries to Cambodia and other nations. The Hong Kong Church has planted churches in Canada and Kenya, and they have plans for more. Mexico has a missionary in Belgium. Argentina has started churches in the surrounding countries. Some of the Latin American countries have sent leaders to the Middle East. One of our pastors told me, “We are just beginning to see explosive growth. Instead of adding, we are going to see multiplication.”

World Missions had scheduled its missionary retreat in conjunction with the world conference for the first time. It added to the conference and gave pastors and national leaders the opportunity to fellowship and interact with the entire missionary staff. Many of the pastors expressed the deep gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the world wide ministers of the denomination.

It also included time for the continents to set goals and strategize for the future. Many set ambitious goals for 2020. These goals and strategies will be reviewed at the next WPHF conference.

We praise God for the incredible progress of the Pentecostal Holiness Church around the world. Yet, we believe there is still much land to be possessed. We believe that the best days are ahead of us. We believe that God has greater miracles in store for the IPHC. Yes, we have seen the wonderful works of God in the nations of the world, but we believe there is a greater glory to come. Dr. Doug Beacham, our World Missions director, spoke of this when he quoted Isaiah 54:2: “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back, lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

God has promised us a vast inheritance. Joshua describes it as “every place you shall set your foot.” Let us dream as big as God has promised and rise up to take all the land He destined for the Pentecostal Holiness Church.