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| Welcoming the Lausanne delegates to Africa. |
Very Dear Praying Friends in South Africa, across Africa, and in the Global Church,
This is the first installment of my report on the recent Lausanne Congress:
I. Overall Summary
Well, the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation has been, come and gone. Did I say gone? I did, but I don’t really mean that. No, not really gone, but certainly GONE FORTH! Because from 2010 Cape Town people from almost every country in the world have gone forth with new zeal, energy, determination, motivation, and biblical conviction to take the Gospel afresh to every corner of the globe and to be witnesses as per Acts 1:8 in our Jerusalems (i.e. where we immediately are), our Judeas (the areas round about where we reside), our Samarias (the people with whom we normally have no dealings) and to the ends of the earth. And to do it recognizing that it can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit and in faithfulness to God’s Word.
A closing press release described the Congress as “Perhaps the widest and most diverse gathering of Christians ever held in the history of the Christian Church.” 4,200 delegates (the 250 Chinese delegates never made it) from 198 countries were present. The Congress connected also to 650 global sites in 91 countries. Then there were 100,000 more participants, from 185 countries, visiting the Congress website. So the participation went well beyond those in Cape Town.
We were thankful that in spite of malicious attacks bringing down the Congress website in the first 48 hours, the battle in cyberspace was won by Congress IT boffins who got it all going again.
Incidentally there were also observers there from the Vatican, The World Council of Churches as well as Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The closing press statement also contained the following statements:
“’Our vision and hope was firstly for a ringing affirmation of the uniqueness of Christ and the truth of the biblical gospel; and a clear statement on evangelism and the mission of the church – all rooted in Scripture’, said Lindsay Brown, Lausanne Movement International Director, in his closing address. ‘The evangelical church has rightly put an emphasis on bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to every people group, but we have perhaps been a little weaker in our attempts to apply biblical principles to every area of society, and to public policy: to the media, to business, to government. We need to engage deeply with all human endeavour – and with the ideas which shape it.’ The Congress included an Executive Leadership Forum and a Think Tank for leaders in Government, Business and Academia. ‘There is a groundswell of conviction’, said Mr Brown, ‘that greater concerted effort is needed to apply biblical truth in these arenas.’”
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Speaking of the theological statement emerging from the Congress entitled The Cape Town Commitment (a superb affirmation – please google it on: www.lausanne.org) Congress Chairperson Rev Doug Birdsall said:
“We would like The Cape Town Commitment to be seen as ‘a gift to the local church from representatives of the global church.’” He then outlined the Board’s plans for the movement’s future: ‘First: to stay light on its feet, remaining agile in its ability to respond to new challenges and opportunities. Second, to be strong theologically, firmly rooted in Scripture and nourished by the best reflection on how we take the Word to the world. Third, to provide a reliable and credible contribution to Christian discussion and mission. Fourth, to keep a focus on identifying and developing younger leaders. And fifth, to be strategic in gathering the right people at the right times in the right places.”
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“The local church is God’s chosen locus of service and evangelism”, said Doug Birdsall. The Congress closed with a celebration of Holy Communion, led by Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda. For this, 100 communion sets had been borrowed, each from a local church. ‘These represent the remembering of Christ’s death across many nations’, Mr Birdsall continued. ‘We are a global movement, committed to the local church.’”
II. Impact
Of course it is very difficult to quantify at this early stage the full impact of this extraordinary experience. However, what one can say is that it was unforgettable. It was hugely inspirational. It was deeply motivational. It was history-making for the global church of Jesus Christ. And it was a landmark happening that set a benchmark of mega organisational excellence which I can’t visualise being matched again anywhere for a long time to come.
More than that it wrote in the sky in letters of fire and in a myriad hearts and minds that Jesus Christ is both “the Way, the Truth and the Life” and that “no one comes to the Father except through (Him).” (See John 14:6). Indeed “there is no other name given among men whereby we may be saved” (Acts 4:12). Compromise with religious pluralism and syncretism postures of inter-faith were dealt 10,000 blows from 10,000 corners of the church around the world.
