Lausanne Connecting Point - February 2006 PDF Drucken E-Mail
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In This Issue:
 
Lausanne World Pulse

Media Evangelism is the focus of the February issue of Lausanne World Pulse (LWP), now available at www.LausanneWorldPulse.com. 
 
In this issue:

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LWP is a partnership of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) and Wheaton College’s (Chicago, IL., USA) Institute of Strategic Evangelism, Evangelism and Mission Information Service (EMIS) and Intercultural Studies Department.

COMIBAM SOUTH CONE

Adapted from a report from Carlos Scott - Representative COMIBAM SOUTH CONE

More than 800 leaders from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay met together 7-10 December 2005 for the “Congress of COMIBAM SOUTH CONE.” 
 
Under the motto: “The whole Gospel, from the SOUTH to all the nations,” the participants enjoyed the plenary sessions, workshops, times of reflection in groups and personal interaction.  The gathering allowed them to elaborate and receive proposals of the SOUTH CONE regarding the forum of pastors and churches, sending structures, training centers, strategic alliances, missionary integral care, biblical translation and youth in mission.

A team formed by servants of the 4 countries (Comibam Chile, World Missions Network of Argentina, Conami Paraguay, Comibam Uruguay) directed the participants. They decided to work to strengthen the development of the missionary movement of the South Cone region for the period 2006-2009.

COMIBAM SOUTH CONE discussed the following topics: 

  • The new world order and the missions
  • The church, identity and purpose
  • Will the African church be ready?
  • Characteristic of a missionary church
  • The missionary call for the church
  • To all the world – Incarnationally
  • The legacy of Paul to the global mission.

Speakers included David Ruiz - President of International Comibam; Allan Matamoros – Executive Director of PMI; Enrique Montenegro – Director Comibam Iberian Peninsula; David Stoner, Shepherd, Global Outreach Mars Hill Bible Church; David Kasali - African Church of Congo; Daniel Bianchi – AMI; Ricardo Rodriguez – JUCUM; Ricardo Vázquez Matus - ACM; Mario Loss – SIM; Carlos Moreno - CONAMI Paraguay; Omar Gava - Training Network Comibam; Marcelo Abel - Missionaries Forum South Cone; Trev Gregory – WEA; Dick Robinson - W. H. Ministries, Elmbrook Church; Andrés Casanueva – Wycliffe; Leticia Clark - Rios del Sur; Hans Ziefle – SIM; José Brave Osses – Dawn; Marcos Manríquez – JUCUM; Jaime Thurston - Integridad Network Inc. and others.

The congress finished with Santiago's declaration where some parts: “The cooperation continues being possible, it is the desire of God’s heart for his church.";  "If the church, agencies and training centers take its responsibility seriously, the dream of a missionary force from the South, is possible."; “The mission is relevant when it is biblical and incarnational depending in the Spirit and God’s power."; "We have grown in a thought more global of the mission that invites us to leave the regional isolation."; “There are not big neither small, rich or poor churches . . . Only obedient churches or not.”

The results of this meeting surpassed the expectations of the regional leadership, particularly in the commitment and decisions taken by pastors and leaders to be a missionary force.

Praise the Lord for His blessings during this time.  We see a sensitive growth in the number of missionary vocations and, particularly, churches that will open the way toward the obedience to the Great Commission in the South Cone.

For more information or materials email Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spam-Bots geschützt, Sie müssen Javascript aktivieren, damit Sie es sehen können or go to www.mm-comibam.net.

MANI 2006 CONSULTATION ON AFRICAN NATIONAL INITIATIVES

MANI 2006 will be held in Nairobi, Kenya 26 February to 4 March 2006.  The Movement for African National Initiatives (MANI) was birthed March 2001 when 320 African leaders from 36 nations met in Jerusalem for the African Millennial Consultation, an event initiated by African leaders when “Celebrate Messiah 2000” was cancelled. MANI was birthed out of a conviction that there was a need for an ongoing African network for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. There was also a strong conviction that Africa's hour had come; that in the 21st century the African Church must take responsibility for the final gospel thrust in Africa and play a significant role in world evangelization.
 
The MANI 2006 consultation will be a time for celebration, assessment, learning from one another, prayer and commitment to the unfinished task. 550 Christian leaders representing fifty or more African countries and African leaders in Diaspora, 50 Continental and Regional leaders from Africa and 50 of ministry leaders from around the world are expected to attend.
 
