Aaron was not an obvious candidate. As a founder in the business sector, his expertise lay in human resources, recruitment, and industry consulting across multiple regions. By outward measures, he was successful. Yet beneath the surface, a deeper calling stirred in his heart. He had grown to love a people he barely understood at first, and he ached to share the gospel with them in authentic, culturally grounded ways. The problem was simple but profound: he had no clear vision for how to do it effectively. Like many leaders in strategic positions, he possessed influence and access but lacked the framework to transform that platform into gospel impact.

The turning point came when Aaron applied to the Haggai Leader Experience (HLE), not from a place of confidence, but from genuine desperation. He had just launched his own business venture and his income was precarious. By any logical measure, the timing was terrible. Yet Aaron sensed God’s direction and took the risk, “I didn’t even think I might be selected or considered,” he later reflected. The news of his acceptance came as a quiet confirmation that his calling mattered. Within 2 months, he received his visa and traveled to the HLE.

While attending the HLE, Aaron experienced 2 profound spiritual revelations. The first clarified his calling to lead gospel engagement among people of different faith backgrounds in his region, work that had felt muddled and uncertain. The second spoke directly to his family’s role in launching a children’s center for spiritual formation and community care. These were not abstract insights, but concrete, actionable next steps born from prayer, teaching, and cross-cultural relationships with other global leaders. Perhaps more striking still, during that same time while in the HLE, a major client paid an outstanding invoice, providing an unexpected financial provision. God’s care had been tangible and complete.

Within months of returning home, Aaron launched both initiatives. He began building intentional relationships within his community, meeting with people over coffee and meals, listening to their struggles, and sharing his faith. When he sensed openness, he gathered a team from his church and organized a culturally significant celebration that welcomed 25 people from his city. The following year, 45 attended. The next, over 100 came through the doors. What began as a single leader’s vision became a movement. Aaron trained others leaders in his city, then in his region, then across multiple nations. Today, that growing network has reached hundreds of people with the gospel, and the impact continues to multiply in ways he never could have engineered alone.

The Haggai Leader Experience did not make Aaron more ambitious or more capable in a worldly sense. Instead, it equipped his with practical strategies to align his existing influence with God’s redemptive vision. He left the HLE not inspired but empowered and ready to return home with tested plans, affirmed calling, and a community of global leaders walking alongside his.

This is what restoration looks like when strategically positioned leaders are equipped. One person’s obedience touches hundreds. One leader’s clarity multiplies into many. And a vision born in prayer becomes a ripple of gospel hope that extends far beyond what any single heart could contain.

Written by Zoë Webb