My Four12 Conference Experience

By Estian van der Merwe 

My wife, Mariske, and I have attended a few Four12 conferences over the years and it always feels like God fast-tracks those who experience these conferences into loving Him and His people more. We feel like what would normally take us weeks or even months to learn, God does in just a few days.

I asked God before the conference started for this not to be just be another conference; we didn’t want to simply attend and go home unchanged.  We wanted to really trust the Lord to take us deeper and deeper.  And as we know He is always faithful.

Something that stood out for me was the fact that even though there were roughly 2,500 people gathered over the three days, it still felt like the questions I have been battling with were answered so directly through the speakers.  It reminds me of how God is a God of detail and He is always so interested in our lives and taking us into the more for His glory.

On the second day, Andrew Selley (Joshua Generation Church) mentioned how God wants to pour out His Spirit and use us for His plans and purposes, but that we are unwilling to humbly bend our knees to him.

Andrew Selley, Joshua Generation Church

We rely on our own strength, cleverness and plans instead of humbly coming before our God and allowing Him to do the work. We were reminded that God is big and magnificent; and He deserves all the glory!

Shaun Brauteseth (Oxygen Life Church, PE) preached on how we can only love people if we see them how God sees them; that God is enthusiastic about people. We need to continuously ask Him to give us a love for people. This can only happen if we are desperate for Him to work through us. I was again reminded that we will only see His kingdom come through His Spirit and not in our own strength.

For my wife it was definitely a different experience as she listened to the conference through the windows of the moms’ room.  As she shared afterwards what the Lord did in her heart, it was profound to hear that even though she didn’t attend most of the meetings, the conversations she had about what was said and her conversations with the moms ended up being exactly what the Lord had for her.

Beforehand, and definitely even more so afterwards, we realised that our children should never be a crutch for us not to attend these conferences. We should trust that the Lord will impart what is said and done in supernatural ways.

We really enjoyed the three days of equipping, yet we realise that it can’t just be that:  now it’s our responsibility to go out and love God’s people as He calls us and to use the teaching we received to change lives for His kingdom. I would recommend every JoshGenner to watch the messages on the Four12 website and more importantly, attend the conference next year!

Watch the session recordings from the 2019 Conference on the Four12 Global website.


Watch session recordings now!

Estian van der Merwe

Zandi Hulley

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