Lausanne Connecting Point - April 2009
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In This Issue:
By Robyn Claydon, Lausanne Movement Vice-Chair  A few years ago I watched as my ten year old grandson adroitly juggled five or six balls in the air. I thought it looked quite easy so I asked: 'Could I have a try?' I started with two and that was fine. Then I added another one and managed three balls quite well. The addition of a fourth and then a fifth made me feel very stressed! Soon I was not only not juggling them well, I couldn"t juggle them at all and all the balls fell on the floor! It was then that my grandson gave me some advice: 'Don"t try to juggle too many at once. Just try three or four and don"t try to watch them all at the one time - just keep your eye on the one you are throwing up! So I tried three and then four and found that as I put my focus on one, the others seemed to just keep going. Out of the mouths of babes?! . . . More from Robyn Claydon By Rick Sessoms, CT2010 Participant Selection Director Imagine that you are living in the year 2030. What important issues will the global Church face at that time? And what should we be doing now to prepare for that future? In October 2010, 4000 leaders from 200 countries will gather in Cape Town, South Africa to pray, think and plan together around this compelling agenda. Would you like to participate as a representative from your country? If so, there are two simple steps:
If you do not have access to the Internet, or if you live in a security-sensitive context, please email Kim Iannelli ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for information on how to apply. The deadline for applications is 31 May 2009 so we encourage you to be recommended and apply as quickly as possible. Please be praying with us about this very important process of choosing participants for Cape Town 2010.  The Lausanne Movement has posted a series of videos on YouTube to help you learn more about Lausanne, Cape Town 2010, the Lausanne Covenant and other topics.
By Marina Stetsenko  On the 3rd of March, 214 participants from different corners of the Eurasian Region entered the chapel of Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary (UETS, Kiev, Ukraine) to open the long-expected meeting - The Eurasian Lausanne Consultation for Younger Leaders. Participants came from Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Philippines and Ukraine.
The event began with the prayer time and singing of well-known Christian hymns accompanied by UETS" choir. Dr. Anatoliy Glukhovskyy (Lausanne"s International Deputy Director for Eurasia) made a presentation on Lausanne Movement and talked about the upcoming Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization: Cape Town2010. Then Doug Birdsall"s brother, Brian Birdsall, Campus Crusade for Christ Director in Ukraine, shared his experience and perspective on Lausanne Movement and its call to world evangelization.
Participants also enjoyed Lindsay Brown"s (Lausanne International Director) teaching on how God uses people to work in cross-cultural evangelism. He outlined five biblical life principles for all Christian workers: (1) to be strong in a grace of Lord Jesus, (2) to pass on the truth that you"ve learned, (3) to be prepared for hardness, (4) to be single-minded in devotion to Christ like the athlete and (5) to stay a forbear like the farmer. He emphasized that what was told to Timothy by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2:1-7 is still relevant to the new generation of 'Timothies.'
By Sarah Plummer, Lausanne Intercession Working Group Chair In his book, The Serrated Edge, Douglas Wilson writes, "The Christian regards the non-Christian as arrogant for being so ridiculously proud as to defy the God who made them: the non-Christian regards the Christian as arrogant for being so insufferable as to claim that he has a personal pipeline to God through the Jesus." The death of the Saviour who said "I came to serve, not to be served"; dare we be so arrogant! We should pray constantly to the God who gave his Son so freely for forgiveness and to guide our steps into the way of peacemaking (Matthew 5:9). If we bear in mind the incomparable future God has laid out for us we will be content. About 2000 years ago the many people of Jerusalem were going about their Sabbath business as if nothing unusual was happening. But the greatest event the world had ever seen was being worked out - an unbelievable sacrifice had been made, and the promise of eternal life was to become a reality. What a message we have of good news to tell the world to the ends of the earth. A great time for praising God! (1 Peter 1:3-5) Please Pray For
 This month, the topic is a Self-Examination of the Church, focusing on topics such as purity, holiness, worship, relationships, and integrity, including:
Plus, you will read about:
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The first day was finished by the roundtable discussion on 'Cross-cultural evangelism' in which participants from Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Ukraine took part. Participants shared their honest experience as missionaries, making valuable analysis of today"s situation in Christian attitude towards people from different cultures. It was stressed that Christians have to distinguish the eternal elements of the Good News message and make it understandable to people using their cultural authenticity. 
The 4th of March was started with a wonderful morning devotional and short message from Rev. Fyodor Makan (Moldova) who spoke about true worshipers the Father seeks today - those are the ones who bring glory to God on earth and who are considered in His will. 
Lindsay Brown also taught on how the Gospel interacts with a culture by using Jesus" model of being salt and light to the world. Brown said the concept includes three principles: (1) believers are called to be radically different from non-believers, because light clearly differs from darkness, so we are called to be holy; (2) we must penetrate non-Christian society with radically different biblical principles: the salt must be mixed with meat to prevent decay, the light has to shine through the darkness, we must be spiritually and morally distinct but not socially segregated; (3) Christians can influence and change non-Christian society by prayer and fasting, by thoughtful, creative and courageous evangelism, by being a loving example, by argument, by action of compassionate engagement with people and by testimony through suffering. He went on to say that we may need double repentance for compromises with the world or pessimism for society and emphasized that culture can be transformed by two percent of its population. We are called to make a 'salty' influence and to be a light to society. 
