Lausanne World Pulse – PUBLISHER'S MEMO – Christ-like Leadership and a Passion for the Gospel in the Lausanne Movement

By Doug Birdsall

It has only been a few short weeks since our wonderful Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG-06) in Malaysia (click here to read more about it). Let me share with you some words of great encouragement we have received concerning the conference.

One week after the gathering, I received a call from my long-time friend Dr. Paul Borthwick. He opened the conversation by saying, “The Younger Leaders Gathering was the most strategic gathering I have ever attended in my life.”

Dr. Peter Kuzmic, one of the YLG-06 plenary speakers, shared his enthusiasm: “I came away from the Younger Leaders Gathering greatly encouraged about the future of Lausanne. It is moving forward with vision, focus, an influx of energetic young leadership and with great promise for the future.”

Grace Samson, an exceptionally gifted young leader from South Africa who served on the Program Planning Team, wrote to say, “I cannot say it enough, I am so grateful that God allowed me to experience the best event ever in my life and ministry experience. Now I can confidently tell you that my life has been changed forever. I can sense that God will do far more through my life as a result of being part of YLG-06.”

What a powerful experience it was to be gathered together with 550 younger leaders between the age of 25 and 35 from 112 countries around the world! This group represented a microcosm of the global Church. Twenty-eight percent of the participants were from Western Europe, North America and Australia. Seven percent were from Eastern Europe. The majority (sixty-five percent) were from Africa, Latin America and Asia. These younger leaders were joined by 150 men and women from around the world who served as mentors, speakers, supporting personnel and Lausanne senior leaders.

What a powerful experience it was to be gathered together with 550 younger leaders from 112 countries around the world. This group represented a microcosm of the global Church.

In the course of the week, the younger leaders were familiarized with the heritage and the vision of the Lausanne Movement. They not only developed meaningful relationships with people from around the world, but caught the “spirit of Lausanne,” embracing the ideals of the Lausanne Covenant. Inspired by the “spirit of Lausanne,” nearly one hundred participants volunteered to help with planning for Lausanne III to be held in 2010.

Plans are in place for follow-up “Younger Leader Global Connections” to be held in all eleven regions of the world in the course of the next two years. These will be coordinated by our International Deputy Directors. We look forward to keeping you informed of these regional gatherings for younger leaders and plans continue to develop and unfold. Lausanne’s monthly enewsletter, the Lausanne Connecting Point, offers a wonderful way to stay connected with Lausanne and receive regular ministry updates from around the world.

We are so grateful for the hundreds of people who served in a variety of capacities over the course of the last two years for the Younger Leaders Gathering. Dr. Ted Yamamori stated, “I am hopeful for the future of world evangelization and for the future of the Lausanne Movement. God is raising up an outstanding new generation of leaders.”

Doug Birdsall is executive chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. He served as president of Asian Access from 1991 to 2007 and continues to serve on their board of directors. Birdsall is a graduate of Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Harvard University. He is co-publisher of Lausanne World Pulse.