Also this morning, Darlene Cunningham shared with us about leadership.  A good leader, she said, is someone who knows they do not have it all, but someone who understands they need the help of the Holy Spirit as well as a team.  She emphasized our real need for God by saying that if we had it "all," but did not have the Holy Spirit among us, we would be complete failures.  Then we prayed that God would strengthen our teams, our fellowship, our accountability, our unity, and our dependency on Him.

Following the address by Darlene, we made history by hosting a graduation ceremony for 26 students from 15 different nations in 5 separate locations.  All around the world, with the aid of our GENESIS satelite system, we "came together" to host the first ever graduation ceremony of it's kind.  We began by all singing a worship song together.  Then the graduates were introduced by name, nationality, degree they were receiving, and nations where they worked towards their degree.  Following the introductions, one student from each location gave a short speech about their experience with the University of the Nations, Darlene Cunningham shared the commencement address and Dr. Thomas Bloomer gave the confirmation of degree credits.  Finally, each student was presented with their diplomas and they were all commissioned with a prayer.  It was truly a historic event and we were all privileged to be a part of it.

In the evening session, Al Akimoff shared with us about his calling and experience in missions in Eastern Europe.  He shared about their perseverance and God's faithfulness.  They shared about overcoming fear and dealing with the realities of working in a place where sharing the Gospel was dangerous.  He shared about the day when the falls came down, Bibles could be freely distributed, and the Gospel could be freely shared.  Then he shared about the continued need for apostolic leadership in this generation and encouraged us to take up the mantle.  In closing, he said, "You are the future of apostolic leaders, but it depends on your obedience."