Lausanne 2010 in Cape Town, which kicked off yesterday night, is my global event for the year. In the midst of a year defined more or less by the bounded locality of events revolving in and around the decision to get started on my PhD in UM, this one overseas event is one that I’ve been waiting for.
Ever since reading about the first Lausanne which happened in the 70′s, I’ve been struck by the quality of the effort that Christians in that initial congress put into defining the relationship between evangelism and social work. Exiting FES with the Social Work Exposure and Equipping Program (SWEEP) also left me with some firsthand experience of social concern and a whole host of social worker’s thoughts on what works or doesn’t, what the Bible has to say about the value of choice and dignity and other stuff revolving around the underprivileged amongst us. (Peter Young…that tall, shuffling, old man with his coarse, raspy, meandering voice and his stinging indictment on materialism in the church at the expense of so many!)
I read that the 2nd Lausanne in Manila was somewhat tepid and not much came out of it, but I’m hoping that this 3rd one in Africa with a truly global planning board will shed some biblical light on the latest issues arising in the context of world evangelisation.
The board of course is completely different from the original committee (well…Billy Graham and John Stott are still alive…but give ‘em a break guys!) but Lindsay Brown, the former IFES general secretary is heading it and he’s got years of experience in reading the signs of the times as student ministry is always a pretty forward-looking enterprise (looking at what is and trusting God to shape students for what is ahead).
Being the first Lausanne in the e-era, there are the prerequisite homepage and blogsite along with papers on various conversation topics, prayer lists and a list of “global partner” sites where local venues host activities. Malaysia’s partner is listed but no activities are mentioned (cheh).
Hopefully I can put in a few minutes everyday for prayer and reading.