The consultation is primarily being organized and resourced by Africa. MANI is facilitated by volunteers who contribute time and resources from their primary ministry base and will be held at the Kenya College of Communication and Technology (KCCT).

WHAT’S GOD DOING?

A new campaign designed to confirm that God is alive and well in 21st century Britain has been announced by two major Christian organisations. The Evangelical Alliance and Premier Christian Radio have joined together to ask – What’s God doing? … in the lives of both Christians and those who profess a different faith or none.

Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said, “We hope this survey will be one of the biggest and most significant surveys of the year. We believe that the results, due to be released at Easter, will show that, contrary to popular belief, God is working throughout our land. We want to send a challenge to a society, which, at times, seems to doubt that Christ is still relevant in 21st century Britain.”

The survey is intended to be as far reaching as possible and therefore a cross section of the general public will be canvassed for their views on questions such as “when would you ever ask God to intervene?”, “how often do you pray?” and “is sin an outdated concept?”

The opinions of Christians will also be sought through a separate survey (http://www.communicateresearch.com/ea). Alternatively the survey can be accessed through either the Alliance website (www.eauk.org - bottom of homepage) or the Premier Christian Radio website (www.premier.org.uk/wgdsurvey). Several other interactive initiatives are also planned for major events throughout the coming year.

The partnership between the Alliance and Premier Christian Radio, to highlight how God is working in the UK, is part of the Alliance’s Alltogether initiative.

NORTH KOREA PRAYER CAMPAIGN

For three straight years North Korea has topped Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where persecution of Christians is the worst.  Due to the continuing severity of persecution in that communist country, Open Doors has launched a Prayer Campaign for North Korea.

The goal of the campaign is to blanket North Korea in prayer for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Open Doors USA is seeking at least 1,008 Christians in the United States who are committed to pray 10 minutes a week for North Korea.  Open Doors USA will provide updated information on the status of Christians in North Korea for the prayer warriors.

For more information on the Prayer Campaign for North Korea, go to www.opendoors.org/3ypnk-us/.

Praise & Prayer

By Glenda Weldon, Chair, Intercession Working Group, LCWE

Your love, GOD, is my song, and I’ll sing it! I’m forever telling everyone how faithful you are. I’ll never quit telling the story of your love—how you built the cosmos and guaranteed everything in it. Your love has always been our lives’ foundation, your fidelity has been the roof over our world.  Psalm 89:1.2.

May the Lord flood your heart today with a fresh sense of gratitude, awe and wonder as you reflect upon his unconditional, non-negotiable, non-discriminating, infinite love for each one of us and for all mankind.

LCWE

  • Please continue to pray for God’s blessings and empowering for Doug Birdsall and Ted Yamamori in their responsibilities.
  • Praise God for the appointment of a new IDD for Eastern Europe. 
  • Please pray for Marek Wyrzykowski as he takes up this role.
  • Please pray for CV Matthews and the Search Committee as they look for the next International Director.

Egypt and the Middle East
Please pray for:

  • The families of the 1000 people who were drowned in the Egyptian Ferry incident.  Pray that this tragedy will bring them closer to knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • God to keep Egypt and the Middle East in spite of the bad situation.
  • The many sensitive problems erupted in the Middle East.
  • Peace among these nations.
  • The Church in Egypt (all denominations)
    • Unity among all the Christian denominations.  Pray that the barriers will fall down and that all be united in Jesus… so that Egypt will be changed.  In Unity there is strength.
    • Revival in the churches in Egypt.
    • The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church.
    • The Spirit of Repentance to flow through the Egyptian Church.
    • Reaching out to the Egyptian Community through:
      - Medical outreaches in Cairo
      - Sports outreach to the community
      - Developmental Projects for the poor community
    • Christ is preached through the believers without fear.

(Ephesians 6:19) "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel."

(Philippians 1 18-19) "But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.  Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance."

Please also pray for:

  • The Annual Prayer Conference in Egypt that will be held at Wadi El Natroun.  5000 people will be attending this Conference from all over Egypt. All the denominations are invited to this Conference. Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in this conference.
  • Pastoral Conference, 27 April - 2 May for Pastors from all over Egypt and for the different denominations. Pray that the Pastors will be renewed in their strength.

