A press release went out today about my new role with the Lausanne movement — Tom Lin named as new North American IDD. While there are many great opportunities for the future of Lausanne, many people do ask about the relationship of Lausanne to Urbana, among other questions. Here’s some excerpts from a recent interview I did:
Q: Why did you agree to serve as Lausanne IDD for North America?
Tom: Like the InterVarsity student movement and Urbana, I believe the Lausanne movement is a very strategic ministry which influences the future of the global church and connects those who are most passionate for God’s mission around the world. I also believe that North America is a region that still has much to contribute, and I look forward to the opportunity to discern what our best contributions might look like in the future.
Q: How will this role intersect with your positions at InterVarsity/Urbana?
Tom: It intersects quite well, as Lausanne leadership has always had strong overlap with the leadership of Urbana and International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), of which InterVarsity is a member movement. The Lausanne Cape Town Congress was a perfect example of this, as many former Urbana speakers gave plenary talks and Urbana leaders served as consultants in program, operations, drama, etc. Many IFES leaders also continue to serve as IDDs, so I am not alone in experiencing this type of intersection! Finally, Urbana’s experience and perspective on the student generation will be helpful for Lausanne in considering what emerging leaders and the global church might look like in the future.
Q: You have both North American and International mission/evangelism experience. How will that influence your role with Lausanne?
Tom: Indeed, along with my family background and culture being from Taiwan, I hope that it will help! My experiences serving in a missions organization that focuses on North Americans (InterVarsity) as well as my experiences planting new ministries in the majority world (IFES-East Asia) and serving on the Board of one of the largest international agencies (Wycliffe) will hopefully give me a well-rounded perspective of what’s going on in North America in relationship to the rest of the world. It also gives me a keen sense of urgency for the significant amount of work that is to be done in North America, in addition to work to be done outside North America.
Q: What are the major issues facing the church in North America with regard to mission and evangelization?
Tom: There is much to be said here and many challenging issues ahead. I’ll start with one on a long list: a growing diversity in the evangelical church. As we know, the North American church is rapidly changing in its ethnic and gender make-up as well its denominational make-up. This, along with a new generation of leaders in the church, is significantly impacting the way we engage in mission and the way we think about evangelization. The North American church will need to embrace these future realities, or it will see greater fragmentation and ineffectiveness in mission.
Q: Are you encouraged or discouraged by what you’re seeing in the North American church and in the lives of Christians? Why?
Tom: While there certainly are many reasons for discouragement and concern, I’m actually overall quite encouraged and hopeful about the future of the North American church. I have hope because of what we’re seeing in this student generation. For example, in the past 5 years, InterVarsity has seen more first-time decisions made for Christ than in any other 5-year period in our 70-year history. We’ve also seen more students engaged in cross-cultural missions projects than in any other period in our history. There are thousands of gifted evangelists in North America who are graduating from universities every year, and the future looks bright because of what I believe God can and will do through this generation.
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