Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Lausanne Movement: Celebrating God’s Faithfulness

By Lindsay Brown
October / November 2011

A surprising number of people made fresh commitments to engage in different expressions of Christian ministry in the days following the congress. For those who are interested, a summary of these responses can be viewed here.

Evidence of God at Work
 We can already see evidence of three consequences which we trust under God will prove to be useful in bringing honour to his name around the world.

1. Evangelistic missions (Mission Africa) were held in over a dozen African countries in the lead-up to the congress. Lausanne partnered with African Enterprise (AE) and other ministries to create opportunities of the proclamation of the gospel in major urban centres throughout Africa. This was the vision of AE founder Michael Cassidy. These efforts had several distinctive characteristics: (1) they brought together evangelists from different parts of the world to work in partnership; (2) they focussed on major urban centres; and (3) they engaged both in proclamation and in ministries of compassion.

There was an overwhelmingly positive response in Cape Town to this effort and a request from across Africa and worldwide that this type of activity would continue. Further discussions have already taken place for follow-up evangelistic efforts throughout Africa. Other efforts are being planned in other countries, especially in Russia.

Blair Carlson, director of the Cape Town Congress, will concentrate on working with others to make the most of these opportunities. With the help of the Lausanne international deputy directors (IDDs), he is seeking to identify between fifty and one hundred evangelists who will be invited at regular intervals for fellowship, to share news and mutual encouragement, and to help create opportunities to work in evangelistic teams in different countries. For more information, contact Blair at [email protected].

2. The Global Executive Leadership Forum (GELF) took place alongside the main major plenary sessions in the congress. Over 150 business and other leaders met in this group. Under the leadership of Bob and Leslie Doll, along with GELF chairman Atul Tandon, GELF will connect and resource business leaders of global influence who have a profound commitment to Christ and the mission of the Church in the world.

3. There has been increasing appreciation for the framing of The Cape Town Commitment, which sought to bring together a series of historically-accepted convictions held by evangelicals and a call to action. This Commitment is available in more than twenty languages online and in print. For more information, contact Julia Cameron, [email protected].

Several regional consultations have already taken place in different areas of the world, including Eurasia (November 2010), North America (April 2011), and Asia (Mongolia; June 2011). These have included discussion on how to use the Commitment in that region of the world. Further events are planned for Africa (Nigeria; September 2011), Caribbean (October 2011), Eurasia (Russia; December 2011), and the Middle East (Egypt; March 2012). In addition to these regional events, there have been many national consultations.

The Commitment’s hallmarks are its:

  • Biblicism (including quotations from twenty-two of the thirty-nine Old Testament books and twenty-one of the twenty-seven New Testament books)
  • Clarity of definition, especially related to evangelism and mission
  • Balanced statements on proclamation and compassion, other faiths, and truth
  • Comprehensiveness as it seeks to challenge the global Church to bear witness to Christ in every area of the world geographically and in every sphere of society
  • Call to action and partnership

There are already plans to use material from the Commitment and the plenary sessions and multiplexes to form the basis for a course to be made available to theological institutions, mission training centres, and churches. We want to make use of both the visual and written material coming out of the congress to educate and inspire believers to bear witness to Christ in the years to come. For more information, contact Evvy Campbell at [email protected].

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