| Lausanne Connecting Point - June 2004 |
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NO TRANSLATION AVAILABLE In This Issue:
Greetings! By Hugo Morales/Phill Butler (Co-Conveners) and Bill Sunderland (Coordinator)
The Big Picture As we approach another international gathering in a world weighed down with troubles, we should be encouraged. Look at the 31 Issue Group titles. Hundreds of evangelical church leaders will gather in Thailand to discuss issues ranging from Globalization to the Transformation of Cities and from Business as Mission to the Persecuted Church. Every one of these fields is vital. And, for effective ministry in each of them, working together with others in partnership and collaboration is critical. IG9 wants its work to encourage Forum participants around four Biblical themes -- hope, stewardship, credibility of the Good News and restored relationship and community.
As leaders of ministries or movements, engaged in the daily spiritual battle it's easy to focus on the skirmish and miss the war. In real, durable Kingdom partnership and collaboration, we are able to lift our eyes, look at the big picture and have a greater sense of confidence and fulfillment. We see more clearly where we can make the most effective contribution with the assets He's entrusted to us. IG9 Purpose We want to encourage widespread adoption of a paradigm of Kingdom collaboration. And, we want to identify the practical elements/steps necessary to launch and sustain effective Kingdom partnerships and networks. To do this, we are seeking to:
Definitions Within various movements a wide range of networks, partnerships and strategic alliances have emerged that allow ministries to accomplish more together than working alone. While networks often lead to and indeed help facilitate partnerships, they are not the same. Here are simple definitions that help identify their different roles and contributions:
Partnerships, typically born out of a desire to achieve very specific objectives, are marked by defined dates, measurable outcomes, etc. Whereas networks generally seek to support the common good of all in its constituency and frequently the specialty or sector within which they are working. Collaboration in Thailand Since all aspects of Kingdom ministry work best when they relate to others, the organizing committee is committed to the potential synergy between the participants and the Issue Groups. There are:
Your Input Needed IG9 wants to serve the whole community committed to world evangelization. If there is any way we can help your IG think about synergy, connection, exploring partnership, etc. with other groups. Please let us know - now or in Thailand. Then, our IG wants to develop a more robust understanding of how to build partnerships and networks as well as to serve all the IG's as they seek to work in the Body of Christ. As a step in that direction, we have developed a survey/questionnaire that all of our IG delegates as well as others are completing. It explores a wide range of key issues related to effective networks, partnerships and Kingdom collaboration. We know many of you are already involved in networks, partnerships or ministry alliances. We would value your input and encourage you to participate in this survey. Note: all who complete the survey will receive a copy of the analysis/summary report. To participant, please email Bill Sunderland at Denne e-postadressen er beskyttet mot programmer som samler e-postadresser, du m sl p Javascript for kunne se den. . In turn we will send the survey to you by July 15, 2004. By Glenda Weldon (Convener) The role of prayer in evangelism—how can we mobilize the church to pray for world mission as well as God's miraculous intervention in bringing the gospel to closed people? This is a very significant time to be examining the whole question of Prayer in Evangelism. God is calling people to prayer at every level of church life—in local churches, across cities and nations and as a global community. This IG offers an excellent opportunity to understand more of why and how we should pray as we seek to engage "the Whole Church in taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World." We are delighted to report that we have 44 participants from 25 countries in our IG. They are from every continent and are involved in a wide range of ministries. This means we have an excellent opportunity to benefit from an exciting and diverse pool of experience, cultural and theological background as we seek God for His strategies and actions steps to share with the church around the world in regard to Prayer in Evangelism. Our leadership team is from Australia, Canada and Poland: Mrs. Glenda Weldon (Convener), Colonel Earl Robinson (Co-Convener and Dr. Godson Onyekwere (Facilitator). Prayer is foundational in our relationship with the Lord and in every area of life and ministry. It is a challenge to keep our focus on the particular aspect of prayer that is our topic for the Forum—Prayer in Evangelism. Our task is three-fold:
