Article Written by : A Wedding Ideas
newhope church hosted its fourth annual InCite Leadership Conference, the weekend of September 30 to October 1 in Durham, North Carolina. It featured Mark Batterson, the New York Times best-selling author, as one of two keynote speakers. The other, was Senior and founding pastor: Dr. Benji Kelley. Together, the two spoke to more than 700 people from ministry and marketplace worlds, gathered for two days of Worship, inspirational leadership teaching and networking opportunities.
The two pastors have accomplished a great deal during their time preaching. Both have significantly helped build the church within Africa, and both have worked hard to foster communities at home.
The keynote focused on these two challenges. Dr. Kelley, who heads newhope church, has managed to use the mechanisms of mass media to try and teach relevant aspects of the gospel. Many small networks of home gatherings keep the church alive, with larger gatherings serving as meeting spaces for the movement. Pastor Batterson, utilized the strength of music and personal experience to grow his flock.
The InCite Leadership Conference used a portion of each registration fee to help sponsor a network of international pastors and their staff to attend the first Global Leadership Conference to be held in June of 2017. Pastor Kelley will lead those pastors as he travels throughout Kenya, serving as keynote speaker for the event itself.
The newhope church campus in Thika will serve as the host for this momentous occasion, and the event will feature a special musical guest: Cliché All Day to bring hip hop gospel to Saturday’s main sessions. The trio hails from Kenya: Arthur Busu, known as Koezzy, Jackson Nzau, known as “Newborn”, and Peris Mirichio, who goes by “Twist”. Incite 2016 was the group’s first appearance in the United States, where they performed their hit song “All About You”, which helped make the group winners of the Mashujaa Award for Band of the Year. Groove also gave them a nod for New Group of the Year in 2016, and though they did not win their impact in the scene is palpable.
Cliché spends most Sundays preaching as part of newhope Kenya’s Worship Team, which is dedicated to reaching out among youth groups and spreading The Word to those in need. Batterson’s Group, the National Community Church, helps collect and donate funds from its seven campuses to try and directly assist in those community outreach efforts. Here in the United States, Batterson created and opened Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse, which sells retail coffee that is fair trade. Doing so stimulates the Kenyan economy, and provides much needed relief funds for the various projects NCC partners with.
newhope and the NCC share similar values. Like NCC, newhope does a great deal of youth outreach. Both organizations also try and foster strong morals and good values in the youth. Through newhope, Dr. Kelley provides student ministries that help teens navigate the difficulties of high school. Not just the testing either! These ministries equip kids with resources to relate to peers, associate with others, learn empathy and to help spread the gospel. Each campus provides a secure children’s ministry, where kids can learn about Jesus Christ and his teachings.
Those experiences formed the backdrop of the event, but several important and distinct “breakout” sessions took place too. Each focused on a different aspect of community building, networking, and faith-based outreach to try and grow the reach of the church.
