Lausanne Movement

Andrew Brumme, a member of the Forum Media and Communications Team, posted a daily blog from Thailand throughout the 2004 Forum. The purpose of the blog was to provide one individual's personal reflections throughout the Forum. Andrew Brumme graduated in 2004 from Pepperdine University, and at the time of this blog, was working for the Mission America Coalition (the U.S. Lausanne Committee). He has a passion for seeing the whole church take the whole gospel to the whole world. To contact Andrew, click here. 

On the eve of my departure for Thailand, I find myself overcome by anticipation. In just a few days, 1,700 world church leaders will gather together to form strategies for overcoming 31 significant roadblocks to evangelism. As I envision what is about to take place, I am reminded of a similar gathering in the book of Acts. Chapter 15 tells of the Council at Jerusalem, where apostles and other church leaders came together to tackle several barriers to the spread of the gospel to the gentiles. Amidst the intense debate and discussion, James spoke up and said, "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." (15:19)

This is the purpose of the 2004 Forum in Thailand…to remove the barriers to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. 30 years ago, at the original Lausanne gathering in Switzerland, Billy Graham gave the opening address and stated the simple purpose of the gathering: “…to seek how we can work together to fulfill Christ’s last commission as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.” (Billy Graham Archives)

It is overwhelming to look over the 31 issue groups that will be meeting in Thailand. Each is so pertinent to evangelism in our world today. I have found that by looking in depth at a few of the issue groups, I gain an understanding of the bigger picture. Chris Rice, convener of issue group 22 (IG22 - confronting racial, tribal and ethnic conflict), pointed me to a personal website he setup that gives great insight into the IG’s work. As with all the of the issue groups, IG22 has been working for months in preparation for the Forum. Recently, the leadership of IG22 traveled to Rwanda to deepen their understanding of the challenge their specific IG is dealing with. I encourage you to visit the website for a more in depth glimpse into the work of one IG.

My hope is that throughout the 2004 Forum in Thailand, my personal reflections will serve to deepen your understanding of the work of the IGs. May you partner with me in prayer for the Holy Spirit to move mightily at the 2004 Forum, and above all, to draw people from every tribe, tongue and nation into intimate fellowship with himself.

The Forum has begun. Members of Christ’s body from 127 nations are gathered in Thailand…and like a fly on the wall, I am trying to take it all in! Over the past couple of days, busloads of church leaders have arrived from Bangkok. At breakfast this morning, it was strangely refreshing to hear conversations in every language…except English! I watched countless friends (both old and new) embrace, shake hands, and exchange smiles as they delighted in their fellowship in Christ. Their joy was contagious, even to a fly on the wall.

I continue to have interactions with people that bless me richly. Yesterday, I ran into a group of people walking around the perimeter of the main meeting hall. As I struck up a conversation with them, I discovered they were a part of the intercessory team, here to cover the forum in 24 hour prayer. I can think of nothing more vital to the success of the 2004 Forum than prayer, and I can think of no other people I would rather have interceding than this group I ran into. They are now my definition of “praying without ceasing.” After I shared a little about myself with them, they responded. Somehow amidst their response, they circled around me and with the “laying of hands” they were interceding for me! I am not sure where their prayer began…and I don’t believe it had an end. As they were praying for me, Dr. Paul Cedar (the International Chair for the Lausanne Committee) came over and within moments he was being lifted up in prayer. As I walked away to continue my Forum duties, I found myself eager to join the intercessors in their prayer room at my next spare moment. Praise God for prayer! May we respond to his call to constantly come before his throne.

This was indicative of the depth of blessing I have received from many brief interactions in the past 2 days. I had lunch today with a missionary couple from Malaysia, dinner with a journalist from Switzerland…and the list goes on.

After the Forum officially began this evening, Dr. Roger Parrott (2004 Forum Chair) gave a stirring call to the hundreds of world church leaders to let the wind of the Holy Spirit guide the direction of their ministries and their work at the Forum. Please join me in praying for exactly this. May God direct the work of the 31 issue groups as they begin to work tomorrow, and may all the Forum participants be open to the Lord’s voice and wherever he may lead their work here.

