Assemblies of God Empowered Magazine LEADING WITH A SHEPHERDS HEART | Page 4

SUPERINTENDENT

Pastor Iliafi Esera
General Superintendent A/G NZ
Senior Pastor, Faith City Church,
Wanganui, NZ

Leading with a
Shepherd’s Heart
I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep” (John 10:11).
In May of this year, I attended
the World A/G Executive meeting
in Jerusalem along with the World
Pentecostal Global conference which
was being held at the same time.
Jerusalem’s Pais Arena was packed with
4,500 delegates, from more than 70
countries. Awards for global impact were
presented to five leaders from around
the world for their role in shepherding
Pentecostal work. Co-Chairmen William
Wilson and George Wood presented
the awards to Reinhard Bonnke, Morris
Cerullo, Jack Hayford, Marilyn Hickey,

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Empowered

- Issue #2 August 2015

David Maines, and Vinson Synan. It was
a powerful service of worship, praise,
impartation, and a time of honouring.
It was my first visit to the ancient city, one
of the world’s oldest. I found the visit
remarkable on many counts. Throughout
my life I have read about Jerusalem, the
City of David, and the place of Jesus’s
crucifixion. Like others, I had pre-formed
ideas. These were challenged by the
reality of what is actually there today.
People from every nation seem to be
trampling the cobbled streets and for vastly

different reasons. It was overwhelming,
the sounds of street traders haranguing,
the unrelenting swarms of tourists
going from one religious site to another.
Many visitors to Jerusalem are somewhat
taken back by the strange religious
tensions, for the city is an important
spiritual centre of Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam as well. The political tensions
mean that there are guns everywhere.
Some people look for God in
Jerusalem, excitedly they walk where
Jesus walked, they hope to receive a