17 October 2018—The Lausanne Movement is pleased to announce the appointment of Drs Ivor Poobalan and Victor Nakah as the new Theology Working Group (TWG) Co-Chairs.
The TWG exists to support the Lausanne Movement through theological and missiological reflection. ‘Mission must flow out of our theology, and so our TWG is immeasurably critical to the life of the Movement,’ says Michael Oh, Global Executive Director / CEO of the Lausanne Movement. ‘The leaders of the TWG hold some of the most critical roles in the Movement, and Ivor and Victor come with the highest and warmest recommendations.’
Ivor Poobalan has been called ‘one of the sharpest minds and most capable leaders in the church in Sri Lanka today’ by Ajith Fernando. Ivor has served as the Principal at Colombo Theological Seminary (CTS) in Sri Lanka since 1998. He graduated with honours from the London School of Theology with a BA in Theology, and also has a ThM from Trinity International University (US) and a PhD from the University of Cape Town. Ivor is married to Denisa and they are parents to daughters Anisha Eng and Serena.
Victor Nakah is the International Director for Sub-Saharan Africa with Mission to the World (MTW), the mission sending agency of the Presbyterian Church of America. He was Chair of the Lausanne Cape Town GlobalLink initiative, helping to engage hundreds of locations around the world in the Cape Town 2010 congress, as well as serving on the drafting committee of The Cape Town Commitment. Victor is married to Nosizo and they have two daughters.
Former TWG chair Chris Wright writes, ‘I am greatly encouraged to hear of the appointment of Ivor Poorbalan and Victor Nakah as Co-Chairs of the Lausanne Theology Working Group. I know both brothers well and their strong commitment to biblical truth and missional theology and practice . . . Together they will bring the global perspective that matches the Lausanne Movement, and will continue the strong tradition that is part of the DNA of Lausanne: that mission, if it is to be truly biblical, must embrace the whole church and the whole of life, and that there should be no mission without theological reflection, and no theology without missional outworking. ‘
To find out more, read Dr Poobalan and Dr Nakah’s bios on the Lausanne website. In case of media inquiries or interview requests, please contact Attila Nyári at [email protected].