Third Wave 2004
Tercera Ola
Quito, Ecuador
January 7 - 11, 2004
The Tercera Ola (Third Wave) Conference was held in Quito, Ecuador on January 7 - 11, 2004. There were more than 200 participants including 163 Youth Leader representatives from all 7 Regions. The conference was translated simultaneously into 4 different languages including Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. There were Youth from 44 different countries who attended.
The conference is over now, but the effects and results will continue to impact Youth and the Church for many years to come.
Photographs from the event are available for viewing.
Here is a quote from one of the participants:
"I am a fifth generation Nazarene and I have as much hope for the Church as I have ever had. We gathered from all over the world, not really knowing what to expect in this visionary Third Wave conference. We traveled to Quito, Ecuador from Zambia, England, Guyana, Italy, Kenya, North America, Germany, Argentina, and more than 45 other countries. We came to learn, we came to dialogue, but I am not sure any of us were prepared for God's transforming Spirit that bound us together."
"We spoke different languages, we were accustomed to different foods, and yet there was something that immediately united us as one body, with one faith; it was the love of our one Lord. As a white North American, my worship experiences have been predominantly homogeneous. Like a dry sponge, I soaked up the diversity of backgrounds, languages, and cultures. We heard testimonies of lives around the world that had been transformed by Jesus Christ. We confessed our pain and heartache, we rejoiced over victories, we pondered the picture of Globalization of the Church, but more than anything we were transformed through worship: not as Columbians, Russians, or Canadians, but as Christians. Most specifically we discuees what it means to be Nazarene around the world within the broader scope of the Church Universal. As I stood back and thought about a small group of Nazarenes representing over 50 countries, in a small seminary high in the Andes Mountains with hearts and hands lifted to God in praise and adoration, it was a beautiful picture of God's Church. God helped me to see the Church outside North America, not simply as mission fields, but as full-fledged members of the body of Christ."
[Brent Peterson, Pastor of Student Ministries at Kansas City First Church in the U.S.]