The 2019 Global Workplace Forum brought together 848 highly qualified participants from 110 countries.
‘Our work connected to Lausanne and the workplace ministry is growing very rapidly around the world with a trajectory to impact 2000 cities by 2030.’ – Mac, US
‘GWF2019 is the single greatest influence in my marketplace and workplace ministry work.’
-Victor, Kenya
Where are they now?
What has happened with the connections and resources they gained at GWF? And what is God doing in the world through them?
Hosted in Manila, Philippines, in June 2019, GWF participants explored the themes of:
- Vocation and identity—We don’t go to work to get meaning, we take our meaning to work.
- Creative discipleship—Every believer must be a minister and every workplace, a place of ministry.
- Tomorrow’s workplace—Marketplace leaders must come alongside pastors and parachurch ministries to make an impact.
- Activating faith—The workplace Christian has a tremendous part to play in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Nearly three years later, the catalytic impact of GWF can be felt around the globe.
Leaders have taken their experiences, the relational connections they made, and the content they absorbed to influence their local, national, and global communities.
GWF participants are:
- Bringing the gospel to places and spaces where it has not taken root before.
- Creating and revitalising disciple-making churches amongst unreached peoples and places.
- Influencing other leaders to be more like Christ in the church and marketplace.
- Impacting every sphere of society from government to healthcare, higher education to technology and media, and all points in between.
Catalytic Impact
Because of GWF, movements of all kinds have been started or accelerated around the world.
‘As an educator, I am now much more consciously preparing my students to do business in ways that image God.’
-Laurie, Canada
- Graduate students in Singapore have been equipped to enter the workplace as salt and light.
- An Indonesian seminary launched a two-year Master in Marketplace Ministry program.
- A professor in Benin added teaching about Christian influence in all areas of society to their curriculum.
Impact in Cities
‘We have built a citywide model for workplace ministry, representing over 12,000 working Christians across Greater Cincinnati in the private, public, and social sectors. We are now serving alongside Lausanne’s Workplace Ministry Network, developing this citywide workplace ministry model to be shared with the many cities in Lausanne’s global network.’
–Chuck, US
- A monthly meetup and experience in Ethiopia was started for those who are interested in intentionally influencing and transforming their cities.
- The work of Movement.org expanded to reach 900 global cities at their September 2020 MDX conference through increased partnership reach unlocked at GWF.
- The first Urban Ministry Consultation in Jakarta, Indonesia was launched.
‘I now see my leadership in business as a way to model the servant leadership of Jesus. I also see every new contact as a divine appointment to share Christ in the normal course of life.’-Dennis, Uganda
- A six-day training program (NTP 2020) brought together delegates from the entire African continent to receive in-depth equipping on workplace ministry issues.
- Illiterate workers in India are understanding the Word of God through the audio Bible app and public reading of Scripture experienced by their employer, a GWF participant.
- One GWF participant from a G20 country met with the prime minister to coordinate Christian organizations providing pandemic response and support. This accelerated their work in enabling professionals to live out their Christian life in public in a highly secular context.
- A Connecting Faith at Work forum took place in Pakistan.
- A weekly Bible study was started among employees at an export company in the Philippines.
- The Theology of Work Project was able to expand deeply into East Asia.
- Because of GWF’s emphasis on creation care, a company in Malaysia is working towards being environmentally friendly by recycling and reducing single-use plastics and going paperless.
- A six-month on-the-job discipleship course to help equip people to make disciples in the workplace was started in Sweden.
- In Burundi, trauma healing and suicide preventation programs, liberating leaders from satanic lies, have been launched.
Synergistic Partnerships
‘The whole experience was truly a divine appointment to enlarge my network with missions-minded brothers and sisters.’ –Amy, Canada
Lausanne gatherings connect leaders to accomplish new mission impact they could never achieve independently.
- Mac (US) met some Brazilian leaders, which evolved into very significant coaching relationships with leaders in nearly 100 cities.
- Christie (Sri Lanka) met Priantha (India) and together they helped catalyze the 2021 global Prayer for Afghanistan call, involving 220 influential leaders from around the world.
- William (US) met brothers and sisters from East Asia and they now have a formal partnership expanding the depth and reach of materials in local languages in East Asia.
- Laurie met fellow Canadian Narry and was able to present an important paper on an imago Dei model for workplace as missions at the Evangelical Missiological Society’s Canadian conference.
- Kourtney (US) and Mauricio (Mexico) worked to create a Spanish entrepreneurship course being piloted in Mexico.
- Jonathan and Priantha, from the same city in India, met for the first time at GWF and have partnered to combine sports ministry with prison rehabilitation ministry to bring ‘whole-life coaching’ in seeing lives redeemed by the gospel.
- Fernah met Anne, which ignited the start of a Nurses Christian Fellowship chapter in Wellington, New Zealand.
- Missy and Chuck (US), have been collaborating on many mutually beneficial webinars on faith and work since meeting at GWF.
- Gustavo from Brazil has been partnering with a new friend from Australia on a mentoring program for professionals.
- Chuck (US) has been collaborating with Meripeni (India) via a digital community for developing Christian workplace leaders.
Workplace Forum Pakistan
‘Attending the Global Workplace Forum was the biggest breakthrough for me in understanding God’s calling in my life. To be in the midst of scientists, doctors, engineers and investors who considered their business as a workplace ministry made me break down several times during the forum because I was overjoyed when I got the confirmation that I am partnering with God in the workpace.’ -Tasangkala, India
Divine Connections
‘The lesson I learned at GWF is that without a network we go nowhere.’ –Michel, Burundi
Often at Lausanne gatherings, an otherwise ordinary encounter at a table group, food line, or seminar morphs into a life-defining friendship or ministry accelerator.
- Philip (US) and Chim (Cambodia) met at GWF and have kept in contact, intentionally sharing prayer requests about their workplaces and families—a real encouragement for them both.
- Emmanuel (Kenya) met Philip Ryken, president of Wheaton College (US). Now Emmanuel and his family are coming to Wheaton, where he will be a Billy Graham Scholar pursuing a degree in the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership with a calling and commitment to return to Africa.
- Mats (Sweden) met Tasangkala (India) and the two have been able to stay connected via social media, providing inspiration, resourcing, and encouragement to each other.
- James (Canada) and Andrew (Australia) met at GWF and have video calls every six weeks. ‘When we connect we speak the same language of faith and work. We “get” each other—the joys, sorrows, challenges, and excitements of ministering in this space.’ The two have been able to share resources, accelerating their individual efforts.
- Tuvya met Jeff, both from the US, on the bus to the airport. Jeff’s book about retirement helped Tuvya understand God’s will for his next season of ministry. Since then, Tuvya has launched a ministry for Jewish-Gentile couples.
Thank You!
God is at work in big and small ways in workplaces all around the world. He is making his name great among the nations!
In the two years since GWF, God has multiplied the work of the hands of all those who made the gathering possible, and all those who have been faithful in stewarding its impact since then. In particular, we would like to highlight the GWF planning team, the Workplace Ministry Advisory Board, and the Workplace Ministry Network.
None of this would have happened without your support.
Thank you for your faithful partnership in connecting influencers and ideas for global mission.