During a press conference this afternoon, I gained great insight into the work that Dr. Paul Cedar and the rest of the Lausanne Committee have put into the Forum. In fact, Dr. Cedar and other Forum leadership were initially very hesitant about having a Forum, fearing a lot of “talk” and no “action”. Such concerns were much of the driving force behind the 2004 Forum and its goal of highly practical outcomes and action plans.

Later I sat in on part of IG22 (Reconciliation) and experienced the deeply practical nature of this Forum that Dr. Cedar spoke of. I watched as a Hutu from Burundi embraced a Tutsi and sought forgiveness on behalf of his tribe. With as much gravity as the situation demanded, the Tutsi man replied, “I forgive you” and the room erupted in applause. As they brought the IG meeting to a close, they cried out to God for a revelation of how to build the kingdom of God, not just in heaven, but on earth today! This is the 2004 Forum. Individual lives are being impacted on a practical level, and by God’s grace these individuals will impact churches and nations. This was my experience in 30 minutes of one IG. There are 31 IGs, and they met for hours today alone! What is taking place here is astounding.

Most of my day was spent assisting journalists and other media personnel present at the Forum, but these brief encounters were enough to sustain me. (That, and a brief visit to the prayer room to intercede with Barbara Byerly and the other intercessors I met yesterday.) It is just the beginning.

If you are unfamiliar with the genocide of the Tutsis and moderate Hutus, I encourage you to visit this website for some background.

It was a day of digging into some of the “meat” of the issue groups. In the main session this morning, I heard a teaser for the work of IG:25 (Oral Learners), and I was hooked. I followed up with a visit to the IG this evening. Most people in the world are oral learners, meaning they learn primarily through stories, poems and proverbs. 70% of the unreached people groups in the world can’t, don’t, or won’t read. They learn primarily from parables and stories. This has dramatic implications for the way the church works to fulfill the Great Commission. Simply passing out Bibles is not the answer!

I heard second-hand testimony today about a man who was doing mission work in a country with a low literacy rate. He met someone named Adam, and began a conversation by mentioning another man named Adam he knew a story about. He went on to share the story of Adam, Eve and Creation. This Adam was so interested, he kept asking for more stories, and this man kept returning home and coming back the next day having studied up on another Bible story to share with Adam. I can’t help but think of Christ reaching the masses through parables.

This IG is already talking of producing a complete oral Bible in story form, telling the individual Bible stories in a narrative form. So much of both the Old and New Testaments are in story form. Think of the potential of such a tool, and what a mighty impact it could have on evangelism around the world! What if the same sort of tool were to be produced as videos? Every story in the Bible told through the medium of film? It would take little work to make the stories compelling! (Just think of those Old Testament prophets...mighty battle scenes...the adventures of the apostles...) When the work of this IG is complete, they plan to boldly call the body of Christ to use oral communication methods in sharing the gospel. I know that I will closely follow the work of IG:25 as long as it continues. May you join with me in praying for God to bless the work of this IG, and to open the hearts of the church to use every means possible to win people to Christ.

Today a man leaned over to me with a big grin on his face and said, “you know, what we just did allowed me to bring together everything we’ve been doing in our group these past days.” Today was the first meeting of the synergy groups, and for some it was a revelatory time. The basic idea of the synergy groups is to prevent individual issue groups from operating alone as an island, separated from the rest of the work at the Forum. There are many areas of overlap and potential points of collaboration between the issue groups, and the synergy groups take place to facilitate dialogue between the issue groups.

I sat in on a synergy group meeting between three issue groups: IG:9 (Partnerships and Collaboration), IG:12 (Future Leadership), and IG:13 (Prayer in Evangelism). It was a fascinating experience as I watched representatives from each of the groups grapple with similar issues and recognize common areas of struggle. One example of a common roadblock is the lack of mentors in the church. As the Future Leadership group works to identify and train future leaders, they have found a wide gap between the current leadership of the church and their involvement as mentors in raising up the next generation of leadership. This same issue is true for the prayer and partnership groups. Both are areas where the church is falling short; consequently, there are not mentors to train the next generation how to pray in evangelism or how to really partner and collaborate across organizational and denominational lines.

