Lausanne World Pulse – LAUSANNE REPORTS – Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010 International Congress on World Evangelization

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) recently announced plans for the Third International Congress on World Evangelization, to be held 16-25 October 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. “Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010” will gather mission and church leaders from around the world to address challenges and opportunities that are before the Church with respect to world evangelization.

Rev. S. Douglas Birdsall, LCWE executive chair, says the year 2010 was selected to celebrate the centenary of the historic World Missionary Conference convened in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1910 under the leadership of Dr. John R. Mott. The selection of Cape Town also has historic significance, as William Carey, considered the father of modern missions, first proposed an international missionary conference to be held there in 1810. “We believe the 200th anniversary of William Carey’s vision and the centennial of its fulfillment is an appropriate time to once again encourage international leaders to come together to chart the course for the work of world evangelization in the twenty-first century,” Birdsall said. Dr. Michael Cassidy, founder of African Enterprise and a member of the Lausanne III advisory council, also believes Lausanne III “will add enormous impetus and encouragement to the African Church to fulfill its destiny in world missions in the twenty-first century.”

“There is no doubt we have entered a new era in global Christianity,” Birdsall added. “We need to strategize about how we can advance the spread of the gospel around the world. This is especially important as our world continues to shrink through new technologies, and as the evangelical population has shifted to the southern hemisphere.”

Lindsay Brown, newly appointed international director for LCWE, points to the dramatic shifts that have taken place in Christianity over the course of the last century, shifts that are reflected in the leadership of Lausanne III. Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda will serve as the chairman of the Africa host committee. The Lausanne III advisory council is chaired by Dr. Samuel Escobar from Latin America. Bishop Hwa Yung of the Methodist Church in Malaysia is chairman of the participant selection committee. The program committee will be chaired by Rev. Ramez Atallah, director of the Bible Society of Egypt. Lausanne III Congress director Rev. Blair T. Carlson, a former international crusade director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, grew up in Hong Kong and has spent most of his life working and living in locations around the world.

Cape Town has literally opened its arms to the Lausanne III Congress. Christians throughout the area are offering their homes to host as many as one thousand of the four thousand church and mission leaders from two hundred countries who are expected to attend. “We have been overwhelmed by the welcome we have received from Cape Town,” said Robyn Claydon, LCWE deputy chair. “We look forward with great excitement to what God is going to accomplish through this event and the city of Cape Town.”