Lausanne Movement

In This Issue:

• Lausanne Philippines Congress
• Lausanne Theology Group and Cape Town 2010
• Bible Engagement in the Context of HIV and AIDS
• IFMA Becomes CrossGlobal Link
• November Lausanne World Pulse

By Dr. David S. Lim, Congress Director and Rev. Bernie Malitao, Lausanne Philippines Chairman
 
PRAISE GOD for the recently concluded Lausanne Philippine Congress 2007 attended by 324 delegates from 58 churches in 29 denominations and organizations coming from Metro Manila and different regions of the Philippines.  This historical event, with the theme, "The Whole Philippine Church Sharing the Whole Gospel to the Whole World," was held from 25-27 October at Cosmopolitan Church in Manila.
 
The keynote address was given by Dr. David S. Lim, the Congress' Director and Southeast Asia Coordinator of Asia Lausanne.  The chairman of Asia Lausanne, Rev. Dr. Lee Jong Yun, gave the paper on "The Relevance of the Lausanne Covenant: the Ecclesiological Perspective."
 
The participants heard seven other major messages by prominent Filipino church leaders.  They also interacted in ten workshops on practical steps to doing evangelism and missions through a more relational, sharing approach, which may be the best and uniquely Filipino contribution to Evangelical missiology!
 
On the last day, all those present signed the "Manila Declaration" and took the Lord's Supper together, after having planned to have at least six "echo conferences" in the various regions next year. 

They also heard closing challenges to "Bring our Nation and the Nations to Christ" from leaders of the country's three Protestant bodies (National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, Philippines for Jesus Movement) who co-sponsored the event, as well as Bishop Arturo Bastes, SVD, the chairman of Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' Episcopal Commission on the Biblical Apostolate.

Thank you for your prayers for this event!


Dr. Chris Wright, Chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group, gives an update on their work in relation to Cape Town 2010, The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.

"We need help, but we need hope.  We need help, but we need hope," a person living with HIV/AIDS told the 90 participants at the international consultation for the "Bible Engagement in the Context of HIV and AIDS in Africa" sponsored by the Forum of Bible Agencies, International and the Africa Forum of Bible Agencies.

Held in Nairobi, Kenya, the four-day conference featured testimonies from those who are infected with the virus and commentaries from distinguished theologians from Africa.  "While we know HIV and AIDS are not only issues for Africans, for these discussions we wanted to focus on this particular geographic region," said Neil Crosbie, consultation facilitator.  Estimates in 2006 show that almost two thirds (63%) of all people infected with HIV lived in sub-Saharan Africa.  An estimated 2.8 million people in the region, both adults and children, became infected with HIV in 2006, more than all other regions of the world combined.  Seventy-two percent of the world’s AIDS deaths (2.1 million) were in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

HIV/AIDS – Our Story
During the event, representatives from Bible Agencies and other African ministries were challenged to reframe the HIV/AIDS discussion from "a problem that needs fixing" to "a life issue that needs be addressed."  According to the Rt. Rev. D. Zac Niringiye, Assistant Bishop of Kampala, a theologian and former Africa Regional Director of the Church Mission Society, "This whole question of the body of Christ - - the sense of being together in this . . . you must live in the story.  The HIV/AIDs story is not an African story, no, it is our story.  You must have this sense that it affects me.  That is why I have been pleading [to] go beyond the helping paradigm . . . God invites us not to help people primarily, but actually invites us to change so that we can become more like Jesus."

Speakers also encouraged a broad consideration of the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, noting that the epidemic actually exposes systemic and societal problems of poverty, injustice and gender inequality.

Bible Engagement
Dr. Madipoane Masenya, an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Limpopo, Unisa, Republic of South Africa, asked, "As people who are in one way or another connected to the Bible, either as individual Christians, as Bible translators, teachers, professors, clergy persons . . . and as those informed by the analysis of the use of the Bible, how may we use the Bible ‘for better’ in HIV/AIDS contexts?"

She cautioned participants to be very conscious of the ways the Bible is sometimes misapplied to promote power dynamics (politics, economics, religion, etc).  She also suggested that one way the Bible can be effectively applied in HIV/AIDS ministry is to highlight passages that affirm the dignity of all people as human beings, created in the image of God.

Working Together
Dr. Geoff Foster, a pediatrician from Zimbabwe and founder of the Family AIDS Caring
Trust, reminded participants that Biblical teaching that can impact the spread of HIV/AIDS and caring for those afflicted is being addressed by the local church in many areas.  He recommended that Bible Agencies find ways to intersect with and support those efforts.

"I believe the member agencies of the Forum of Bible Agencies – both the International alliance and the Africa regional group . . . are strengthened by this interaction with the voices of HIV/AIDS," said Roberto Laver, Executive Director of the Forum.  "Their ministries will no doubt be improved in light of the tremendously helpful insights that have been gained during our days together."

