When a catalyst is present, chemical reactions proceed more rapidly. Assisted by a catalyst, substances combine to form something new.
Our 64 Lausanne Catalysts, who head our 34 Issue Networks, sometimes co-leading as teams of two or three, connect people and ideas to generate new ideas and initiatives. These networks address many of the greatest challenges and opportunities in global mission, as identified in The Cape Town Commitment. They accelerate the work of developing new strategies, new biblical insights, and new forms of collaboration and partnership, knowing that we are ‘better together’.
Each of our Issue Networks presented introductory and advanced workshops at the Younger Leaders Gathering in Indonesia last August, engaging emerging leaders with the key questions, breakthroughs, resources, and networks in their areas of focus, and laying foundations for ongoing participation in those networks. Two significant new books came out of our Lausanne networks in 2016: Creation Care and the Gospel, and Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology. Another Lausanne network led Movement Day Global Cities in New York, with 3,000 participants from 95 nations.
During 2016, 12 new Catalysts were added to the team:
- For Buddhism, Simon Cozens
- For Children at Risk, Susan Greener and Michelle Tolentino
- For Church Research, Larry Kraft
- For Cities, Ebony Small
- For Diasporas, Sam George and Juliet Uytanlet
- For Hinduism, John Arun Kumar
- For Ministry Partnerships and Networks, Michael Kaspar
- For Proclamation Evangelism, Emmanuel Kwizera
- For Technology, Shawn Ring
- For Women in Evangelism, Anara Nessipbekova
They include individuals from India, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, and the USA, and people who have served in Japan, Brazil, Australia, UK, the Ukraine, and Kenya. They include evangelists and professors, people who have authored books, a person who has launched a radio program with 500,000 listeners, a facilitator for a network of 180 organizations that work among Muslims, and someone who is engaged in translating the Bible into Japanese Sign Language for the deaf.
We encourage you to explore the issue networks on our website. Read the brief biographies of the Catalysts and connect with those in your field of interest. And pray that the Lord will use these choice servants of his to accelerate the advance of the gospel in new and powerful ways—as God’s catalytic agents for transformation.