Pastor Margaret Burton

'Do not despise small beginnings' was the theme for this year's annual Transform Our World global conference set in Honolulu on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. It was a gathering of people from all walks of life and many nations, with Dr Ed Silvoso and an international faculty from 6 continents - ordinary people doing extraordinary things for God. Making the world a better place, starting with their own sphere of influence. Once again, Dr Ed & Ruth Silvoso were our wonderful hosts for the week, and did a superb job of creating a close and precious family atmosphere in which we were able to relax, renew, refresh and yet at the same time be challenged to rise up to a higher level. During the week our church vision came to mind more than once and I was encouraged to see how it is being fulfilled. Truly we are: an influential body of people dedicated to the transformation of nations; a source of encouragement and blessing not only to our city and nation, but to the whole world; travelling all over the world as part of our global commitment to nation transformation. I realized once again just what an influence we had around the world, what a blessing we are and how people are inspired, challenged and encouraged when they hear our transformation testimonies. I was so blessed by other conference delegates, especially those I met for the first time, who came to tell me how blessed they had been by hearing about us. They were challenged to go home and start to make a difference in their sphere of influence. I was able to encourage more than one to believe that what was happening here could definitely happen in their church, in their town, in their nation. We were reminded again of the importance of knowing our true identity in God. One thing that Dr Ed Silvoso said that really impacted me was "Don't embarrass your father by behaving like a hired hand." We are not slaves, but we are precious sons and daughters of our Father God. He welcomes us to live with Him in His palace, not as His servants but as His children. We belong to His family, and we are all loved unconditionally. We need to move out of the servants' quarters and into the palace! We all need each other - right from the oldest to the youngest, and can all learn from each other and bless each other. God can use even the youngest amongst us to bless us. I saw this in action on the very last day of the conference when one of Dr Ed and Ruth Silvoso's grandsons, in total confidence because he knew who he was in God, reached out and began to pray for and bless the conference delegates! Once again, this wasn't just another conference experience it was yet another challenge to step up a level, to be inspired, to do bigger and better things for God. For more testimonies and information about the TOW global conferences please visit

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