Jeanie Birdsall – Please Be Praying

Thank you for your encouraging notes and expressions of support and love for my wife Jeanie and me.

This week Jeanie and I met with a cardiothoracic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.  He has determined that she must have heart surgery next Thursday (29 May) to remove the tumor that is in the pulmonary artery at the entrance to the heart.  Though this is not the report we wanted to hear, we are grateful to God that she is being cared for by one of the best heart surgeons at one of the top hospitals in the country.

The doctor told us that it was “fortuitous” that she had the illness that lead to the discovery of this more serious condition.  Please pray for Jeanie and for the medical personnel who will care for her.  She will be in the hospital for five days and will then need one month to recover from the surgery.

Though it is not easy to cancel work and travel during this time of planning for Lausanne, it has been a pleasure to spend time with Jeanie and to seek to care for her.  Over the years, she has made many sacrifices for me and for the work of the ministry as she cared for our family and for so many others.

It is also deeply satisfying to see the strength and breadth of our Lausanne leadership team around the world as they share the work and strengthen the movement.  (However, it is a little disconcerting to see how well the world goes on without me!) 

I will keep you posted on Jeanie’s condition.  We value your prayers.

This has been another encouraging week as we continue to receive reports from around the world about the growing momentum and excitement with respect to the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town in 2010.  Here in Boston, MA USA I have had meetings with mission leaders, pastors, business people, and college presidents who want to join in with the global efforts of the Lausanne Movement.

As I see the caliber of people who are aligning themselves with the vision of Lausanne, I see further evidence of God’s hand of blessing upon the work that He has entrusted to our care.  This gives me hope that God wants to do something new and wonderful through the global church in our time.

In the course of recent weeks our Lausanne International Deputy Directors (IDDs) have convened consultations in the Middle East, Anglophone Africa, Northern Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America.

The consultation participants have worked on participant selection for Lausanne III: Cape Town 2010; given input on programme design; and made an assessment of the state of the church and the state of the cultures in which we minister the Gospel around the world.

I am particularly pleased to see the sense of ownership and leadership that continues to develop in twelve regions all around the world.

We have also welcomed a new IDD to the team.  Dr. Anatole Glukhovski, President of the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, is the recently-appointed International Deputy Director for Eurasia.  We welcome this friend of outstanding ability and amazing energy and vision to the community of leaders in the Lausanne Movement and look forward to our work together.

  

S Douglas (Doug) Birdsall, Honorary Chairman of The Lausanne Movement, served as Executive Chairman from 2004 to 2013. He led the Movement through a process of global revitalization, culminating in the convening of Cape Town 2010: The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Harvard University, and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, UK.