Fifteen hundred Salvationists from the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory met in Wellington from 20 to 22 March 2009 for 'New Zeal 09'. The weekend's theme was 'Bringing Heaven to Earth', with the event billed not as a conference, but as an encounter.

For some, New Zeal was a first-time salvation encounter with God, but for most, it was an encounter with the truth of the Gospel: that taking God's love into communities is the only way to bring heaven to earth. The weekend's overriding challenge was the call to a daily, 'persevering consecration' to God – a call responded to by scores of people of all ages and from all backgrounds.

Overseas guests included Dr Tony Campolo, sociologist and author, and Captain Danielle Strickland, one of The Salvation Army's most passionate social justice exponents. Major Ivan Bezzant, a popular discipleship campaigner within The Salvation Army in New Zealand, was also part of the speaking line-up. There were combined worship and teaching sessions, a separate programme for children, dynamic youth sessions and a selection of practical workshop topics.

Dr Campolo's preaching was rich with evocative stories and humour that drove home critical lessons, such as the need for Christians to enjoy intimacy with God. 'You can't have a kingdom without people, but it starts with “Our Father” – becoming intimate with God.' This was a radical concept in Jesus' day, he explained, because God was thought of as distant, and people's relationship with him was primarily one of awe. But in today's world that relationship had shifted to one of demands, with people presenting endless requests to God. It was possible to redress this by developing a habit of waiting on the Lord, waking each morning to ask God, 'What can you do through me?'

'The same Christ that was incarnated in Jesus wants to be incarnated in you,' he said. 'You say you don't act like Jesus? Well, it's about time you started trying! We're all willing to be Christians up to a point – God is calling you beyond that point. He is calling you to surrender.'

In a world where 30,000 people died every day 'in quiet desperation' from diseases related to poverty and malnutrition, things had to change. 'You believe in Jesus,' Dr Campolo challenged the congregation, 'but have you come to that point of saying, “Spirit of the Living God, take me and use me – I want to be an instrument through which you can change the world”?'

He asked people to show their commitment to change by sponsoring children in developing countries through The Salvation Army's 'Cherish a Child' programme. People signed up for over 100 new sponsorships. One boy came to the sponsorship secretary saying he could not sponsorship a child but he had bought a fair trade t-shirt that he wanted to go to someone in Fiji.

Major Ivan Bezzant underscored that the re-establishment of God's rule in the lives of his followers was essential for the prayer 'your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven' to be answered. People in the Church, including those in The Salvation Army, were becoming like sponges, he said, looking for just enough of the Holy Spirit to get them to the next Sunday. But God wanted them to 'engage a lost world with courage'.

That was the challenge Captain Danielle Strickland brought to several hundred youth during the weekend. She confessed to being a good starter and not a good finisher. Running marathons had taught her a lot about finishing, she said. 'The real guts of it, the real fight, is not to start the race but to finish it.' Salvation Army founder William Booth had 'picked a fight with the devil' – and with injustice, poverty and slavery – when he started The Salvation Army, and it was up to present-day Salvationists to finish that fight. 'I think that you're called to be a finishing generation,' Danielle encouraged her audience.

The secret to finishing, she continued, was 'total consecration – radical discipleship'. She invited the young people to come forward to 'death stations' where they could symbolise dying to themselves, to the world and to sin, to live again in the power of Christ's Spirit. 'You lay [your life] down, you get a power greater that your own – you do it with his power.'

Worship was superb across the weekend. Christchurch Salvationists prepared the ground for God's Word in the combined sessions, with Salvationists from Kilbirnie and Porirua taking up the baton for the two evening youth events. Representatives of The Salvation Army National Maori Ministry contributed a stirring performance to open New Zeal, and the national anthems of Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand closed the event. The servant-hearts of all those involved in New Zeal, whether on stage or behind-the-scenes, made this an easy event to attend and enjoy.

The weekend also saw the launch of White Cloud Soaring by Major Judith Bennett, which recounts The Salvation Army's involvement in 18 months of 24/7 Prayer, leading to the first New Zeal event in 2006. 24/7 Prayer was so impacting that many Salvation Army centres have established dedicated prayer rooms and continue with extended periods of prayer, which is key to bringing heaven to earth. New Zeal 09 was bathed in prayer, with 40 days of continuous prayer leading to its opening.

At the commencement of New Zeal, Major Judith Bennett, chair of the planning team, prayed: 'Lord Jesus, here we are, your people gathered in your name, and we are hungry to be filled. Let your Holy Spirit fire fall on us. Stir up your zeal, Lord. We're with you – we're your army!' God answered that prayer time and time again over the weekend, she said, and will continue to do so as Salvationists return to their towns and cities.