We began by asking members what they believed were key aspects of the Issue that we needed to discuss. As a result, we decided to work on the following areas: (a) A biblically based theology for Prayer in Evangelism; (b) Strategies for Prayer in Evangelism in different settings—communities, cities and nations; (c) For individual people including children; (d) Spiritual Mapping; (e) Spiritual Warfare; (f) Educating, equipping and inspiring the Church for Prayer in Evangelism; (g) Prayer and Fasting; (h) Balancing prayer and evangelism and; (i) Researching and listing the best programs already in existence. To find stories of miraculous answers to prayers in regard to evangelism among closed people, we are contacting people beyond our IG. We are planning that our final submission will be in the form of a handbook giving the "why" and "how" of the various aspects of Prayer in Evangelism. It will include the stories of "miraculous intervention" by God. We trust this will be a valuable tool to inspire, equip and educate the people of God in their local churches to be actively involved in prayer- based evangelism at home and to be committed to praying for the spread of the Gospel around the world. "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." Colossians 4:2-4 Greece, the smallest country to host the Olympic Games in modern times, is in the final stage of preparations for the largest-ever Olympiad. Men For Missions' Warren Hardig says they're also wrapping up details on a major project to take place at the Games. "We have a team leaving (soon) for Athens. It's a(n) evangelism team and while it's illegal to proselytize in Greece, we're going over to do what we can." Hardig says they're a part of a consortium looking ahead at the future of ministry once the Games are over. "We're working with other ministries in Athens before, during and after the Olympic Games. One of the things that we will be doing is handing out bottles of water. On each of the bottles, there's a tract and they can receive a free Bible; there will be people there to talk to them about spiritual things." Full Story: Mission Network News Officials with a Christian ministry say a major outreach will take place as planned at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Greece, despite safety concerns. Scripture distribution worldwide has dropped significantly. According to figures released by the United Bible Societies (UBS) in Reading, England, nearly 432 million Bibles, New Testaments, Scripture portions and selections were distributed in 2003. The figures were down more than 25 percent compared with the previous year (578 million).
The Ukraine is quickly becoming the "Bible Belt" of countries linked to the former Soviet Union. Dr. David Shibley with Global Advance says Ukraine now supplies about 80 percent of the pastors in all of the former republics in the old Soviet Union. Global Advance recently held the Frontline Shepherds conferences in Ukraine. Shibley adds they "were privileged to see over 2,200 pastors and church leaders attend three conferences in three different cities in Ukraine. The response was just overwhelming. These men have a new commitment to church planting." Shibley believes the Holy Spirit is working in this part of the world because "That part of the world is very open to the Gospel. What is new is a great evangelistic and missions vision that is now coming into the churches of Ukraine. I believe that the Ukrainian church may well lead the way in northern Europe, at least, of seeing a real vision for fulfilling the Great Commission." Full Story: Mission Network News By Glenda Weldon, Chair-Intercession Working Group We have just celebrated the anniversary of that glorious day when the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, was poured out on the disciples during the Feast of Pentecost. The record tells us that "three thousand were added to their number that day." As the days went by, more and more people became followers of Jesus and the Gospel message spread throughout the known world. We are in need of a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God to birth "A New Vision, A New Heart and a Renewed Call" for the task of World Evangelisation through the 2004 Forum. May we, individually and corporately, humble ourselves before God and ask for a fresh anointing with His Spirit as we continue to prepare for the Forum. It is His promise to each one of us—"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." John 7:37-39 PRAISE GOD for His blessing upon the preparations for the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization. PLEASE PRAY:
IG6: Hidden and Forgotten People Groups
IG 12 Future Leadership
"But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?" Jer.23:18 IG13: Prayer in Evangelism
IG18: Evangelisation of Children
IG25: Making Disciples of Oral Learners
IG29: Bioethics
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