Global Analysis

January 2025 Issue Overview

Loun Ling Lee Jan 2025

We ‘preach’ a lot about unity and collaboration as essentials for the global church and mission. But do we listen deeply and humbly to one another, especially those who are suffering and being marginalized? In this issue, authors from diverse regions give their analyses of some crucial concerns affecting vulnerable people in the world and the challenges faced by the church today.

In ‘Loving Our Global Neighbour: The Church Can Inspire Climate Action in a Changing World’, Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist, warns that the world is facing ‘a new crisis [. . .]. From pollution to climate change to the loss of nature [. . .] , increasing risks to health and infrastructure, diminishing food and water resources, and the displacement of entire communities and ecosystems.’ Based on reliable scientific data, she makes a projection of the future scenario and calls on the church to respond urgently. ‘The church cannot ignore these issues because they affect the very communities we are called to serve.’ Furthermore, ‘showing care for God’s creation—both people and all living things impacted by climate change, pollution, and loss of nature—is a true reflection of our faith and our God-given responsibility to love our neighbour as ourselves,’ she concludes.

One group of people who are highly vulnerable and being excluded by the world, including the church, are people with disabilities. Daniel Kyungu Tchikala writes in ‘Come to the Banquet: Including People with Disabilities in Christian Ministry’, that ‘people with disabilities participate poorly in social life, including in Christian activities.’ And rarely are they given leadership positions. He believes that God ‘can also powerfully use people with disabilities to carry out his mission on earth.’ He challenges Christian leaders to examine our attitude ‘towards what is or appears to be weak, vulnerable’ and recommends several practical actions. One significant action is: ‘Train church members and leaders for ministry to and by people with disabilities.’

Another group of vulnerable people are migrants such as the ‘many of the Nigerian and other African youths [. . .] trying to [. . .] escape the various economic hardships that their country faces [. . .] by running away to Western countries perceived as greener pastures’, Israel Oluwole Olofinjana observes. In ‘Japa Witnesses: Brain Drain or Migrating Witnesses?’ he illustrates how theologising can be done by using a common slang among Yoruba-Nigerian youths, the word Japa [meaning to escape or run away or take swift action about your future], ‘to explore the intersection of mission and migration in Britain.’ Just as in the days of Daniel and the Hebrew boys in the Old Testament or the scattering of the persecuted believers in the book of Acts, these young migrants’ ‘experience of suffering, hardship, liminality, and survival puts them in place of understanding sacrifice. This combined with their faith could realise migrating witnesses,’ the author writes. He challenges the British churches to collaborate interculturally with these new migrating witnesses.

Through the history of the Korean church, we see how God has transformed South Korea, ‘this small, isolated country once devastated by war and poverty into an economically powerful, culturally influential nation that is the second largest missionary-sending country,’ writes Daewon Moon in ‘The Korean Mission Movement: History and Lessons of the Korean Church’. Specific historical examples also ‘demonstrate the power of the gospel to bring about the holistic change of individuals and society.’ As the author looks at the factors which contributed to the dramatic growth of the Korean mission movement, he wants to also reveal the challenges faced by the Korean church today. ‘For the past two decades, however, the Korean church has experienced stagnation and even decline. The reasons include secularization, young people’s increasingly indifferent attitudes towards religion, and scandals in several megachurches. He calls for ‘a time for Korean Christians to reflect, repent, and learn from the global body of Christ.’

This call is for all Christians, not just the Koreans.

Lausanne Global Analysis is also available in PortugueseSpanishFrench, and Korean. Please send any questions and comments about this issue to analysis@lausanne.org. The next issue will be released in March 2025.