Collective responses by the participants were presented in a common statement.  "We have sought to wrestle with complex and challenging issues.  We recognize that we are faced with enormous challenges to which there are no easy solutions."  The thirty-two agencies represented agreed to, "work towards greater understanding and responsiveness to those infected or affected by HIV and AIDS."  They also expressed a commitment to "encouraging approaches to the Bible that enable people to discover and experience its life transforming and liberating power."

The Forum of Bible Agencies International is an alliance of more than 25 Bible agencies with a shared vision to work together to maximize the worldwide access and impact of God’s word.  The Forum was founded in 1990 on the belief that the speed and scope of accomplishing this vision could be significantly increased through collaboration and cooperation.

 

By Marv Newell, Executive Director, CrossGlobal Link

IFMA (Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association of North America) has not ceased to exist!  Even though that name will no longer be found in mission circles, the association itself is still alive and doing well under its new identity as “CrossGlobal Link.” 

Why The Change?
Consideration of several present day realities brought about the decision.  One consideration had to do with the changing context of missions.  In 1917, when the association was formed, mission was done solely by the professional missionary movement, and almost exclusively through mission agencies.  However today, mission is being done not only by the professional missionary in conjunction with agencies, but also by churches doing missions by themselves.  Then, add to that, business as mission and the ever expanding short-term mission movement.  In short, the mission enterprise in North America is now derived from multiple sources.  Our association needed to accommodate these realities if we were to remain relevant in this current mission environment.

Another consideration had to do with the former name itself.  Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association of North America, though an appropriate and descriptive name when the association was founded, included several words that have lost relevancy over time.  For instance, “interdenominational” is a word that most church people find hard to comprehend.  In today’s church environment it is no longer important to peg identity in relation to denominationalism.  Therefore, it was deemed best to remove that concept from our identity; and in keeping with that, CrossGlobal Link has also opened its membership doors to denominations.

In an increasingly globalized world and multicultural North America, the word “foreign” also needed to be rethought.  The nations are now found in most every corner of our continent – many unreached people groups of the world are amongst us!  Mission is no longer a matter of going geographically distant to find the lost, but rather going a distance culturally.  The phenomenon of an increasingly multicultural society is also spewing an increasingly poly-religious North America that dare not be ignored.  Therefore, it was appropriate to substitute the word “foreign” with “Global.”

CrossGlobal Link
As the first word in our new name, “Cross” conveys two meanings that update the word “mission” in IFMA.  The noun “cross” carries the concept of the cross of Christ – the means of mankind’s redemption.  The verb “cross” means “to transverse, to go across.”  Merging these two concepts describes clearly our mission: taking the message of the cross across cultures.

The final word “association” in our former name was up-dated with the word “Link.”   Without minimizing the force of historically being a strong participatory association, the word “link” indicates our efforts to provide connections both within and without.

The connection link “within” occurs in the networking among the nearly 90 CrossGlobal Link member mission agencies.  Another link is that of associate membership available to North American churches; of interest especially to those that are doing mission directly.  The link “without” is our intentional interacting with the greater global mission movement.

To portray these links, CrossGlobal Link has adopted as its tag line: Connecting in Mission.  Along with the three circles in our logo, we want the world of mission to know we are passionate about linking together for world evangelization.

No, indeed!  After 90 years, IFMA has not passed away nor has it been given a mere cosmetic dress-over with the new name of “CrossGlobal Link.”  Instead we have re-tooled ourselves for the present and future in the face of current mission and world realities.  For more information, visit our website: www.CrossGlobalLink.org.

This month’s issue looks at HIV/AIDS and Holistic Evangelism.  Last year, AIDS killed more than three million people worldwide, including 400,000 children under the age of fifteen.  The epidemic is seemingly impossible to control.  And yet, the global Church is responding—and finding success.  In this issue, you will learn more about how churches and other groups are having an impact on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 

• HIV/AIDS and Holistic Evangelism: The Challenge for the Church by Pamela Gebauer, who has worked with mission partners in French Africa and Haiti to produce a CD-ROM containing French resources on AIDS prevention, education and pastoral ministry. 
  
• Responding to HIV/AIDS “As You Go” by Evvy Campbell, Lausanne senior associate for holistic mission.  
  
• I Choose Life—Africa: Turning the Tide on the HIV/AIDS Pandemic Among University Students by Mike Mutungi, CEO of I Choose Life—Africa. 
  
• The Prophetic Role of the Church in Egypt Toward HIV/AIDS by Andrea Z. Stephanous, vice president of the Protestant Community of Egypt and director of Dar El Thaqafa Communications House, Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services. 
  

 

You will also find articles on:

• A Look at the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church by Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. 
  
• Persevering Prayer by John Godson, international director of Pilgrim Mission International.  
  
• The Musseques (slums) of Luanda, Angola by Jose da Silva, a missionary to Angola.  
  
• Perfect Strangers: Christians Living Among Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims by Natalie Crowson, research assistant for the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. 
  

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Is there a connection between evangelism and worship?  For the writers in our December issue, there is more than just a connection—the two should always go hand-in-hand.  Whether followers of Christ are in Argentina, Egypt or England, the articles in next month’s issue will encourage you to use your worship as an opportunity for outreach.