| Lausanne Connecting Point - July 2008 |
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In This Issue:
The Cape Town 2010 logo: Reconciliation as a picture of the Body of Christ  The Lausanne Movement is pleased to introduce the logo for Cape Town 2010: The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Rev. Doug Birdsall, Lausanne’s Executive Chair, says he believes the logo will have global appeal, adding that the logo has “been carefully researched theologically, artistically and culturally” and that he’s pleased by the initial responses from leaders around the world, including leaders in Cape Town where the Congress will be held. Rev. Blair Carlson, CT2010 Congress Director, emphasizes that, “The logo symbolizes strength from God as we come together to accomplish our purpose, that of advancing world evangelization. This emanates from the theme of the Congress taken from 2 Corinthians 5:10, ‘God in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.’”Birdsall says the logo development process involved younger leaders from Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, CA, USA). Kn Moy, Senior Vice President of Insight and Innovation at Masterworks, describes the collaborative process on the logo: “In order to develop a contemporary, ‘delegate-centric’ Congress logo, it was decided that we would form a team of talented young designers from a Christian university with a recognized graphic design program. Early on in this process, we approached Jon Wallace, president of Azusa Pacific University (APU). Jon ‘got it’ right away, understanding the design strategy we wanted to use and, right away, opened channels within the university to make this happen. Moy and the students prepared the following narrative to help explain the logo: “Twisting ribbons make up the new Cape Town 2010 logo. The heart and soul of this logo is the concept of a collective, acting in unison to maximize action and create strength in numbers. And, so the Cape Town 2010 logo is about the whole being greater than the sum of the individual parts. This logo represents ribbons that are spun together to form a twine with even greater strength. Visually, this represents the theological understanding of reconciliation, a coming together of hearts and minds for one common purpose, and for strength in unity and cooperation. Birdsall emphasizes that “We are so grateful to the Lord for the investment each person made in this process – Jon Wallace, Becky Roe and the students of APU. We are also especially grateful to Kn Moy, a tremendously gifted man, for his creative energy in leading this process.” We pray that the logo brings honor and glory to God through it’s representation of the Cape Town 2010 Congress. Cape Town 2010, held in association with the World Evangelical Alliance, will be held 16-25 October 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. 
Ramez Atallah, general secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt, and Programme Chair for Cape Town 2010: The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, will be the Bible Expositor at Urbana 09, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s twenty-second student missions conference. Urbana 09 will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, 27-31 December 2009. The scriptural focus of Urbana 09 will be the first four chapters of the Gospel of John, according to Urbana director Jim Tebbe. (Tebbe also serves as the Lausanne International Deputy Director for North America.) “John is a powerful example of missionary communication,” Tebbe said. “It is explicitly evangelistic and intends that those who come to believe through his witness will in turn become witnesses.” Atallah was born in Egypt but spent his teen years in Canada. He became involved with InterVarsity while a student at McGill University. He received his seminary training at Gordon-Conwell Seminary in Massachusetts, USA. “Ramez has a passion for inductive Bible Study,” Tebbe said. “He has been practicing it and teaching it all his life. His personable style, sense of humor, deep devotion to God and commitment to His Word, along with his experience as a dual citizen of Egypt and Canada, make him an ideal expositor for Urbana 09.”
