History of the apostolic network
Realizing that there has been much misrepresentation of Randy Clark in the public media, and desiring to communicate clearly who Randy is and his role regarding the Toronto outpouring, as well as his continuing role in the Church of Jesus Christ, this short introduction is offered. We hope to clear up any misunderstanding and clarify Randy’s heart for those who read the following.
In January 1984, Randy Clark met John Wimber (founder of the Vineyard Movement) for the first time. John prayed for him and prophesied many encouraging words. Among those words, which Randy has never forgotten, were: “You are a prince in the Kingdom of God.” Although discouraged prior to receiving this prophecy, Randy was greatly encouraged afterward. A few months later, Randy discovered what else God spoke audibly to John that night. When Randy asked why he had been put on the Leadership Council of the Vineyard when he had less than 50 people in the new church he was starting, and everyone else on the council had churches from 500-5,000, a close confidante of John Wimber told him, “John didn’t invite you onto the council because of what you have done, but because of what God told him audibly you will do. You are going to go around the world and lay your hands upon pastors and leaders for impartation of the Holy Spirit, and to stir up and impart the gifts of the Spirit.”
Ten very difficult years would go by before this word from God would be fulfilled. A few days after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the Toronto Airport Vineyard, now Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, John Wimber called Randy. He said, “This is the fulfillment of what God showed me about your life ten years ago.” The last time Randy met with John Wimber; John told him personally, “God told me audibly that you and (one other) were the two Vineyard pastors who would go around the world, laying your hands upon pastors and leaders to impart gifts of the Holy Spirit to them and to impart the Holy Spirit to them.”
Of all the things that Randy values, this ministry of “impartation” is the most important to him. He loves seeing people get healed, delivered, saved or rededicated to Jesus. However, he knows that the Kingdom of God will be even more powerfully impacted by ministering to pastors, leaders, and their people to receive a fresh impartation of the Spirit or the gifts of the Spirit. The numbers of people who will be healed, delivered, saved or rededicated through them will be many more if leaders and laity themselves receive a powerful impartation.
Global Awakening was birthed by Randy Clark in January 1994 as a result of God using him to bring the fire of revival to the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. This ministry was birthed in the greatest revival movement of the last half of the 20th Century, a move of God resulting in the longest protracted meeting in the history of North America. During the first year the “Blessing”, as it became known, spread to 55,000 churches around the world. Over three million people visited the church during the first few years, with thousands being rededicated and saved, and thousands more empowered and equipped to minister more effectively.
Today, over a decade later, as a result of Randy’s ministry in Toronto and around the world, between 6,000 and 7,000 churches have been started in Mozambique. This has resulted in about 1,000,000 new believers coming into the Kingdom of God. The revival in Mozambique was birthed through a prophetic word Randy gave Heidi Baker in Toronto, accompanied by a powerful impartation of the Holy Spirit. The fire of this move of God in Toronto spread through Rolland and Heidi Baker to the mission field of Mozambique. From there it has already spread to over ten African nations, and is rapidly spreading to more.
In addition to the revival in Mozambique, other nations are being touched by the fire of this move of God. In 1995, Randy prayed and prophesied over the Norwegian pastor Leif Hetland, another minister whose life was radically changed. A powerful impartation of the Holy Spirit came upon Leif at the time of the prophetic word he received from Randy. Since then Leif has been used to bring 500,000 Muslims into the Kingdom of God, and he has helped establish over a thousand ''Lighthouses of Love“ in the Middle East.
Many critics of this move of God and its fire have refused to call it revival because they have not seen multitudes come to the Lord through it in North America. Their problem is that they haven’t known the effects of this move in other places of the world. Through Rolland and Heidi Baker’s ministry and Leif Hetland’s ministry alone, there have already been 1.5 million new souls birthed into the Kingdom of God.
The exciting news is that “there is more“; not only more power, more passion, more purpose, and more pleasure in God, but more fruit from the ministry of the Holy Spirit working through the broken clay vessels of Randy Clark and Global Awakening. In 1999 Randy ministered to Pastor Henry Madava, a young apostolic leader in Kiev, Ukraine. This was such a powerful time of great impartation of faith and anointing for healing for both Henry and his church, that Henry began conducting healing crusades in other cities. He and teams from his church have seen over 300,000 people born again through these healing crusades and outreaches. God had already given Henry this strategy, but it wasn’t until after the strong visitation of the Holy Spirit through Randy’s ministry that Henry had the faith to begin putting the strategy into practice.
