[1]LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)–An indoor bullring in Mexico City will be the site of a Rick Warren-led “Purpose Driven Life and Church” conference in late June.
“We are in the process of organizing what will be the event of the year for evangelicals in Mexico, that is bringing Rick Warren to Mexico City for a two-day seminar,” says David Tamez, president of CONEMEX (similar to the National Association of Evangelicals).
Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., whose book “The Purpose Driven Life” is #2 on The New York Times best-seller advice list, has trained about 250,000 church leaders over the last 15 years in the purpose-driven paradigm which is based upon the five commands of Jesus in Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The strategy encourages a balance between worship, fellowship, discipleship, service and missions in a believer’s life as well as the whole church body.
Mark Carver, international director of Purpose Driven Ministries, said Warren accepted the invitation to lead the June 23-25 conference in the 15,000-seat El Toreo Arena bullring because of “the increasing acceptance of the PD model by our close neighbor, the evangelical church in Mexico.”
“The purpose-driven model has already been adopted by many, many churches in Mexico, and church leaders there are recognizing how it promotes church health,” Carver said. “We now believe the purpose-driven model is at the ‘tipping point’ in Mexico and that Rick’s presence at this event will be catalytic to the movement in this nation.
“The church in Mexico is very influential to the Hispanic community in the U.S., Cuba and Central America,” Carver added. “So we believe this seminar will have a huge impact outside Mexico. The organizing committee includes the leadership of Campus Crusade, major denominations and several very large indigenous pastoral alliances. The event is truly being hosted by a broad-based consortium of evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic churches. We even expect to have a good contingent of Catholics in attendance.”
[2]While the list of official supporters is continually growing, Carver said it currently encompasses CONEMEX (Mexican Evangelical Fraternity), the Faith Hope and Love Centers, Campus Crusade, the National Baptist Convention, the Assemblies of God, the Methodist Church, the Full Gospel Church of God of Mexico, Presbyterian Reformed, many Pentecostal churches and several pastoral alliances that number into the thousands of churches.
After this conference-in-a-bullring, a nationwide 40 Days of Purpose emphasis (a spiritual growth, missions, and church renewal emphasis) will begin across Mexico with all the materials available in Spanish. This 40-day campaign, based on Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” has sparked revival and increased baptisms at churches across America.
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For information on this — or other international/national seminars — contact [email protected].