And it was heart-stopping and deeply moving to hear from and meet people from multiplied places on Planet Earth who constantly and almost daily put their lives on the line to bear uncompromising witness in biblical faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ and His unique and exclusive saving grace.
III. Three Stories
Three stories amongst many others, touched me particularly.
1. 18-year-old North Korean Girl
The first was that of an 18 year old North Korean girl, a little slip of a thing, but so dear and precious. She told how both her parents had been martyred in North Korea for their faith, her father having died or been tortured to death in prison for his belief in Christ. She testified that all she wanted to do now was complete her schooling, get qualified, and go back as a missionary to North Korea to tell those who had murdered her parents about the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving grace. Her testimony blew us all away and produced a spontaneous standing ovation.
2. American Missionary Widow from Afghanistan
The only other story which produced a similar standing ovation was from the widow of an American medical missionary in Afghanistan who was murdered just two months ago by the Taliban, his name being Tom Little. He was referred to in a Time magazine article a week or so ago. She told how she and her husband had been missionaries to Afghanistan for I think it was nearly 30 years. One day eight weeks ago he and nine other missionaries were going into a remote Afghan valley not only to take the Gospel and some scriptures, but very specially medical supplies as well. On his journey to this remote region he kept phoning back to his wife by satellite phone. Then they came to a big river which would involve a complex crossing. He phoned back and said: “I will get in touch with you once I have crossed the river.” That was the last message he sent. He and the other nine missionaries were murdered by Taliban as they got across the river. So he had indeed crossed the Great River of Life and Death once and for all and had gone into eternity with His Lord.
On his body afterwards were found, blood splattered, the sermon notes from which he was going to preach in that valley. Mrs Little produced the notes from her pocket and read to us the scriptures he was going to use in his talk. Her calm dignity in sharing this, her plain courage, her full forgiveness of those who had killed her husband, and her longing to get back and help other Afghanis find Christ moved everybody profoundly and produced, as I said, another spontaneous standing ovation. Here are people who risk their lives to share about Jesus Christ and His saving grace. I guess all of us felt rebuked. Thus still does “the blood of the martyrs become the seed of the church.”
3. Former Moslem Imam
The third story of a former Moslem Imam Carol and I heard not in a conference plenary but privately over a cup of coffee. This young man from Teheran had been a passionate Moslem and read the Qu’ran cover to cover once every 10 days so that he virtually knew it by heart. He was a deep seeker after God. But he was also an active member of Hizbollah, the Islamist militant group, and he had gone to Malaysia to recruit members for that organization. During this time he had somehow got himself arrested and was in prison. He was immediately made Imam of the little mosque in the prison. One day, he was praying vigorously in a searching after God. Suddenly his cell was filled with a strange and awesome presence. At which he immediately heard a voice saying: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” He had never before heard those words or such words. He turned and said: “Who are you?” (Just like Saul on the Damascus Road). And the voice said: “I am Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Our young friend thereafter had an overwhelming two hour experience of our Lord Jesus. Right after this he rushed to the mosque, and told everyone there that Islam, the Qu’ran, and Mohammed were not the way but that Jesus Christ, the One whom he had just met in his cell, was the Way, and the Bible was His Word. This produced such a furore in the prison that the authorities decided to put him on a plane, and send him back to Iran where he would experience capital punishment. However, at the airport, there was a mix up, and he was put on the wrong plane, one which took him to Bangladesh! He arrived there and used one of the 35 different fake passports he had secured illegally while in Pakistan! Even though he had no visa, the Bangladesh immigration official for some inexplicable reason let him in. He immediately went in search of some Christians and was hooked up to another Moslem who had found Christ. This person discipled him. Our young friend was so on fire for Christ that he then went to the major Hindu temple in the area and led the priest into a dramatic experience of Jesus, along with his wife. Our friend continues with his acts of witness in Mosques and temples and has led many imams into a living experience of Christ.