2006 Younger Leaders Gathering
Please pray for:

  • The necessary finances for this significant gathering.  There is an urgent need for scholarship monies for many of the younger leaders to attend.
  • The Participant selection Committee as they complete their task.

IG Bioethics
Please pray for:

  • The development of links between those who were in Thailand and are now working around the world. 

Praise God:

  • The book "Bioethics: Obstacle or Opportunity for the Gospel?" is slowly being used more, particularly in the USA.

Diaspora
Praise God:

  • The Filipino International Network (FIN) sponsored a Filipino Theological Educators’ Consultation in Baguio City, Philippines from 2-4 January 4-6.  Approximately 40 Filipino theological educators, key national church leaders and international missiologists gathered to explore the possibility and avenues of delivering theological education for lay pastors and lay leaders of the growing number of Filipino Diaspora congregations in the Middle East and Asia. The final decision was made to pursue operating a coordinated delivery system of formal and non-formal theological education by theological institutions and ministry agencies. The training opportunities will also be open to leaders of other Diasporas.

Christian Research - Peter Brierley
The fourth English Church Census was taken May 2005.  38,000 churches in England were asked to give details of attendance, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, etc.  Just over 50% replied, and Peter is currently in the thick of analyzing the results, which have to be made intelligible to church leaders.  They are publishing a commentary book on the results as well as a volume of statistics for every county. 
Please pray for:

  • Peter that he may get the explanations right (= correct analysis) and implications correct and that it will be relevant (to help leaders turn the church around from its continuing decline).

The Viva Network - Children at Risk
Please pray for:

  • Comfort for Patrick Macdonald and his whole team as they grieve the death of Karen Lamprecht, one of their much loved key members.  
  • Wisdom and provision towards the purchase of the Viva Network’s office.  
  • All the team as they balance Viva’s work, church commitments, live-in students and family time. 

Theology Working Group
Please pray for:

  • The meeting of the Theology Working Group from 23-25 February in London.  This will be a small gathering, since several members are unable to attend.  It will be the first meeting of the group under the leadership of Chris Wright with some new and some old members.   Doug Birdsall will also be present.
  • Good working relationships and fruitful planning for its work and consultations over the next four or five years.

Intercession Working Group
Praise God for the increase in Prayer Initiatives around the world.

Please pray for:

  • The Global Day of Prayer in 4 June 2006. The TEN DAY PRAYER GUIDES and POSTERS are ready to order from Waymakers.  Included in the 10 DAY PRAYER GUIDE is the PRAYER FOR THE WORLD, uniting us across the nations. Order them through www.gdopusa.com.
  • "40 Days with the Risen Lord" a local church resource for the 40 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, to equip and encourage Christians in daily Bible Reading and Prayer.  This has been prepared by Rev Sarah Plummer IWG Leader for Oceania.  www.40dayswiththerisenlord.org

Ethne to Ethne Meeting – Hidden and Forgotten People
Please pray:

PREPARATIONS FOR MEETING:

  • For wisdom for facilitators on some difficult decisions about subsidy and about the program.
  • For all financial needs to be met for travel subsidies for participants, and, since participants are coming from so many different countries, that we are able to get those funds into the right hands on time.
  • For the steering committee, convening group, regional facilitators, logistics committee, and hosts to be able to get all their jobs done well and in harmony with one another.

TRAVEL TO AND FROM THE MEETING:

  • That no one will have problems getting visas or entering/leaving the country.
  • That God protects all involved coming, during and returning from the meetings, with no accidents, illnesses or disruptions.

FOR THE MEETINGS:

  • That all speakers and facilitators will be anointed, give clear leadership, and bring messages exactly as the Lord wants to give his Word.
  • That everyone God is calling to participate is able to be there and connect in the right place—every part of the Body supplying what is needed.
  • That the Lord gives mighty strategies created together at the meeting to work globally to rapidly reach all remaining UPG’s and see them transformed by His presence.
  • That simple, appropriate tools are created and produced to help intercessors to pray, evangelists to preach, believers to disciple, and church planters to multiply new fellowships among every UPG.

FOLLOWING THE MEETINGS:

  • That word reaches the entire Body of Christ so that a mighty tidal wave of prayer rises to heaven from every part of the Body of Christ, prompting God to pour out His Spirit in an unprecedented way throughout the earth!
  • That the Lord of the harvest would thrust out workers in every one of the 6,900+ least-reached peoples so that all would soon hear the good news.