It’s been over a week since I returned from the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, perhaps the largest and most diverse gathering of church leaders ever, leaders from about 200 countries. The spotlight was on one thing: the global church engaging in global mission in the 21st century, or, “from everywhere to everyone.”
There’s too much to share in one blog, so I’m grateful that the schedule and videos of almost the entire Congress have been posted online. Personally speaking, here are a few of my takeaways and reflections:
- InterVarsity’s emphasis on inductive Bible Study and my service on Wycliffe Bible Translators’ board made me excited when I witnessed all 4,400 delegates participate in inductive small group bible study in Ephesians every morning as well as seeing a video on “Eradicating Bible Poverty” every morning. Scripture in mission is a significant missions issue in the world today.
- Even though the term “unreached people groups” was coined around the time of the 1st Lausanne in 1974, more than a thousand people groups have never been engaged with Gospel and over 2,200 language groups don’t have the Scriptures in their own language. More importantly, the high commitment to reaching this student generation and youth in the West was striking. Many Brazilian, Indian, Korean, and Nigerian missionaries shared their heart to come to our country to proclaim Christ to our American students! It truly was humbling.
- John Piper’s challenge to give weight to both “eternal suffering” AND temporal suffering in the world today. If you’re missing either one, you either have a “defective view of hell” or a “defective heart.”
- There’s a spirit of collaboration and openness to global partnerships (as well as partnerships between U.S.-based missions agencies!) that I have not witnessed before. It was also encouraging to see this diverse gathering rally around the Chinese Church and the Chinese delegation that was unable to come to Cape Town.
- The inspiring testimonies from leaders of persecuted nations and stories from the suffering Church presented a healthy challenge for the Church in the West.
- One of my biggest encouragements was seeing IFES staff from around the world in leadership positions at Lausanne and several speaking at plenaries up front. Former Urbana speakers and friends spoke, and IFES alumni and IV alumni made up a significant number of the global delegates. My former Associate Regional Director Lindsay Olesberg had oversight over morning plenary sessions, and the Urbana drama team and Urbana program team also has significant roles. Fun to see them at work!
- There’s so much more I can share, but I’ll stop here. For more, check out our InterVarsity @ Lausanne blog as well as Christianity Today’s blog.
As for a final document coming out of Cape Town 2010, that’s still to come. In the meantime, you might be interested in reading part 1 of the document: The Cape Town Commitment - A Declaration of Belief and a Call to Action.