Carol and I listened to his testimony for a full 45 minutes. I concluded that in all my 55 years as a Christian I had never heard a testimony more extraordinary, more full of the supernatural than this one. We quickly became firm friends with this young man and in one of the AE/Mission Africa lunches held during the Congress we had him come and share with our team. One day I hope to bring him to South Africa. Needless to say this young man has an incredible love for Moslems and expresses to them the fathomless love of our Lord Jesus for them as well. Many, many, many Moslems have come to the Lord through his testimony and continue to do so. Praise God. Interestingly enough that is the fourth or fifth story (the others I have heard in our missions in North Africa and Europe) of Moslems being directly confronted in supernatural vision with our Lord Jesus Christ and coming to Him in this remarkable and unorthodox way, without even the involvement of a missionary, pastor or evangelist.
Incidentally, and interestingly enough, our young Iranian friend at Lausanne has led his whole family to Jesus Christ including his parents and three brothers. He once heard his mother praying that she did not want any of her sons to die a natural death but for all of them to be martyred for Christ!! Now how about that for a very different type of parental prayer!
We also heard that hundreds and hundreds of people in Iran and Iraq are coming to Christ.
IV. Personal stories and encounters, new relationships and partnerships
In many ways for me, the Congress was indeed all about these personal stories and personal connections in making new friends and then about the vast volume of reconnections to old friends whom I have met and got to know in my nearly five decades of ministry in different parts of the world. I found I could hardly move ten paces without bumping into four or five people whom one knew or who knew about us through the ministry or reading one of my books. This was so utterly special and humbling. In fact, if I ever wanted encouragement about writing I got it in this Congress with so many people surprisingly from so many places saying they had been touched by one or other of my books. I was especially delighted with one young man who said that Bursting the Wine Skins had had a revolutionary impact on his father who had given it to him and this in turn had directly led into this young man going full time into the Christian ministry. Now that was a story indeed to bless my heart.
So if I want to ask myself what the Congress meant to me I look at the vast pile of business cards representing wonderful brothers and sisters encountered or re-encountered and whom I must now follow up with by correspondence.
Thus it was, I suspect, for virtually everyone. And this to the point where one of the major conclusions of the Congress was that God was leading people into new relationships and partnerships in a linking together of hearts and hands and organizations and ministries in order to go out and tackle the task of world evangelisation at this time. No one can tackle the task of world evangelisation alone. Mission is now from everywhere to everywhere – together!
Maybe at this point it is worth giving a further word about Mission Africa, my own portfolio, which emerged in the minds of many as a model as to what these kinds of partnerships could mean and how effective they could be. So let me give you some further data, facts and figures on:
V. Mission Africa
I must say, I don’t know how adequately to thank the Lord for what He did through Mission Africa. In reality I didn’t myself really do that much other than some rah-rah stuff and a bit of encouraging, leading and networking. Others really carried the main load, while I cheered them on!! But the fact was that our venture at first seemed such a fragile one, although our shared vision for it was great. But would we be able to pull it off? Would the Lord own it through His Spirit and bless it accordingly?
Anyway, by God’s grace, Mission Africa became one of the hit stories of the Congress and when I was interviewed by assorted media from different parts of the world, this was one of the aspects of the Congress on which they zeroed in. One such interview went on 1000 radio stations across the USA, while a TV one on CBN went coast to coast across North America as well. One magazine journalist who interviewed me opened up her article which has now been widely released saying: “The spirit of Cape Town 2010 heralds the age of possibility of partnerships and cooperation and impacting the world. ….As a result of the success of the Mission Africa outreaches earlier this year and the collaborative approach adopted between African and international evangelistic teams, many leaders of the Congress have been enthusiastic about taking the model to their countries and mission fields.”
She also graciously quoted me in these terms: ‘God is saying we need each other. He is putting His Spirit and blessing on this. As a result of the enthusiasm and interest expressed in Cape Town, who knows, we may have stumbled on a model for different countries around the world.’
