In October 2016 at our Trumpet call in the International Convention Centre Birmingham, we announced “Be prepared for the extraordinary.” Little did we know how extraordinary it would be.

Extraordinary shaking
Who expected Donald Trump in October 2016? He is the ultimate marmite President, passionately loved and loathed. Who expected Saudi Arabia to arrest hundreds of princes and senior officials and say they wanted to be more open to other religions? We knew Russia and China would be powerful but in the past twelve months China in particular has equalled the USA as a global super power. France has a new, energetic President. The Middle East struggles through more turmoil with the recent Muslim on Muslim terror attack at a Sinai mosque, ISIS being largely driven out of Iraq and Syria and the increased move to a Muslim dictatorship in Turkey.
The UK has had a traumatic 2017. Theresa May will look on 2017 as the year of her surprise election stumble, her conference croak and her inability to drive Brexit forward because she cannot take her party with her. It was a year when terrorism returned violently to our streets. Northern Ireland has suffered for almost a year of no elected government. Equally extraordinary has been the rise and rise of Jeremy Corbyn. He has enthused young people to become politically active yet remains a deeply divisive figure – especially in his own party!

Extraordinary unity
I stood in Parliament Square with the main church leaders standing shoulder to shoulder reading prayer declarations (written by WPC) to repent for our lack of unity and asking God to forgive us and bring healing. Thy Kingdom Come saw ten days of prayer bringing people together to ask God to bless their local community. There is much further to go but we see signs of an increased Kingdom focus with more joined up thinking.

Extraordinary moves of God
40,000 went to the first stadium meeting for many years as J.John preached the gospel. The Turning saw thousands come to Christ in Walsall, Worcester, Cornwall, Wales, Newcastle, Scotland and many other places. The Message Trust has expanded their reach to the Midlands and Wales with a plan to bring thousands of young people to Christ in 2018. We have reports of revival breaking out in Ilford and other places. Around the world we are seeing extraordinary New Testament signs, with many Buddhists monks coming to Jesus in Tibet; soldiers blown over by the Holy Spirit as they guarded a prayer event in the Philippines; 1.5 million people praying together for South Africa and 2 million in the Ukraine. In the States, West Virginia saw thousands come to Jesus.

WPC’s extraordinary year
This has been an extraordinary year for us. We started the year with our new Prayershift meetings, feeling God was calling us to see significant change. Our public meetings have been dynamic encounters with Jesus with an increased focus on prayer and mission and preparing for revival. We have enjoyed extraordinary favour from God with many growing partnerships and a shared desire to hear from Him in these fast changing times.

An Extraordinary springboard
2017 has been a fast-moving year of preparation and change. 2018 promises to be even more challenging as we expect an unprecedented move of God in our nation and elsewhere. In Europe, there is a target for 100 million to be saved over the next ten years. In the UK, we expect a huge rise in testimonies about God’s mercy, healing and restoration across the ages and ethnic divides. In particular, we are expecting a revival generation to be raised of 11 – 18 years olds on fire for Jesus.

2018 is all about Jesus. He is Lord. We expect His Church to fall more deeply in love with Him and for this nation to become more aware of who He is. This means a deeper walk for us all, but after an extraordinary year we will go where God sends us!