Revivalists Aim to Spark Worldwide Revival

[05.08.08] Several major charismatic ministries known for stoking revival around the globe have joined together and created an organization aimed at world evangelization.The newly formed Revival Alliance officially launched in March during a conference at Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif., dubbed Releasing the Supernatural. Ché Ahn, senior pastor of Harvest Rock and co-founder of Revival Alliance, said he believes global transformation is possible if revivalists from large existing ministries link with smaller, lesser-known ones. “The concept [is] to fulfill the prayers Jesus modeled in John 17 by capturing people's hearts for revival of the nations,” he told Charisma.

The idea for a network of revival-based ministries stemmed from a prophecy given by apostolic minister Bob Jones to Rolland and Heidi Baker of Mozambique-based Iris Ministries. “[The alliance] seemed to come together effortlessly,” said Rolland Baker, a co-founder of the alliance who credits Ahn as a major impetus. Things formed “simply because we like and enjoy one another, and not just because we all have large ministries.”

In addition to Ahn and the Bakers, founding members of Revival Alliance include Bill Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif.; Randy Clark, head of Global Awakening; and John Arnott, founding pastor of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and leader of Partners in Harvest, an international network of churches.

Each of the leaders oversees large ministries that have spawned thousands of churches worldwide. “I've gone into 36 nations, and 5,000 churches have grown from our ministry,” said Ahn, also pointing out that the Bakers have been catalysts for planting nearly 10,000 churches worldwide. “We and the others walk in unity and try to hear together what God is saying to us. There's great strength in unity.”

The network's leaders and their spouses will meet during the year to fellowship and seek God to discern which direction they should move in. “The unique thing about this alliance is we want to give ourselves to other people's success,” Johnson said. “We want to give whatever we have to others in the team. It's not at all about whose name is above the door.”

In keeping with such a mind-set, Revival Alliance leaders prayed for two dozen mostly unknown young leaders during March's inaugural conference in Pasadena and commissioned them to minister around the world.

Johnson said one key goal of the alliance is to connect pastors and leaders who have established ministry work in order to build trust among them and to maximize their effectiveness. “We all have different focuses and don't want to duplicate one another's efforts,” Johnson said. “The point is to maximize the spheres of influence each of us have.