She went on: “Both indigenous African, as well as evangelistic ministries from New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA, France etc and others worked together in the execution of these missions.” She then sets forth some of the fruit coming out of the endeavour. She also quoted my colleague, Songe Chibambo, AE’s Director of Pan African Missions, and Co Director of Mission Africa with Scott Lenning, saying: “Mission Africa has demonstrated the power of partnerships in ministry. The time to put ministry and evangelism in silos is long gone.”
Needless to say, we are profoundly thankful to the Lord for the way He seems to have blessed our endeavours and maybe triggered something which could operate widely around the world. The Lord seems to be doing a new thing. Its power and momentum lie in the cross-pollination of ministries and evangelistic teams to come together all across the globe to impact different countries. Our Mission Africa committee is going to stay in place and we are thinking and praying about what our next steps should be which can help further partnerships all over Planet Earth in the effective spreading of the Gospel. So, as I said, at one of our Mission Africa lunches: “This is not the beginning of the end. It is rather the end of the beginning.” So we wait in eager anticipation for what the Lord is going to bring forth. We may even have just lit a little flame which will blow out into a prairie fire across the world. Praise the Lord.
VI. Opening Service Extravaganza
The opening service was a kaleidoscopic extravaganza of music, worship, song, dance, spoken word, and audiovisual presentation. The huge audiovisual screens had been inherited from the World Cup and were state of the art technology. The best. But the best! The service was scripted to the second and all of us who participated had to rehearse our contributions and get our lines just right. I had the privilege of participating in a welcome to all delegates from all parts of the world and then serving as a sort of link person-cum-MC for the evening. A rare privilege indeed. There was a magnificent choir of several hundreds and an almost full orchestra conducted by Ed Wilmington of Fuller Seminary with music that he had composed especially for the occasion, along with other newly composed music and African dance choreographed by the amazing minstrel, Trevor Sampson of Cape Town.
One of the most remarkable features of the evening was a 25 minute audiovisual on the huge screens of the history of the church, and especially the missionary outreach of the church down the ages. It would be an amazing tool to use in Bible study or home groups to help people get some headline sense of the history and mission of the church down the ages in just a very short span of time. Those of you who would like to see some of this Lausanne opening service can do so by visiting the website address http://www.lausanne.org/cape-town-2010/schedule.html. In addition to this, or alternatively you can write into AE c/o Marius Labuschagne in our Media Department at mariusl@ae.org.za and ask him to send you by post a (MP4) CD or DVD of the opening service. The cost will be (CD= R25) (DVD=R35) including post and package.
The sense of the Lord’s presence that evening was palpable and the worship lifted us to the heavens. By the end of it all we were all aware in new ways that we were in for a First Order adventure in the Spirit in the coming days.
VII. Conclusion
That’s it for now. I won’t over-burden you trying to tell the whole story in one go. My next report, which you’ll get in a week or so, will take us into several key themes – starting out on the first full day with – “TRUTH.”
Let me give you one quote out of The (29 page) Cape Town Commitment to whet your appetite:
“The truth the Bible teaches: The whole Bible teaches us the whole counsel of God, the truth that God intends us to know. We submit to it as true and trustworthy in all it affirms, for it is the word of the God who cannot lie and will not fail. It is clear and sufficient in revealing the way of salvation. It is the foundation for exploring and understanding all dimensions of God’s truth. We live however, in a world full of lies and rejection of the truth. Many cultures display a dominant relativism that denies that any absolute truth exists or can be known. If we love the Bible, then we must rise to the defence of its truth claims. We must find fresh ways to articulate biblical authority in all cultures. We commit ourselves again to strive for the truth of God’s revelation as part of our labour of love for God’s word.”
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Well, that’s it for now. We are just at the hem of the garment! You’ll hear from me again shortly. There is so very much to share. You’ll be glad to know Carol handled it all just fine and her legs coped well, even walking back and forth from our nearby hotel. Praise God. And both she and I felt the closing communion (more anon in letter three) was unlike anything we had ever been in or would ever be in again till we are all before the Throne of Christ in Glory!
Much love in Him,
Michael – and of course Carol.
P.S. Don’t forget, if you’re wanting more, you should visit www.lausanne.org
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