The IG representatives were able to take these revelations back to their individual IGs, The hope and prayer of the Forum leadership is that these synergy groups will enhance the overall outcome of the 2004 Forum. From what I saw today, I know that is happening.

This evening’s large group meeting dealt with the Church of the Future, and it focused heavily on children. I was deeply moved. One presenter loudly exclaimed that “Jesus was FURIOUS” with his disciples for not letting the children come to him. (Mark 10:14) And literally at the word “furious” all the power in the building shut off and the mic cut off with a loud boom. I can’t help but think God was emphasizing a point that is dear to his heart. We, the church, have been overlooking the children! Whether it’s whisking them away to Sunday school and felt boards, or simply ignoring the millions of children around the world who are physically suffering (sex trade, hunger, AIDS, child labor, etc.), the church has messed up. Not only do we need to care for them, but we need to train and empower them to be bearers of the gospel, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these! Only 10% of mission efforts around the world are targeted to children, and yet one-third of the world’s population is under the age of 15. I am still absorbing and digesting all the compelling information I heard tonight, but I know this: tonight’s message was in line with God’s heartbeat. May we the church repent as needed, and move in step with the Lord’s heart towards children.

As we are halfway through the Forum, the groups are feeling pressure to produce. So may you join with me in praying that God will give all present at the Forum a child-like spirit, that they may humbly come before God and recognize their utter dependence on him and his spirit to direct their work.

Today was setup as a day of rest, and so I had much of the day to roam free. Yet even amidst my roaming I found the familiar theme of prayer being hammered home with me. It began this morning when I spent some time in the prayer room with some of the intercessory team. They have been laboring in prayer for all present at the Forum. It has been an amazing experience for me to get to know the hearts of people with intercessory callings on their lives. They are some of the most sincere and selfless people I have met. I went in and out of the prayer room today as time allowed. The second time I went in the room, I found a group of kids who had come from Australia to pray for the Forum! Between ages 11 and 14, these kids were brought specifically to pray by Jane Mackie (leader of the Children’s Prayer Network).

The Children’s Prayer Network exists to mobilize and network praying Christian children. It is an amazing vision that I believe makes most of the church uncomfortable….the idea of releasing children into ministry is frightening for the structure/program driven western church. Today I experienced firsthand the blessing of having young kids lay hands on me and pray blessing over me! There was something mighty about prayers offered out of a child-like faith. What a brilliant idea to cultivate child-like faith in children, rather than trying to teach adults how to be child-like again! I believe children have the ear of the Lord, and was blessed to spend time later in the day with Jane Mackie and these kids. It was a delight to be around them.

Today also marked the beginning of the International Prayer Council’s annual meeting, being held at a neighboring hotel. Dr. Cedar gave the opening welcome address, so I accompanied him as his tour guide since he didn’t know where the hotel was. This allowed me to sit in on one of their sessions today, and again I was blessed to meet a group of people solely focused on interceding for our world. Their conference was specifically timed to begin near the end of the 2004 Forum so they can be strategic in their prayer, basing it on the outcomes of the Forum. It is thrilling to see the body of Christ flowing together as one stream.

At the Forum last night, we heard a report of the world inquiry conducted in the past years leading up to the Forum. It surveyed hundreds of churches and people around the globe, and one of the dominant discoveries was the clear need for prayer as a focus of the church. I feel like the Lord is continually emphasizing the necessity and foundational nature of prayer. Without it, we are nothing, for it is through prayer that we hear the heartbeat of God. Praise Him for blessing this Forum with intercessors. May he teach us all what it means to be a church that prays.

If you have a heart for prayer (or want to develop one) I strongly urge you to read the book Red Moon Rising. I also suggest learning more about the Children's Prayer Network, or the Global Children's Movement (both of which involve children interceding).

There was minimal large group interaction today, as the participants were laboring away in preparation for the final issue group reports to be presented tomorrow. Nonetheless, there was a general spirit of joy throughout the Forum today. I believe there is a spiritual anticipation for what God is doing and a recognition that he has been working mightily this week.