Atallah joins a distinguished list of Bible teachers who have spoken at Urbana, including A.W. Tozer (Urbana 54), Donald Grey Barnhouse (Urbana 57), John R.W. Stott (Urbana 64, 67, 70, 73, 76, and 79), and Ajith Fernando (Urbana 87, 90, 93, and 06). InterVarsity’s Urbana student missions conference is one of the longest-running institutions of North American evangelicalism. The first conference was held in Toronto in 1946, right after World War II broadened the horizons of a new generation of North Americans. For most of the next six decades the triennial conference was held on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. In 2006 the conference drew more than 20,000 people to its new location in St. Louis, MO, USA 
World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has welcomed Wycliffe International as its newest Global Partner, according to Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, WEA International Director. “As a global network Wycliffe is one of the best known and respected Christian ministries in the world. WEA clearly supports the aims of Wycliffe to be a catalyst for God’s solutions for the communities of the world who don’t have His word in their own language. I truly hope this new partnership will advance the cause of Christ around the world.” Wycliffe International includes 49 autonomous Wycliffe organizations – all of which raise resources (usually people, prayer and finances) for Bible translation and literacy work carried out through Wycliffe organizations or partners and networks. A quarter of the Wycliffe organizations also lead Bible translation and literacy programs in their own countries. An additional 35 affiliated partner organizations formally share Wycliffe International's vision. With more than 2200 languages still without any Scripture, the challenge is significant and thus Wycliffe International's commitment is to Vision 2025 - a Bible translation program in progress for every language group that needs it by the year 2025. Kirk Franklin, the Executive Director/CEO of Wycliffe also affirmed this new partnership saying, “Our ministry and all whom we represent respect the impact WEA is having around the world. Our particular focus is a good fit with WEA's desire to 'extend the Kingdom of God by proclamation of the Gospel to all nations and by Christ-centered transformation within society.'” By Steve Moore  Historically CrossGlobal Link (formerly IFMA) and The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA) have jointly sponsored a tri‐annual conference for North American mission executives. The primary administration of the conference alternates between CrossGlobal Link and The Mission Exchange. The 2008 event is being managed by The Mission Exchange. This year the event has been renamed the North American Mission Leaders Conference.The purpose of the 2008 North American Mission Leaders Conference is to challenge assumptions, broaden perspectives and stimulate actionable dialogue among Great Commission leaders regarding how we relate to the majority world harvest force. There is a growing desire among our members for something other than traditional conferences populated by subject matter experts whose contribution is limited to formal presentations in the context of a plenary session. Strong interest has been expressed in more interactive learning opportunities that involve both peer‐to‐peer dialogue as well as participant‐to‐presenter Q&A. We are structuring our plenary sessions in such a way as to incorporate all of these elements. Three of the remaining plenary sessions will include moderated panel discussions combining short presentations by panel members with participant‐driven Q & A dialogue. Instead of traditional breakout sessions or workshops we will hold a series of issue‐based conversation groups that facilitate peer‐to‐peer learning opportunities. The conversation groups will be limited to a maximum of 8‐12 people to increase the opportunity for participation. Each group will have a facilitator whose role is to keep the dialogue moving and on topic but not to make a formal presentation. There will be multiple groups meeting on the same topic at the same time to compensate for the small number of people (12 maximum) per group. EMS will conduct a series of workshops that run in parallel with the Conversation Groups. Majority world leaders of mission networks contributing input are from South Asia (K. Rajendran, India Mission Association), Africa (Timothy Olonade, Nigerian Evangelical Mission Association), Asia Pacific (Bob Lopez, Philippine Mission Association) and Latin America (David Ruiz, WEA Mission Commission and formerly with COMIBAM). In addition to these leaders of mission networks attending, we plan to bring the ideas and input of 30‐50 majority world leaders from both grass roots and national movements representing both church and mission structures by way of video interviews.  Both CrossGlobal Link and The Mission Exchange have opened the doors of membership to local churches. We recognize that while local churches have always been primary stakeholders in the Great Commission, globalization has allowed church leaders to pursue a wider range of decentralized initiatives that at times circumvent traditional mission structures. It is essential that we include local church leaders in this wider conversation. For more information on the conference go to www.TheMissionExchange.org or www.CrossGlobalLink.org. By John Godson
“Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” John 5:19 In all our activities and ministries, it is very easy for us to forget what this is all about. It is very easy for us to just go about business as usual. Ministry is all about discovering what it is that God is doing and His role for us in that. It is all about seeking what it is God is doing, like Jesus did, and praying God to make us part of His schemes and plans. May we be so hungry to seek His will and so contented to fulfill that which He has committed into our hands. Ministry is not about our will and our schemes. It is all about HIS WILL and HIS SCHEMES. Praise
Prayer
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” John 6:38  July’s issue looks at the Effect of Migration and the Growing Diaspora on Evangelism Efforts:
China and the Upcoming Olympics This month, you may also read about the migrant issues and poverty surrounding the August Summer Olympics in Beijing, China:
Additional articles include:
Coming in June: Church Planting and Evangelism. |
