Greetings from Boston. Jeanie and I returned home earlier this month after three months in Oxford. We are so grateful to the Lausanne Board for allowing us to take this sabbatical. It was the most restful and renewing time that we have experienced since 1989 when we were on furlough after our first ten years in Japan. My strength has returned and I have completed the first draft of my dissertation. Thank you for making it possible. I am especially grateful for the leadership of Ram Gidoomal, Lausanne Board Chair, who assumed my duties during my absence. He has led us so capably and so well. Thank you, Ram!
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf and thank you for your friendship and support during this past year. I’ve missed being in touch and want you to know that I’m very happy to be “back in the saddle” and am eager to press forward with the exciting opportunities that are on the horizon.
Each Tuesday for the last few weeks, Lindsay Brown and I have met together for a few hours. What a great friend he is and what outstanding godly leadership he is providing for the work of Lausanne around the world as our International Director and in working with our 12 International Deputy Directors (IDDs).
Looking Ahead To 2012
2011 has been a year of listening, reflecting, and transition for The Lausanne Movement as we have shifted from event mentality to movement mode. Daily I hear how God has used Lausanne and Cape Town 2010 as a catalyst in the development of new or renewed mission and evangelism initiatives. We give thanks to God.
The momentum I see developing in Lausanne for 2012 and beyond energizes me. Our infrastructure of Working Groups, Senior Associates and Special Interest Committees is being fine-tuned to reflect our Movement focus on The Cape Town Commitment. Our IDDs are developing Regional Advisory Councils as they work with younger leaders and Communications Managers to plan regional consultations and make preparations to host issue-focused consultations over the next two years. Eurasia IDD Anatole Glukhovski has just hosted a consultation with several hundred Christian leaders in Moscow where Lindsay and Blair Carlson were also present. Grace and Rajan Mathews provided leadership for a consultation on Corruption in Church and Society in India. Blair was also in South Africa recently with Michael Cassidy and our IDDs Nana Yaw Offei Awuku and Emmanuel Ndikumana to work on continental strategies for Mission Africa II.
We will soon announce the 2012-2013 Lausanne Global Calendar which includes consultations on Islam, Mega-Cities, Truth in the Public Sphere, Prosperity Gospel, Nominalism and more. Curriculum is being developed to provide resources to seminaries, Bible colleges and adult Bible study groups on The Cape Town Commitment. Our Communications strategy, including website and social media, has been enhanced to provide greater connection and information for the global Church.
Plans are developing nicely for our first “Davos-like” World Evangelization Forum to be convened in June 2013 in India with 350 participants to assess progress and to chart the course for the future with respect to priorities articulated in The Cape Town Commitment. Relatedly, we are also moving forward with plans for an “Oxford Analytica-like” briefing on world evangelization.
Developing younger leaders remains a top priority for Lausanne. I will write more about our plans in January.
Prayers At Year-end
Now, as we come to the end of the year, I would ask for your prayers in two areas. First of all, please pray for God’s provision for our financial needs as we close 2011. This week, I’ll be meeting with several friends who have been so generous to Lausanne in the last few years. A number of us will also be making phone calls to others to follow up on letters and proposals that have been sent.
Second, let’s be praying for Egypt and the entire Middle East. The “Arab Spring” has signaled rising hopes but also growing frustrations. In consultation with our colleagues in Egypt, Lausanne Vice-Chair Ramez Atallah, and IDD Andrea Zaki, we will be sending more information soon on a global call to prayer for Egypt and the Middle East on the first Sunday of the New Year, 7th January, which is also the day Christians in Egypt celebrate Christmas (Coptic Orthodox Christmas).
As I close, let me thank you again for your friendship and partnership in ministry. May God bless you and your family with the peace of His presence and the joyful promise of His return during this Christmas season.
PS: You’ll see that I’ve included two photos from our time in England. Living in Oxford allowed us to be close to our son and his wife as he started his PhD at Cambridge. The real bonus was being able to see our twin grandchildren, Kuyper and Ivy. The first photo shows Jeanie and I enjoying a quiet stroll with our little Ivy. This was a big part of the gift of rest and renewal.
In the second photo, notice that I am getting Kuyper ready to be part of The Lausanne Movement!