Randy ministered to 1,000 pastors and church planters from various countries of the former Soviet Union at the first Catch the Fire Moscow Conference in 1995. Among those attending were Rabbi Boris Grisenko and his best friend Oleg Scherbakov from the Ukraine. The ministries of both were powerfully touched and changed. Boris has grown his Messianic congregation to over 1,000, now the largest in the world. He and it are full of the new wine and the fire of this move of God. The impartation Oleg received in Moscow changed him and his congregation as well. It grew to become the largest in his city and he has planted several other churches. Oleg is now the pro forma bishop of the region, serving all the other protestant congregations of Nikolaev. What God did in the Moscow conference was so powerful that one of the pastors on the trip, Russ Purcello of Knoxville, TN, continued to return to Russia and conduct similar conferences in almost every one of the prefects of Russia. Many thousands have been brought into the Kingdom through these conferences and the empowering that occurs to the pastors who attend.
Two Russians, Oleg Serov and Shasha, one in European Russia and the other in Far East Asian Russia, were also touched through Randy and Global Awakening. Oleg received a powerful impartation at Catch the Fire Moscow. At the time he wasn’t a pastor, and had a terrible problem with stammering; he was classified a “severe stutterer” by the Russian army. When Randy prayed for him and prophesied to him that a healing anointing was coming upon his life, Oleg was touched and healed. Three years later he had become a pastor and had the largest protestant church in his city, as well as starting several other churches and ministries. Initially, Shasha wasn’t even prayed for by Randy, but received an impartation simply by reading about the “Toronto Blessing”on the Internet. He has started many churches since he received the empowering experience of the Holy Spirit.
Then there is Brazil, Randy’s ''land of anointing“ where Randy and Global Awakening have the most favor. In four years (1999-2004) approximately 100,000 healings occurred when Randy and Global Awakening teams prayed for the sick. Truly the blind have seen, the deaf have heard, the paralyzed have walked, and those dying from AIDS have been healed. Thousands have been born again. But possibly the most fruitful thing for the Kingdom of God are the thousands of pastors and leaders who have received a strong impartation, and as a result evangelism in their churches has multiplied, with thousands being led into the Kingdom.
In 2004, a main leader of the Foursquare Church in Belem told Randy that the two things most responsible for the miraculous growth of the churches were Randy’s ministry and the cell group ministry. The favor of God has opened the entire nation of Brazil to the ministry of Global Awakening. Beginning with a pastor's meeting in Sao Paulo of about 1,000, today Randy has invitations to speak in some of the largest soccer stadiums in the nation.
Global Awakening exists to fulfill the biblical commissions of Jesus. The forming of The Apostolic Network of Global Awakening is intended to help fulfill these same commands of Jesus, and to help Randy be faithful to the call of God on his life. Randy is raising up a company of men and women who will help him respond to the call coming from many leaders in the nations. Some of these will help primarily by financial support, but others will help by ministering with Randy in the nations. These men and women who have received a strong impartation of the Holy Spirit will now help Randy reach 50 nations a year, something he could never do by himself. They are helping him fulfill the commands of Jesus:
As you go preach, saying the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
(Matthew 10:7-8)
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)
We are forming this network of churches and ministries in order to better facilitate the revelation to the Apostle Paul regarding the purpose of the five-fold ministries in Ephesians 4:11-13:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
In 1999 Randy began traveling to the nations much more often than in the preceding 5 years, recently culminating in nearly 120 days a year. However, Randy believes that the United States will once again experience a powerful “Healing Revival”, and when it does, he knows that he and his associates and interns, as well as the pastors and itinerate ministers who are part of the Apostolic Network, will help him fan the flames. Randy now spends approximately 60 days in the United States ministering through “Healing Schools” and other types of meetings in churches and schools.
Another reason Randy is forming this Apostolic Network is to repent for a mistake he made during the first 10 years following Toronto. This “sin” was pointed out by the Holy Spirit through a prophetic word given to Randy by Heidi Baker. She told him, “You are like a man that has gone all over the world and impregnated women, and then you have abandoned your children because you are afraid of the responsibility of being a father.” Needless to say, Randy was powerfully impacted by this word! At one point three people on different continents, all of whom had been strongly touched through prophetic words he had given them and had received a powerful impartation, had asked Randy if he would be their spiritual father and provide covering for them. He told them no. Randy has repented of this and is now stepping out to fulfill this aspect of God’s call on his life.
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