'Empowered 21' Movement Marks Pentecost in Israel

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Thousands of Christians from all over the world came to Jerusalem as part of a movement called Empowered 21. They came to worship, pray, and celebrate Pentecost 2015.

Organizers of Empowered 21 believe the gathering represents the largest meeting of believers in Jesus to celebrate Pentecost since the first one nearly 2,000 years ago. They represented every continent.

"We are all from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and being here for this conference is very meaningful because we are in the Holy Land," one participant told CBN News.

A woman from Hong Kong said she came because she wanted "to experience more of the Holy Spirit."

"We came with Spirit Life Church from Arizona and the Rock from Anaheim and from Katy, Texas," another attendee said.

"Empowered 21 is a relational network. This is a key word," Empowered 21 President and Global Co-Chairman Billy Wilson told CBN News. "We are relating together in the Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered movement around the world."

"So this is the bringing together of Pentecostal and Charismatics across denominational lines to talk about unity, the power of the Holy Spirit, and how we can help new generations connect with God," he said.

"The Pentecostal/Charismatic movement is growing dynamically," Global Co-Chairman George Wood explained. "It's the growing edge of Christianity. It's been estimated by various scholars that the Spirit-empowered movement embraces between 600 to 700 million believers."

Speakers came from around the world, including CBN CEO Gordon Robertson.

"One of the things I wanted to accomplish here was to present Superbook and to present Superbook to the global Christian audience to let them know they can get the stories of the Bible in their language for their country, for their children," Robertson said.

Superbook reached more than 100,000,000 children last year. It's one sign of what some say is the greatest harvest in the history of the Church.

"At the same time there's a global outpouring of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders and this conference is a testimony to that," Robertson said. "We're hearing speakers from nation after nation talking about the great miracles God is doing in their country."

And organizers expect the best is yet to come.

"Our goal in the Spirit-empowered movement and Empowered 21 is to see that by the year 2033, which will be the 2000th anniversary since Jesus ascended into heaven, that every person on the planet will have an opportunity to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Wood said.