Sunday, 7th June, 2009  | 1.7 Billion After 4 hours of counting, the commitments were submitted by the Congress delegates and the totals are mind boggling. Half the forms have yet to be counted. Commitments include: * Number of people to reach with the gospel by 2020 which is 1.73 billion * Hundreds of pledges to engage unreached people groups * Over a 100,000 new houses of prayer * Hundreds of new oral bible teams that will work in the most remote parts of the world * 1.8 million new church plants After 4 days of presentations, round table discussions, workshops and plenary presentations the 3,000 delegates have made written commitments to the 7 main areas related to the Great Commission. These commitments represent hundreds of organizations and denominations. They come from all spheres of society. The forms after being collected stand 4 feet high. It will take days to get the final totals, but already they represent the largest body of commitments ever made to finishing the Great Commission. This is due in a large part to the huge numbers of leaders we have from China. They are filled with a tremendous amount of faith and excitement about the future that is before them. Everyone is energized by their presence. The final evening together has included times of renewed concentration, communion, and commissioning. These four extraordinary days have melted together the leaders from these many nations of the world. There is no disunity to be found. Delegates are walking among the floor giving gifts to each other and praying for one another. Many can be seen embracing with tears of love in their eyes. They don’t even speak one another’s languages, but it doesn’t seem to matter. As the worship begins this final night no one needs to be prompted to honor Jesus, just the mention of His name brings cheering! The presence of God is so tangible that spontaneous worship is erupting throughout the evening. As a final statement, all of the 5,000 in attendance moved out from their rows and began to walk around the inside of this huge venue, passing over the gigantic map as they move. As they walk, delegates are declaring “You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power.” The precession looks very much like the opening ceremony at the Olympics, except more powerful. So much has happened this week everyone is finding it difficult to put it into words. It is clear to everyone here in Hong Kong at this Congress that the return of Jesus is close and there is going to be a rapid increase in the move of His spirit in the coming months.