Greetings from Boston on a bright summer morning in August!
I trust that each one of you is doing well and enjoying a season of rest and refreshment in the Lord. As you know, I am in the final stages of writing my dissertation to complete my work at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS). Though I have been working away at this the entire time I have served in my current role with Lausanne, I must say that these last few weeks have been the most exciting times of the whole project. As I try to pull things together, I am discovering so many interesting pieces of our Lausanne history, and I see the evidence of God’s providence throughout.
A few updates on matters of shared interest:
1. Welcome to Femi Adeleye!
We are delighted to welcome a valued friend and respected leader, Femi Adeleye, as the newest member of our Lausanne International Board of Directors. Most all of us know Femi through his contribution to Cape Town 2010 and through his outstanding leadership and service with IFES in Nigeria, across Africa and around the world.
2. Welcome to new Senior Associates: John Azumah and Pranitha Timothy!
John Azumah, from Ghana, has accepted the invitation to serve as Lausanne’s Senior Associate for Islam. John has previously served as leader of the Islam Issue Group Consultation at the 2004 Forum in Thailand, and as the IDD for EPSA. John is a globally respected scholar and leader in his field having taught at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute in Ghana, the London School of Theology, and Columbia Theological Seminary.
Pranitha Timothy, of Chennai, India, has accepted the invitation to serve as Lausanne’s Senior Associate for Justice. We were deeply moved by her plenary address at Cape Town 2010 on Human Trafficking. Pranitha serves as an Advocate for Justice with the International Justice Mission. This week Pranitha will be one of the plenary speakers at the Willowcreek Leadership Summit. Pranitha and former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will be two of the three women featured in this Summit.
God bless both John and Pranitha and welcome to the Lausanne community of Senior Associates!
3. Ghana – National Congress on Evangelism.
Congratulations to Nana Yaw Offei Awuku, our Lausanne IDD for EPSA (English, Portuguese, Spanish speaking Africa)! We were delighted to hear the very positive reports of your gathering of over 600 leaders to consider the implications of The Cape Town Commitment (CTC) for Ghana under the theme: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Nation by the Whole Church.
Thank you, Nana, for your vision, your leadership, and your faith.
4. North American Younger Leaders Gathering.
Tom Lin and John Chung convened a gathering of 130 younger leaders from across the United States and Canada to develop relationships with like-minded people, to share vision, to work together on implications of ten of the issues dealt with in the CTC, and to forge new partnerships. The gathering was characterized by energy from highly gifted leaders who demonstrated creativity and joy in meeting together (24-26 July in Madison, Wisconsin). You may view photos of the Consultation and listen to audio of many of the main sessions.
5. Lausanne Global Leadership Forum (GLF), Bangalore, 17-21 June 2013.
Grace Mathews is doing an outstanding job of providing leadership for the upcoming GLF. Daniel Willis is coordinating the participant invitation process. For this Forum, the invitation process is widely distributed among Board members, Working Group Chairs, Senior Associates, staff, and GELF. David Bennett is providing leadership in designing and coordinating the programme with input from all sectors of the Movement. Grace, along with IDD Ivan Satyavrata, has assembled a talented team in India to provide the hospitality and logistical support. Please complete your registration as soon as possible.
6. Lindsay Brown in Kiev with IDD Anatole Glukhovski.
Lindsay and Anatole have recently been together to work on the future of the Lausanne Movement in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in Eurasia. Leaders in Russia, who were not able to participate in Cape Town 2010, have been very eager to “catch up” as they have convened a number of gatherings to assimilate the impact of the Congress and to work on disseminating The Cape Town Commitment. Anatole has expressed eagerness to host a Lausanne gathering in Ukraine in the next three years.
7. Upcoming Events.
We will be sending more information in coming weeks on a number of events. Please be praying for:
- Lausanne Global Consultation on Creation Care and the Gospel (29 Oct – 2 Nov, Jamaica)
- Lausanne Advisory Consultation on Media and the Gospel (7-11 November 2012, Norway)
- Cape Town 2010 Second Anniversary Celebrations (19-23 October 2012, Cape Town)
I close with a word of thanks to all of you. I thank God for your friendship and for your partnership in the work that God has entrusted to us. As you finish reading this note, please take time to pray for one another and for the work of world evangelization. Thank you for your prayers.
God bless you.