In our wildest dreams…our most fervent prayers…when we first set out to conduct a global version of the Leadership Summit, we could never have imagined that just a few years later we would be celebrating the impact of the GLS in places like China, Egypt and Uganda. I look at the map of countries where we’ve held GLS events and I think “only God!” Only He could ever have envisioned this type of worldwide impact for the Summit.

But I also look at the map and see that some of the poorest regions in the world—countries totally wrecked by poverty and AIDS and corruption—and some of the regions most hostile to the gospel, haven’t been able to access the same level of leadership insight and direction as we’ve all experienced through The Leadership Summit. It strikes me to my core to know that the church leaders in the midst of these conditions—the leaders who just possibly need encouragement and training and resources the most—are left to sort it out themselves. As leaders, it’s a situation that should trouble and compel us all.

In the same way that the Church has risen to embrace the issues that plague these parts of the world, I believe that now is the time that we must rise to embrace Church leaders who tackle them head-on every day.

This is a different challenge that requires a different strategy—a different way of thinking. Our model of self-sustaining events—selling resources and charging for registrations—simply won’t work in a city where the government is opening hostile to Christians, where infrastructure like electricity and running water is unpredictable, and where the average income is less than one dollar each day. Instead, we’re relying on partners, churches and other Christian leaders who have a vision for the worldwide church and believe that every leader in every church in every country should be able to tap into the potential that’s unleashed annually at Summit events around the globe.

I sincerely hope you’ll join the WCA in this vision.

In Christ,

Bill Hybels
Willow Creek Association Chairman of the Board
Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church