We laughed a lot (see pictures!), cried together (not pictured), played together, and iron sharpened iron. 
The highlight of every summit is hearing the "country reports" where every partner shares what is working well and where there are challenges. It is always amazing to hear the creativity of how people are disseminating this message to the Church and beyond, reaching business leaders, employees, governments, educators, orisons, health sectors, police, and more! But we also looked at where we encounter barriers and discussed how to overcome them. Some of the barriers are the prosperity gospel, the fear of wealth creation, the structure of an inward-focused church, church-program mentality (as opposed to a disciple-making mentality), and more.
We had good diversity in this group, beyond 15 nationalities: denominational leaders from many denominations, NGO leaders, pastors, businessmen/women, and educators, and generational diversity. We had DML board members present as well as partners from Asia for the first time.
Our recurring chant was, "How many are we? One!" as we learned again what it means to move in one accord as the global church. We reminded each other that we are not to "major on the minors" but stay true to the message God has given us.
I was asked how this summit was different than the one in Tanzania in 2022, and I think the key difference is two-fold:
- The family/community of this group has grown even deeper over the last two years as we continue to pray together three times a week. There is a depth in the relationships that is born out of that prayer time that allows for immediate closeness despite only seeing each other in person every two years.
- Ownership of this message, and calling in delivering it, is growing and deepening. We can see how the Lord is working in a number of leaders who are willing to take this message beyond their borders and beyond their comfort zone. The Holy Spirit is sending out laborers and we are thankful to be witnessing that work! At this Summit, we commissioned our Ambassadors-at-large, our International Chaplain, and other key DML leaders.
We reminded ourselves that "a persecuted church will survive, but a church with a compromised gospel will not."
We spent a day touring Addis Ababa and learned about the wonderful and complex history of this beautiful city. We then had a wonderful cultural dinner together, eating Ethiopian food, listening to Ethiopian singers and watching traditional dancing.
Speaking on behalf of the global DML team, we are so grateful for every person who supported this endeavor and made it possible. We are grateful to you!
