‘“No distance too long”, goes an Indian ad caption. And it’s true, especially when God wants us to go to the ends of the world’, writes Carlos, a participant in the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering from South Asia.
Carlos will be one of the thousand participants in the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG) to be held in August in Indonesia. Though unacquainted previously, he and another participant, Paulo Humaitá from Brazil, are starting to explore a significant ministry partnership, one of the already many fruits of the Holy Spirit’s work through YLG2016.
Connecting is at the core of Lausanne’s identity, and of the YLG. In October 2015, the YLG Planning Team launched the Connector, a website for participants to start connecting a year before the gathering, and challenged participants to get in touch with someone new.
‘I was looking on the Connector for someone to initiate a nice talk with. My search was specific; I was looking for someone with a business background and also interested in combining business and missions. I found Carlos’ profile to be a perfect match, and we had an initial Skype conversation soon afterwards. We realized we had a lot in common, from our mission calling to personal life and also in how we got invited to YLG2016’, writes Paulo.
Paulo Humaitá is an economist based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, who has been called to missions through business. After working five years for a global biotechnology leader, God led him to leave his job and start a business accelerator where Christian entrepreneurs are equipped to turn their startups into sustainable and powerful missionary projects. This is a pioneering project in the Brazilian context and has just launched in recent months.
On the opposite site of the globe, Carlos had been sensing a call to use for-profit organizations run on biblical principles to advance the kingdom particularly in areas of Asia, Africa, and South America in the 10/40 window. Together with the congregation he’s part of, Carlos is exploring ways to encourage missional businesses and to host his country’s first Business for Blessing Strategy Summit in the near future.
It’s easy to see now what only God could see a few months back, that this divine appointment has great kingdom potential. ‘We need to talk a lot more’, both Paulo and Carlos say. They’re planning to meet in person in South Asia soon.
‘Through new connections the Holy Spirit can guide you to put pieces of the puzzle together and amplify your calling’, Paulo Humaitá says. About his generation, he adds, ‘We need to learn from others and also share the best we have with each other. We are a global generation, and we don’t have any reason to build up intelligence and just hold onto it. I believe God is raising an amazing team with business background for missions, and this generation will play a very strategic role within the Great Commission if we connect and join our efforts.”
This is one of the many stories of God’s gracious work in the countdown to YLG2016. Please continue to pray with us for many more such connections through the YLG for his kingdom.