Cape Town in Retrospect

I would guess that everyone who attended the Lausanne Congress is still processing what they learned, the individual conversations they had, and the emotions of the experience. The question of "Where do we go from here?" looms large. If Lausanne is going to be more than just a missions conference on steroids, each of us needs to seriously consider what we do as a result of Lausanne III.

While there was a major push for the North American delegation to commit to attending a follow-up meeting in Orlando in the spring, I did not hear a lot about how we could help each other determine our personal follow up. Maybe it is just too idividualized. Anyhow, I've been carving out some time to determine how God would have me respond in the wake of the conference.

First of all, I would like to share some of the highlights with as many of you as possible. In groups, over dinner (that can be taken as a not-so-subtle hint, lol), or via letter/email, etc. I hope that I can somehow convey some of the feeling of what it means to be a 21st century Christian who is part of a global body of Christ as never before experienced. You and I have opportunities prior generations never dreamed of. We the church also face unprecedented opposition and hurdles--challenges that should be tackled together.

I am also in the process of following up with some of the people I met in Cape Town. Please pray for wisdom for next steps of collaboration in at least two important opportunities--one in North America and one in Asia.

Thanks to all of you who have followed this blog. I may add some other posts from time to time and will anounce them from Facebook and possibly Twritter. (Confession, my tweets have been few and far between.)

Hunting the "Big Five"

Today was African safari time! Well, the real safaris happen hundreds of miles north of here in or near Kruger Park, but there are private game parks within a couple of hours of Cape Town that offer sightings of “the big 5” as they are called and other wildlife in a fenced, 11,000+ acre preserve.

We climbed into an open jeep-type vehicle and bumped out over the rather arid landscape surrounded by stony hills.  There were beautiful, fragile-looking springbok (something like a tiny deer with strips) all over the area. Two Cape Buffalo ignored us (fortunately, as the driver said, “If they move, we move.”). A mama and baby hippo were sleeping on a sandbar, and we saw a giraffe in the distance.  Ostriches roamed everywhere. There were several groups (not quite what I would term herds) of beautiful zebras that blended into the landscape in an amazing way (you would think the stripes would make them stand out, but they don’t).  Two huge rhinos seemed sound asleep. Two adolescent elephants were standing right alongside what passes for a road. Then we drove into the separate lion section. We almost gave up seeing them, but then finally the guide spotted a female with his binoculars. Eventually two more females and a young male ambled into view.

While it was all a bit contrived, it doesn’t seem like you have been in Africa until you have seen some of the famous wildlife. The day was a good finale to my time in Africa, especially because there was another woman on the trip who had also been at the conference. We informally debriefed our experience for the whole two-hour ride out and back.

Heading home tomorrow. I’m ready!! Looking forward to seeing you!

I will post one or two Lausanne summary/evaluation blogs in the next week or so.

Lausanne Concludes!

 Lausanne III, Global Congress on World Evangelization closed last evening with an extended time of worship and celebration of communion together. Then over 4,000 delegates left for their homes in almost 200 countries around the world. I believe that all of us return with a deeper commitment to work toward reaching every one of earth’s 7 billion people with the gospel, and for doing so with bold proclamation accompanied by acts of mercy and justice.

My final day was highlighted by several exciting conversations. There were good profitable discussions with a couple of missions pastors. The leader of the evangelicals of the Philippines would like to get a simplified version developed for his country in time for me to come to the Philippines in May to share it at the national Call2All conference that will draw church leaders from all over the island. This is exciting! I also chatted with a man who, I was told, is something of the founding father of missions in Korea—a very self-effacing gentleman, still training missionaries even though he appears to be in his senior years.

Saturday at Lausanne

Our morning sessions today focused around issues of humility and integrity. One emphasis was on the prosperity gospel, a huge problem in much of the developing world. (Prosperity gospel theology teaches that if you give to God, i.e. to your pastor or leader, God will bless you with riches and health.)While we don't subscribe to this devastating doctrine, we in the West have our own sins of pride, power, and greed.

