Transcript

Greetings family. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I greet you. As we begin this new year, we are filled with gratitude and excitement because 2026 marks a special date, 170 years of Converge. For nearly two centuries, God has been faithful to use ordinary people united around an extraordinary purpose to help people meet, know, and follow Christ. And this year we are preparing to celebrate that incredible story together. Converge was born out of mission in 1856, when a small group of immigrant Bible readers discovered they could reach more people for Christ if they worked together. These early believers shared a simple conviction: that the gospel was worth their unity, their effort, and their lives. By 1879, that small movement had grown to over 3,000 baptized believers in 65 congregations. Each church was independent, yet all were joyfully united around the one thing that mattered: lives changed by Christ, person by person. So what are we celebrating? We are celebrating God’s faithfulness through every season. We’re celebrating churches planted, leaders being raised up, missionaries being sent out, and lives transformed by the gospel. And we’re celebrating that the same Spirit that moved in 1856, is still moving powerfully today through our churches, through your leadership, through your faithfulness, and we look toward 2026. As we look toward 2026, we’ll be sharing stories, some from our past that still speak powerfully today, and others from across our 10 regions and global initiatives showing how God is at work right now. These stories are your stories. We are part of a of a 170 year legacy that continues to move forward until every person has had the opportunity to meet, know and follow Christ. As we move into this next season, we truly believe together has never been better. As we celebrate this milestone year, I also want to remind you about our Converge Together Conference coming this June. It’s a special time for our entire movement to gather. Thank God for what he has done and to look ahead to what’s going to happen in the future. God has done amazing things through Converge, but I believe the best is yet to come. Let’s continue to start churches, strengthen churches, and sending out global workers together for the glory of Jesus Christ. God bless you all and happy New Year.