Renowned author, John C. Maxwell, Hosting Over 1,000 Global Christian leaders at first-time International Event for EQUIP Leadership, Feb. 6-8

Atlanta, GA, USA, January 24, 2012—While some famed US leaders and public figures are choosing which Presidential candidates they will endorse in 2012, bestselling leadership author, John C. Maxwell, is bringing together over 1,000 influential Christian leaders from over 100 countries for a three-day event in West Palm Beach, Florida. After investing in training these leaders within their countries over the last 15 years through his non-profit, EQUIP Leadership, he is now taking it to another level by selecting top leaders to attend this exclusive conference with successful business and ministry speakers including Willow Creek Church founder, Bill Hybels, famed Australian worship leader, Darlene Zschech, inspirational speaker, Brenda McNeil, and Chick-fil-A President & COO, Dan Cathy.

On February 6, Christ Fellowship Church, a church with over 30,000 in attendance each week and led by second generation Senior Pastor Todd Mullins, will host the first-time event, Global 2020. Global 2020 is a gathering Maxwell has been hoping to host with the non-profit since EQUIP Leadership surpassed its goal of training one million international leaders back in 2007.

"It's been my dream for years to see all of our EQUIP Leadership family worldwide coming together and sitting in one room, celebrating the last 15 years of partnering together to successfully train over five million leaders," said John C. Maxwell. "I get so excited just thinking about having our top 1,000 leaders from over 100 countries finally meeting one another and having all of those amazing minds in one place to dream about how we can impact leaders all over the globe over the next 10 years!"
EQUIP Leadership, founded by Maxwell in 1996, set out to accomplish the vision of seeing effective leaders fulfill the Great Commission in every nation by equipping international Christians to effectively serve the growing Body of Christ around the world. After seeing the great need for leadership training in so many countries, EQUIP knew that training thousands was not enough, and began an initiative called Million Leaders Mandate in 2003, setting its eyes on seeing one million leaders trained around the globe. Now, nearly 10 years later, EQUIP stopped counting after training five million leaders from over 150 countries.

For the first time in its history, EQUIP Leadership will see their country coordinators, donors, associate trainers, and partners all come together to encourage one another, build relationships, study best practices, and plot the future for EQUIP well into the next decade. This event will be only the first of five gatherings; they will convene again in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

This may look like just another leadership event or conference to those on the outside, but in reality, these 1,000 leaders will impact the world for generations to come. The next US President would do well to keep his eye on these leaders. He might meet them face-to-face one day.

Christ Fellowship's Founding Pastor, Tom Mullins, and EQUIP's CEO, John Hull, will emcee the event.