The Fourth Lausanne Congress: what's happening today?

This Congress is the latest in a series of several global gatherings aiming to catalyse global mission. The first took place in 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland, convened by evangelical leaders like John Stott and Billy Graham, while subsequent gatherings were in Manila in 1989 and Cape Town in 2010.

Day one: the four most dangerous words

^{22 September}

The Fourth Lausanne Congress kicked off today in Incheon, South Korea, outside Seoul. Participants came streaming in from all around the world. Being in the middle of the large convention hall was moving as 5,000 Christian leaders, from most countries and sectors of society, gathered in support of Jesus, His gospel and global missions.

The opening ceremony included worship from singers like Keith and Kristyn Getty and a message from Executive Director, Michael Oh.

Michael presented the theme: ‘Let the church declare and display Christ together' and the message was clear: God wants to use the Church to fulfil His purposes and the Church must be united. The Church needs God to work though it and those in the Church need each other. 'The most four most dangerous words,' said Michael, 'are "I don’t need you."'

Lausanne’s desire is that this gathering results in greater global collaboration. This Congress has been in the works for years and shaped by many global listening calls that resulted in the State of the Great Commission report. This report revealed gaps and needs in working towards the Great Commission, which have informed the program and afternoon session, which are built around mobilising Collaborative Action Teams to fill those gaps. As well, today, the Seoul Statement was released which aims to help guide the global church in strategic global missions.

Day two: revival begins with repentance

^{23 September}

The first full day of the Congress was packed with missional messages and connection points. During the main sessions, people are seated around a table of six so that key ideas and questions can be discussed and applied at the tables.

The first block of the day was given to Bible exposition from Acts 2, centring around the idea of 'The Coming of the Holy Spirit' at Pentecost. The key lesson for the Church today is that the Holy Spirit is necessary for God’s mission to the ends of the earth. After a short break, four speakers presented examples of how the Holy Spirit has moved throughout history and today in modern missions - including how the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905 impacted the world and Korea.

One of the practical points is that revival often begins with prayer and repentance. Table groups then discussed what that means for their countries and context. My table had a specific time of prayer asking God to move in the country of Bosnia where the church is small.

Throughout the afternoon, leaders were given the choice to attend various breakout meetings and sessions relate to issues and gaps in the Great Commission like leadership development, workplace ministry, church planting, proclamation evangelism, and Scripture engagement. Leaders met, discussed and began to dream about Biblical solutions. The evening session concluded the day with three talks addressing current topics facing the church: creation care, justice, and the sexual revolution. The summary encouragement was for the global church to respond in word and deed.

Day three: astonishing humility

^{24 September}

In the morning, Keith and Kristyn Getty played an old Welsh revival song, and Anne Zaki gave a talk from Acts on the 'The Missional Community as God’s New Society.' The early church came around the Apostles’ teaching, meals and fellowship.

During the second session, Efraim Tendero, Dale Stephenson, and Denis-Margaret Thompson discussed how the witness of God’s people is part of His mission. In the afternoon, leaders gathered again in their gap groups to continue working on plan to address them in global missions.

The evening session was dedicated to celebrating Lausanne Movement’s 50th anniversary. The room was colourful as leaders had been encouraged that day to wear their native or local attire from around the world. There were several panel discussions that shared stories and testimonies of how God has worked through Lausanne over the last 50 years.

One story came from leader, Ramez Atttalah, who was at the original Lausanne Congress. He said that when he initially arrived, just a young man beginning ministry, he felt inadequate in his qualifications to be there and so was pleased to meet a Kenyan who said he was only a church pastor. Ramez assumed he was the pastor of a small village church - it was only later that Ramez found out the Kenyan was the Archbishop of Kenya. The humility of the Kenyan Archbishop astonished Ramez who said he is still trying to replicate that humility.

That humility was a key characteristic of Lausanne for early leaders like Billy Graham who wanted it to be known for a spirit of humility and friendship. The movement was itself a move of God. John Stott was reluctant to come to the first Congress in 1974 and Billy Graham was hesitant to turn the Congress into a movement - it was Leighton Ford who ultimately helped it come together. Lausanne has maintained that original vision for the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Getty’s performed a special performance in celebration to close the evening.

Day four: the persecuted church

^{25 September}

Today, the Congress focused on the persecuted church. An opening message from Patrick Fung discussed the theme in Acts and revealed that persecution actually propels the church. In fact, Patrick said, the church is more in danger from a false gospel than from persecution.

Two individuals shared about their experiences of being put in prison for their faith in the Middle East and another shared from South Asia. They spoke with smiles, joy and hopeful expectation of how God is moving to bring many to faith. Their experiences are foreign to many westerners and their response even more so - how can one respond with joy in suffering?

In the afternoon, one person shared from the Middle East and one from West Africa, sharing stories of sacrifice and triumph for the gospel in places where terrorist often kidnap or kill followers of Christ. One profound moment was when 50 individuals came on stage - each holding a sign for the 50 most persecuted countries. As each individual came forward, they prayed for that country.

