Summit Site Leaders in Brazil Develop Strategies to Multiply Impact Across the Country

Every year, leaders from the Global Leadership Network travel to regional centers around the world for annual GLS Regional Meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to build momentum for the GLS, and to ensure there is vision alignment around core values and strategies.

In 2019 we brought these meetings to Brazil. In May 2019, 50 GLS sites from Brazil were represented. We spent two full days clarifying vision, answering questions and helping to develop strategies in order to see the GLS fulfill its vision in Brazil.

Here are just some of the incredible stories we heard during those meetings:

The church now has influence in the business community.

We started to work with the corporate world in our city and brought a lot of companies to the Summit. God brought lots of grace in this process. During the Summit last year, we had all the sectors represented—people from business, military, education and the church. Why do we do the Summit? For many reasons, the Church has been losing influence—we have lost our calling, but the Summit has become one of the tools to encourage the Church again! The Summit gives us the tools to transform transforms society.

…the Church has been losing influence—we have lost our calling, but the Summit has become one of the tools to encourage the Church again!

One business leader, who was very impacted by Simon Sinek’s talk, said, “I’m no longer just an executive, I am a pastor at my organization. It took me to a different level in my business on how to execute and encourage my leaders.”

Business leaders are hearing from pastors, and pastors are hearing from business leaders. We’re all learning from one another with kingdom values. A lot of businessmen have started to come to the Summit. Even though they don’t always attend church, they’ve started to have an experience with God at the Summit. What is taught at the Summit is more than doctrine, it’s also providing tools that will be applied to our lives so we can do things we’ve always dreamed of doing that we didn’t know how to do before. – GLS attendee, Brazil

The GLS changed our church.

The Summit has impacted everything. Our church changed radically after the Summit.

In 1997, my husband and the pastor of our church in Sao Paulo went to the USA for a class. In a couple of their meetings, they heard about the Summit. We had been looking and praying for tools that would help us get better. And so, we went to our first GLS and since then, we’ve always gone. We started taking teams. Most of us didn’t know English, but we would get the atmosphere.

Today, we are looking outside the church walls to see what God has for all of society.

Then in 2005, the Summit came to Brazil! That year 2000 people came to the first event. We discovered asking the right questions is more important than knowing the answers. Over the last 22 years, we’ve been learning together, and today our church is different and focused on planning, inspiration, transformation and time with the Holy Spirit.  We went to the Summit to learn how we can get better, and we came back challenged. Today, we are looking outside the church walls to see what God has for all of society. –GLS attendee, Brazil

The GLS is changing my city.

I am from Venezuela, and I saw the Summit for the first time there in 2012. I was transformed by my experience. Until then, I’d never felt God before. During the event Craig Groeschel said, “If you want to reach people nobody is reaching, you’ve got to do things nobody is doing.” It became something I wanted to be part of, with people who could bless the cities.

With the Summit, God is using us to transform the city.

Seven years later, I came to Porto Alegre, Brazil where there was no Summit. My pastor called me and said, “I want you to be the leader of the Summit here.” Imagine—I am a Venezuelan with difficulties speaking Portuguese. I was afraid. How could it be possible? I went to the youth group, and the youth gathered and said, “You are going to be the one who leads this movement. This event here in our church will bless families.” The youth really embraced the Summit, even though I was the only one who had seen it before.

So, we started with some short Summit events with the youth group so they could experience the Summit and be transformed as well. At our first event, we got 260 to attend! Not only did we have people from the church attending, but business people also attended. Seven years ago, I couldn’t see myself in this situation. With the Summit, God is using us to transform the city. Embrace the Summit! Dream about how your city can be changed. God is going to bring you a grander vision. God is going to surprise you. – GLS attendee and leader, Venezuela and Brazil