| Lausanne Connecting Point - August 2008 |
|
|
|
|
NO TRANSLATION AVAILABLE In This Issue:
By Grace Samson, Member of the Lausanne Communications Working Group and Director of Partner Relations for the Call2All Cape Town office  The Pan African Christian Women Alliance (PACWA) held a 5-day leadership conference at the Cooperative College Retreat and Conference Center in Nairobi, Kenya in July.As a commission of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), the conference was attended by some 35 women from about 15 countries in Africa, including PACWA national coordinators from Swaziland, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Liberia, Botswana, Burundi, Uganda, Madagascar and Mauritius. The purpose of the event was to celebrate together, reflect on past victories and challenges, as well as strategize collectively towards creating a look for PACWA for the next 10 years. The program was designed to provide training opportunities and time for strategic planning and discussions. During the opening ceremony of the conference, Rev. Dr. Judy Mbugua, the continental coordinator of PACWA (and a member of the Lausanne Movement Administrative Committee) explained the theme of the meeting which was â10 times better,â taken from the book of Daniel 1:20b. She challenged the women to pay attention to three key areas: their health; learning and studying to stay relevant with the times; and a serious commitment to prayer.  In the same spirit, Dr. Tokunboh Adeyemo, Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Transformation, built on the theme as he led devotions with a series on âGrace.â He spoke about âGrace in Service,â and âGrace in Security and Storm.â Other sessions taught by various trainers included: Self-Understanding; Servant Leadership Training; Proposal Writing; Fundraising; and Sustainability, among others. Rev. Esme Bowers, the Southern African coordinator and co-chair of PACWA facilitated the group discussions. (Bowers is a member of the Lausanne Movement Administrative Committee and chair of the Cape Town 2010 Participant Services Committee.) Participants spent time together in small groups to process the questions raised on topics during the plenary sessions. The delegates in various breakaway groups also brainstormed strategies and ways to increase ownership, thereby assisting PACWA to move forward.  Several projects and activities of PACWA were highlighted as testimonies over the course of the conference. They included a million dollar project for AIDS and Orphans in Zambia led by Leah Mutala, literacy programs and church planting among the Masai people group in Kenya and many others. PACWA currently operates in 32 countries in Africa, with 6 regional coordinators overseeing the national initiatives. The mission of the PACWA network is to mobilize and empower women through prayer, evangelism, discipleship, and capacity-building to be all that God made them to be in the home, church and society. By Rike Huettmann and Andy Goodacre Around 20 younger leaders and mentors gathered in Tomasov, Poland earlier this year (March 2008) for the second younger leaders gathering for Europeans, following on from the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering held in Malaysia in September 2006. During our four days together we spent time praying and worshipping God, receiving some stimulating teaching and input on mission in Europe from Jeff Fountain (Youth With A Mission, Europe), working out plans for the future of younger leaders gatherings and networks in Europe, joining worship in a local church in Tomasov â and sampling the local food. The interaction with Jeff Fountain was key to the gathering. His knowledge of Christianity and Mission in Europe, gathered over the last 25+ years of missional engagement in Europe, really encouraged and inspired the younger leaders. Jeff himself was encouraged by being part of the gathering, and warmly invited the participants to engage further with existing networks in Europe, including the Hope for Europe network, which he has been instrumental in facilitating. In terms of the network of Lausanne Younger Leaders, the group recognised the contribution made by Andy Goodacre in leading the network and keep communications flowing between younger leaders in Europe following on from the Malaysia conference in September 2006. Due to his move away from Europe, Andy will no longer be heading up this network. During the gathering it was decided that Rike Huettmann from Germany will take on this role, with support from Rafal Piekarski (Poland), Gabi Gencheva (Bulgaria) and David Hausmann (Switzerland). We see two areas in which this network is effective and can continue to be effective. The first is in holding an informal, relational gathering every 12-18 months, where younger leaders can come together, meet and receive input and encouragement from one another. The second area is in helping younger leaders in Europe to engage with existing networks of Christian leaders, both within Europe (e.g. Hope For Europe, mission-net, European Evangelical Alliance) and internationally (e.g. Lausanne Movement/Cape Town 2010). The core team, led by Rike Huettmann, will be actively involved in developing this work further in the future. We are planning toward another meeting next year, possibly in Germany. Thanks for your prayers and interest in and support of this network. By Michael T. Cooper, Associate Professor of Religion and Contemporary Culture at Trinity International University  In the spring of 2005 I presented a paper at the Midwest regional conference of the American Academy of Religion held at DePaul University in Chicago. The paper addressed factors that contribute to the growth of a contemporary Pagan religion. After the presentation, several in attendance came to me with questions. One question stood out among all the rest, âDr. Cooper, are you a Pagan?â It was an honest question from an individual that assumed anyone speaking favorably about Paganism must be a Pagan as well. I was happy to respond, âNo, I am not a Pagan. I am an evangelical Christian.â With that response, a collective look of disbelief fell over the faces of those standing around. Such a look, as well as some individual comments, communicated the immediate respect that I gained in their eyes for demonstrating respect and understanding acquired from dialogue and observations. Over the years I have had people disagree with me on my approach to engaging religious others. In a recent email, one such detractor wrote, âWhy in the world are you occupied with a study of paganism? All the nonsense of communicating the message of Christâs love and hope to make some adherents is futile.