The table groups were called to pray, reflect and discuss. Though it seems many tables, removed from persecution, struggled how to discuss and respond. How can we respond beyond prayer? We certainly want to do more, but it seems out of our hands - and that is a difficult reality for those who are used to solving problems. Our table asked, 'How can we prepare for persecution if we see it coming in the West?' One conclusion is that we certainly need to pray, connect, and learn from our brothers and sisters going through persecution now.

Day five: a light for Jesus in the workplace

^{26 September}

The morning sessions were focused on engaging the workplace with the gospel to be effective in the Great Commission. There are no second class citizens in the Kingdom of God and we all work 'full time' for the Lord. Therefore, church leaders must begin to serve and collaborate with the 99% of their body who are in the workplace.

Individuals in the workplace need to become witnesses who carry God’s presence, like a priest, making their workplace 'holy ground.' This begins with 'gossiping the gospel' everywhere. This strategy is necessary because the world is not walking into church on Sunday - we must go to where people are.

Stories were shared from a Doctor in Caribbean, an artist in Asia, a computer genius in the USA, and a police officer in South Asia about how they are shining Jesus in their world.

After lunch, collaborative actions groups started making plans on how to fix and fill the Missional gaps they were addressing. The evening session was a special performance called 'The 12 stones of the Korean Church,' based on the 12 stones Israel brought out of the Jordan in Joshua 4. The drama outlined landmarks in Korean history and church growth over the last 140 years, including faith, miracles and martyrdom. The performance, drama and video mixed together, told the story of how the gospel swept through Korea and how Korea went from poverty and military occupation to freedom, economic prosperity, and a missionary sending force. Today, however, the trend has slowed and Christianity is declining due to a perception of hypocrisy, division and corruption in the church.

Day six: connecting generations

^{27 September}

In the morning, Phil Ryken on the board of directors for the Lausanne Movement, spoke on 'Christlike Servanthood', casting a vision for a church that serves the Word, Spirit, church, leaders and the lost. This is the way Christ served and it is the only effective way to lead and be a witness to the world in our leadership.

The second session was a panel about intergenerational discipleship. Nana Yaw Offei Awuku, leader of Lausanne Generations, and Ole-Magnus, who leads mentoring for younger leaders, challenged leaders to consider 'who is your generational neighbour?' The church needs to think more generationally, not just appealing to and engaging generations, but connecting generations with each other for missions. Four younger leaders from various regions shared their perspective on the necessity of engagement. Older leaders were challenged to raise up younger leaders and a key to building trust with the younger generation is vulnerability, which breads ongoing trusting communication.

The afternoon collaborative actions sessions continued to lead groups to finalise plans for how they can work together towards solving some of the greatest challenges in missions today.

The evening session included stories from around the world on the topic of reconciliation from a Ukrainian, Palestinian, a Burundian and Congolese. They spoke about forgiveness and reconciliation in the context of war, conflict, and prejudice. We, the church, have the only hope that can lead to healing and the church must lead the way. Isaiah 63:1-3 was read and we stood and prayed for various groups in need like widows, orphans, elderly, the vulnerable and trafficked.

Day seven: church growth advice

^{28 September}

The last day of the conference was packed with speakers addressing global missions to the ends of the earth. This is the very heart and core of Lausanne. Several notable comments were made from some of the speakers, including Ronaldo Lidorio, a Brazilian working in the Amazon region. He called the participants to keep the focus on brining the gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth as he traced gospel movement in Acts, culminating in a gospel to the ends of the earth. He challenged churches and agencies not to send people abroad who are not being a blessing where they already are.

David Ro, a Lausanne leader for East Asia said that the China church is growing and now sending. In fact, the Chinese church is incredibly intentional in sending out missionaries. They believe there are 'little lessons to learn from a church that sends no missionaries.' When the Chinese plant churches, they see them as a means to send even more missionaries.

Rick Warren shared much advice, noting that Saddleback Church was intentional in planting churches in almost every country in the world. Warren said you will need the tools of mentors, models, partners and friends along the way. Our path requires that of the early church, including prayer, Biblical translation, unity, obedience, love, house churches, teaching, generosity, sacrifice, and joy. He said, 'growing churches love and loving churches grow.'

Michael Oh brought home the need to see collaborative action as the strategy for finishing the task of global missions. Mission is no longer 'the west to the rest.' Rather, mission is already happening in every direction. The majority world wants to be more involved and is already taking on more and more leadership as the west declines. Michael encouraged leaders to see the church as beautiful, worth our sacrifice. We should seek the church’s beauty like a bee seeks flowers and appreciate all people in the church as a gift to missions.

To conclude, participants were asked to sign 'Collaborative Action Commitment' at the end, saying that they commit to pursue unity and collaborate towards gaps in the Great Commission. Then, participants participated in communion together and finished with worship.