Editor's Note
This article is based on stories that were recorded in the Storytelling Booths at the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Incheon, South Korea, in September 2024. These booths served as a sacred space for global participants to share testimonies, prayer requests, and offer ministry insights from their unique contexts. We are honoured to pass these along as glimpses of how God is moving to combat poverty and injustice through his church.
Although globally, human rights are more protected now than in previous centuries, there has been a setback in the protection of these rights in recent years. In 2010, Lausanne’s Cape Town Commitment gave attention to our biblical mandate to love the world’s poor and suffering, highlighting that ‘Such love for the poor demands that we not only love mercy and deeds of compassion, but also that we do justice through exposing and opposing all that oppresses and exploits the poor.’ The fruit of that prayer, commitment, and intentionality is multiplying in ministries all over the globe.
Lausanne’s vision is being advanced through churches, ministries, and believers who are offering places of refuge for suffering people and living face-to-face with those in need. Ministries are rescuing people out of addiction, leveraging technology for holy purposes for those facing abuse, setting people free from human trafficking, and providing shelter for the displaced peoples of war-torn countries.
Bringing Freedom to the ‘Fourth World’
Bernie Gillott | United States
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Bernie Gillott was bound in addiction. His life spiralled out of control, and he ended up in jail. While there, a woman shared the gospel with him. He says he gave his life to Jesus because she told him Jesus would change his life, and his charges would be dropped. He remembers he did it ‘for all the wrong reasons. But [Jesus] met me right there, and he changed my life.’
Fifty years later, Bernie and his wife work globally with Teen Challenge, meeting teens in their addictions and offering them the hope of eternal life in Christ. He says that Teen Challenge not only works with those addicted to drugs and alcohol but also those bound in human trafficking and crime. Teen Challenge ministers in first, second, and third world countries, but also in the fourth world – a section of society in which impoverished and marginalized people live in extreme poverty despite living in a first world context.
The message of the gospel is freedom for people that are hopeless
Bernie sees that the ‘message of the gospel is freedom for people that are hopeless,’ and his work with Teen Challenge has opened a door in Muslim nations because ‘Jesus Christ is setting captives free.’ He cherishes the partnership between Teen Challenge and Lausanne because instead of wasting time over disagreements, they are united in purpose to set captives free from addiction in every social context.
Using Technology to Protect Women and the Vulnerable
Samson Selladurai | Australia
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The Lausanne Freedom and Justice Issue Network reported in 2019 that 35 percent of women were experiencing relational violence, and there were over 40 million trafficking victims worldwide.3 Samson Selladurai was alarmed by the increase in domestic violence against women during COVID-19. He runs a tech company and says, ‘God started burdening our hearts to say, “How can we leverage technology towards women’s safety, preventing human trafficking, and helping the persecuted church?”’ With that in mind, he and his team created an app called I Am Safe. The app allows the user to record incidents of abuse, so that they cannot be deleted or tampered with. In this way, there is a record of evidence for the prosecution of abusers and traffickers.
Samson cites Psalm 89:14 as the basis for his work, ‘Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you’ [ESV]. He wanted to make a kingdom impact, and his unlikely tool was technology. Using technology to both upend injustice against women and set people free from modern slavery is just one of the beautiful ways God is moving in his church. Samson says, ‘Jesus is redeeming and restoring not just the people but also the systems, the ideologies, and our hearts towards this glorious purpose.’
Becoming a Refuge for the Displaced
Oliwer Cieślar | Poland
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Poland is a nation of people who have access to the gospel, but many have become disillusioned with religion. However, they are spiritually open. Oliwer Cieślar is the project manager for The Chosen TV series in Poland. Their goal is ‘to reach the Polish people with the story of Jesus, an authentic story that will touch their hearts, bring them closer to God, and inspire them to open their Bibles.’ Oliwer says that over three million people in Poland have watched The Chosen, and Polish ambassadors have been able to host a gathering in Kazakhstan. He feels honored for Poland to be able to play a role in blessing Central Asia.
It is an incredible privilege to serve other people in times of conflict and hardship.
In addition to reaching local people with the gospel, Oliwer and his church have been able to join this fight against injustice by being a light and safe place for Ukrainian refugees. According to United Nations’ ‘2022 World Migration Report’, in 2020 the global refugee population had risen to 85.5 million people.4 This reality hit home in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sharing a border with Ukraine, Poland has become a haven for nearly one million Ukrainians, 90 percent of whom are women and children.5 Oliwer says his church family was able to support refugees by ‘offering not only practical help but also pastoral support. We helped them process difficult questions: Why did the war happen? What is the meaning of all this? When will I be able to see my family again?’ They knew God had been preparing them to become a missional community, but it was different than they expected. They had expected to have to travel far away to do missions, but God brought the mission field to them. At the time of the Fourth Lausanne Congress in September 2024, there were 63 families living in their city, Opole, and connected to the local church. Oliwer says, ‘It is an incredible privilege to serve other people in times of conflict and hardship.’
Praying for Freedom and Justice
We rejoice at the stand the church is taking against injustice, and we continue to work to see men, women, and children set free to walk into the refuge of Christ and his church. As the world changes, the church too has to adapt and use new and creative strategies to bring the gospel to the lost, the addicted, the enslaved, and the displaced.
We can join one another in prayer to see freedom become a reality for suffering people around the world:
- Pray for people to be set free from addiction.
- Pray for leaders to find creative ways to meet seekers where they are.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to soften hearts of those who have suffered mistreatment.
- Pray for governments to prosecute those perpetuating crimes that enslave or abuse.
- Pray for the church to be a haven of rest for refugees.
- Pray for the gospel to penetrate hearts and reconcile people to God.
Endnotes