Global Gathering: Living Out the Great Commandments

By Tim and Josie Vickey

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” —Luke 10:27 RSV

I see the 2013 Global Gathering as a unique opportunity to engage the passionate people of Christ living out these two greatest commandments! How are we collectively putting into practice the commandments of the New Testament? What does it look like to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind in another culture? My North American faith journey can quickly and effectively be related to others in North America. But attending the Global Gathering means that I am willing to be thrust face to face into relationships with persons who have a radically different perspective of what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom, persons to whom I must now articulate my faith walk. I can engage other citizens of the kingdom whom God has matured through challenges and experiences that are not familiar. We speak the same language of passion for Christ, but the expressions we use and the experiences that have brought us to maturity are vastly different, and I have the opportunity to take my place in kingdom of God conversations.

In the Global Gathering the kingdom of God comes to the forefront. No longer am I a newly appointed missionary. I take my place as a citizen of God’s kingdom engaging in the global conversation to see how God is at work in the lives of my fellow citizens of the kingdom.

It is my prayer that this event, drawing leaders from all the continents to a single place in time, is a catalyst. Engaged Christians will be able to grasp a fresh glimpse of what God is doing in the hearts and lives of his people as they love their neighbor and share with each other. These are fellow Christians who don’t talk like I talk, and they don’t do a lot of things like I do, but they love the Lord with their heart, mind, soul, and strength. As the writer of Hebrews said, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (10:24 RSV). The Global Gathering is an event that will stir us up! Let’s see what God is doing; let’s stir one another as citizens of God’s kingdom to love and good works, “encouraging one another all the more as [we] see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:25 RSV).

I want my heart stirred, and I want to see your heart stirred as we see the Day drawing near at the Global Gathering 2013!

To register for the Global Gathering, June 22–25 in Anderson, Indiana, visit www.chog.org/globalgathering.

Tim and Josie Vickey have joined Global Missions as SAMs in Malawi, Africa. They are both graduates of Anderson University School of Theology. They have been married for twenty-five years and share a passion for ministry to diverse cultures.