I talked at break with the head of The Seed Company (a division of Wycliffe Bible Translators), at lunch with a beauitful, young woman running a preschool in Zimbabwe, and at dinner with a German who is thinking through how to practice more intentional marketplace evangelism at home and globally. Talk about three different perspectives!

Friday at Lausanne

This will be a short post as (along with pretty much everyone else here), I am totally exhausted. Today's focus was on unity from Ephesians 4 and on the continent of Africa this evening, along with a highlight on reaching children and youth. The African music was lively!

This morning there was a presentation on the unreached people groups that generated some significant objections from a couple of directions. Unfortunately, the information was not at all accurate, and the manner in which the challenge was presented left many of us with some significant concerns. But in a group of this size, there are bound to be a lot of different opinions and approaches. I guess it is an opportunity to practice some of the unity we studied this morning in Ephesians.

For whatever reason, the Lausanne leadership team has decided that they will not announce extra meetings, so the church mobilization/partnership meeting included just a few people I had talked with personally. Their situations varied widely, so it was an interesting informal discussion but pretty limited. I trust it was encouraging to the handful who were there.

Sightseeing Day for Lausanne Delegates

Despite the fact that it rained off and on, we had a delightful day driving down the Cape peninsula on a route that resembles the pictures I’ve seen of the Big Sur drive in California. We stopped at the lighthouse at the southern tip where you stare out to sea and realize the next land mass is Antartica! The cliffs plunge hundreds of feet into the sea, the waves crash onto rocky shores interspersed with beautiful beaches (the water is really cold, we are told), and the land is dotted with many beautiful spring flowers in bloom. We snapped pictures of wild ostriches and cute little penguins. Our driver/guide was a lovely Christian lady with a heartwarming testimony of how God has freed her from bondage to fear and given her a happy heart and a joy in sharing the beautiful area with tourists who visit. It was a relaxing day, and a needed change of pace between intense days of meetings.

Please pray for me tomorrow. Since there were no breakout sessions on church mobilization among the several hundred offerings, I have gotten permission to gather interested people during dinner tomorrow night. I have no idea if the information will be circulated in any fashion or if anyone will come, but I hope that we can gather at least a few people for the discussion.

Wednesday at Lausanne III

John Piper began the day today with a powerful challenge from Ephesians 3 focusing on the role of the church in reaching the nations, especially through suffering and prayer. There’s insufficient space or time here to unpack what he said, but I would encourage you to download his short message when it is posted online. His challenge was followed by an incredible testimony by Libby Little, whose husband was one of the 10 killed in Afghanistan just two months ago. She gave an illustration about the Nuristani goat cheese that you really need to listen to online. Wow! God really touched my heart with both of these messages.

The afternoon “dialog session” that I attended stimulating my thinking in some new directions about the financial aspects of partnership. In my small group were leaders from Kenya, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. Listening to their insights stretched my perspective about the difficulties faced by the church in the developing world. It was just the kind of interaction that I had hoped to benefit from here. The only problem was that it was too short.

A very stimulating discussion with a Canadian leader over dinner was probably worth the whole trip. The report he shared with me about how teams of young adults (including him and his wife) are moving into some of the neediest neighborhoods of the cities of Canada to live their lives alongside immigrants was tremendously exciting. I can’t wait to hear more. I am hoping he can come to Catalyst’s Interchange Conference in December.

As has been true each evening, we were treated to incredible worship led by an international team that presents music in multiple languages and uses musical styles from various places. It is so much fun to look around and see a woman in a beautiful sari clapping and singing a Latin worship song, or an Asian and an African with their arms over each other’s shoulders moving in the traditional manner of a Jewish praise number. This really is like standing on the edge of heaven’s glories as the multitude of peoples all join in praise to the Lamb of God!

We are all really tired and glad that tomorrow is our “day off” for sightseeing and resting.