Lausanne World Pulse – LAUSANNE REPORTS – Brazilian Delegation Prepares for Cape Town

By C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell
September 2010

In the shadow of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue, nearly half of the Brazilian delegates to Cape Town gathered in June 2010 for meetings and prayer for the upcoming Lausanne III Congress. The assembly was held in conjunction with the national conference of the Latin American Theological Fellowship (FTL-Brasil) and we were hosted by the staff, deacons, and pastors at Rio’s Presbyterian Cathedral.

 

Brazilian delegates attending Lausanne III in Cape Town met to learn, think, and pray together before the

October 2010 congress.

For many of the participants it was the first opportunity to meet with other Brazilians who are also part of the Cape Town delegation. We met to learn, think, and pray together about our histories and the Brazilian presence in Lausanne I, II, and now Lausanne III.

During our time together we discussed many things. Among them, three big questions kept coming up:

  • Why has the Lausanne Movement so often gone unnoticed in the Brazilian Church and how can this be changed after Cape Town?
  • What are some of the lessons from Lausanne that Brazilian churches need to learn?
  • What are the main gifts and contributions the Brazilian delegates can offer at Cape Town?

While we did not come up with clear, simple answers, there was a general feeling of excitement and apprehension about the huge responsibility being placed on this group of leaders and its work and ministry both during Cape Town and especially after.

Delegates were reminded of the importance of reading and studying Ephesians and doing all of the pre-conference required reading. One major challenge for many in the group is that most of the Lausanne reading currently available, along with the Global Conversation forum, is primarily in English. Given this situation and understanding that so many in the planning groups for Cape Town are already overburdened with work, some of the participants volunteered to start a forum for the Brazilians in Portuguese and to provide loose translations of some documents that have not yet been translated.

Dr. C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell is a theologian from São Paulo, Brazil. She was on the CTC drafting group and on the Lausanne Theology Working Group. She is the New Testament editor for the forthcoming Latin American Bible Commentary and is executive director of the World Evangelical Alliance Theological Commission. She is married to Samuel Ewell. They have three children.