I spent the day meeting and mingling with a number of people, most of whom are not directly involved in an issue group. From my interactions today, I am amazed at the group of people God brought together to make this Forum happen. Hearing each person’s story further emphasizes how the 2004 Forum is a mighty work of God.

Nearly 80 volunteers from Campus Crusade for Christ chapters in Thailand have come for the duration of the Forum, working long hours at arduous tasks (from making copies late into the night to babysitting the staff’s children). Campus Crusade also sent about 20 people from the U.S. and other nearby countries to serve as the operations team (running registration, audio/visual, coordinating the issue groups, etc.). The video production crew (from Good News Productions International) are also serving in a ministry capacity here, not receiving compensation. In fact, even the official Forum photographer (Hubert Worley, Jr.) raised his own support to cover his airfare to Thailand and is not receiving any compensation.

The point of all of this information is not to highlight the lack of compensation, but rather to show how the Lord’s hand has been mighty in bringing this Forum together. He has called people from far and wide to devote themselves to serve at the Forum. People who receive their livelihood from raising support have given up nearly 2 weeks of their time to serve those God has called to participate in the Forum. I believe God’s heart is behind the 2004 Forum, and where God’s heart is, there is provision of all that is needed. This was even true monetarily. Last night an offering was taken specifically to cover the deficit left by scholarship recipients (many from developing countries were given partial scholarships to enable them to come to the Forum). $13, 880 was needed to make up for the additional scholarship that were given out….and exactly $13,885 was received in the offering! What a perfect testimony of God as the source of provision…meeting every need of the Forum.

This brings me to answer a question I have been asked countless times here at the Forum…why am I here? I was in a class on Urban Missions at Pepperdine University over a year ago, and in the class we had to read the original Lausanne Covenant (1974) as homework, then we discussed the covenant in class the next day. I was inspired by the purity of the document, particularly the repentance with which it begins. I recognized this was a significant gathering in the history of the church. A few months later as I began to wonder what I might do after graduating, I pulled up the Lausanne website. It was there I saw the 2004 Forum was happening in Thailand only a few months after I graduated. I knew I had to be there. Such gatherings were spread apart every 15 years, and the timing was perfect. I emailed a general email contact on the website, explaining who I was and my desire to serve at the 2004 Forum. I offered to serve coffee or whatever was needed…I just wanted to be present to experience what God would surely do at the Forum. Eventually…my persistent emails reached the right people, and I was asked to come in for an interview of sorts. A few weeks later, I was officially invited as a volunteer on the Media and Communications Team…and here I am today. Just as the Lord provided for the Forum, I believe my presence at the 2004 Forum is testimony of God’s awesome provision in my life. I have been blessed beyond explanation. The sessions I sat in on, the people I’ve had lunch with, the ministry I have received, the connections I have made, and the way I have seen God move here have all been amazing provision for me.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:19-20)

Continue to pray with me for a rich spirit of joy to be present throughout the Forum tomorrow as each issue group shares their reports. And please join with me in praising and exalting the name of our God, for He is good, He provides, and He is worthy to be praised!

My long promised "final blog" is finally being posted! Here we are, nearly 2 months after the 2004 Forum in Thailand. Perhaps most significant in my own life was an event that took place on the final day of the Forum. Dr. Paul Cedar, the former executive chair of the Lausanne Committee sat down with me to lunch and asked me to come on board with the Mission America Coalition as his assistant.

This was a totally unexpected offer, and yet having lost my previous job only days before coming to Thailand, I sensed this was an open door from the Lord. The Mission America Coalition used to be called the U.S. Lausanne Committee, having originally been setup to carry on the work in Lausanne specifically in the United States. Now it functions as a coalition of denominational, ministry, and city/community leaders. I am still fairly new at the job, and so I am learning more daily about what Mission America does, but it is thrilling to be in a place where you feel the Lord has called you.

As far as Lausanne, I am eagerly awaiting the occasional papers and other work that will come out of the 2004 Forum. These are truly exciting days we live in, and it is thrilling to watch the Lord work through such influential organizations.

I hope and pray God blessed you through this blog, and that you have been (and will continue to be) ministered to through Lausanne. May His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!