â Others have responded less radically, such as, âI found your applications not only applicable to Christians reaching out to pagans, but to all Christians who are attempting to reach out to anyone. Your principles were very universal and insightful.â While not all will share my particular academic emphasis on understanding other religions, most might agree that respect for religious people as created in the image of God is a necessary Christian virtue, especially when one is attempting to engage such people with the gospel.  At the very heart of Lausanne Issue Group 16 is the desire to understand and respect the people we encounter. In this vein, the Issue Group has partnered with Trinity International University and the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies to cosponsor an international conference addressing new religious movements and spiritualities. New religions are generally thought of in terms of religious groups forming out of the dominant religion of a culture. These often-called âdeviant religionsâ break with the dominant religion and shape into new religious movements. Mormonism and Jehovahâs Witnesses are most commonly associated with such movements. However, recent attempts at understanding new religious movements in the West have included Western and non-Western religions surfacing as the result of immigration, globalization and/or easternization as well as pre-Christian European religions that result from the revival of native, reconstructed religions.Religion continues to play a significant role in the spiritual marketplace of the religiously unregulated West. The corresponding decline of religious fervor once associated with the secularization thesis is challenged by the notion that a significant majority of Westerners identify themselves as religious and/or spiritual. Todayâs Christian will be confronted with multiple religious worldviews, whether in ministry, the workplace or their neighborhood. Developing the academic knowledge and practical skills to effectively engage these worldviews is a necessary part of equipping Christians to engage their local and global contexts. Hosted by the School of Biblical and Religious Studies at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, USA, the 16-19 October 2008 conference is a gathering of practitioners and scholars addressing the decline of Christianity in the West and the concomitant growth of new people groups expressed in religions and spiritualities such as modern Paganism, Western Esotericism, New Age and other alternative spiritualities. Plenary sessions and parallel workshops will address the topics of the future of religion in the West, the make up of the alternative religious marketplace and approaches in engaging adherents of alternative spiritualities. Because we believe that this is an important conference, registration is only USD $60 for the 10 plenary sessions and 12 parallel workshops. Graduate course credit can also be obtained through Trinity Graduate School. The conference will be an excellent opportunity to come to Trinity and hear leading evangelical scholars address the growing significance of the religious shift in Western society. Plenary sessions include:
In addition to the plenary sessions, the conference has scheduled 12 parallel workshops with sessions ranging from Buddhism in the West to a theology of the discernment of spirits. We live in a cultural milieu not all that dissimilar from first century Athens. As Luke noted, the Athenians enjoyed hearing new ideas (Acts 17:21). Similarly in our context, the creation of thousands of new religious movements and spiritualities in the last half century testifies to the same. The Apostle Paul demonstrated how the Christian should live and act in the marketplace by respectfully engaging in dialogue while learning about people. As Christopher Partridge has reflected,
 By Robby Richardson, Executive Director of the Internet Evangelism Coalition  In the fifteen years of the existence of the Internet as we know it (since the release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993), there has been an amazing proliferation of âChristian web sites.â Many churches and Christian ministries have at least a presence on the Internet. But there is a big difference between Christians and ministries having an âonline presenceâ and having an âonline impactâ through their Internet sites. Creating impact is the general theme of the third annual Internet Ministry Conference (IMC), 20-23 October 2008 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, hosted by Gospel Communications. (Gospel Communications has been hosting this conference for its ministry partners since 1995, but the conference has only been open to the general public for the last three years). IMC participants will have the opportunity to gain insight into Internet Evangelism and other aspects of online ministry, hear important keynote addresses and have ample time to network with others passionate about online ministry. The conference provides sessions in four different âtracksâ: Internet Design/Technology, Internet Marketing/Strategy, Internet Discipleship and Internet Evangelism. This will be the second year that the Internet Evangelism Coalition (http://www.webevangelism.com) has partnered with Gospel Communications to provide the content for the Internet Evangelism track. Among the sessions to be offered at this yearâs IMC are:
Find more information about the IMC, including registration details at http://www.internetministryconference.com. The site also includes interviews with conference presenters, blog entries about Internet ministry and more. By Sarah Plummer, Chair of the Lausanne Intercession Working Group The national pride that is expressed in a global event like the Olympics is always very moving. I imagine an Olympics of those representing the Kingdom of God. How different would these athletes be? We would come from many lands, with many languages between us and yet a common work of Christ in each of our hearts. Our spiritual fitness is expressed in our obedience to God's word and active prayerful dependence upon his work. Thank you for your prayer partnership with us as we seek to honour our citizenship in God's Kingdom. Praise God with the Lausanne Leadership team for the:
Please Pray for the:
We value so much your prayers with us in the work of mobilizing evangelical leaders for the task of World evangelization. 
You will also find articles on:
In September, LWP will look at the Strategic Importance of Student Ministry. |
