Seven Challenges for the Global Evangelical Outreach

Introduction

The Global Listening Team of the Lausanne Movement conducted its third listening project from January to May 2024 after the listening research plan had been finalized in December 2023 with members actively participating in the processes of research design and data gathering. This report summarizes the results of the listening project which produced seven important recommendations for the future outreach of the global evangelical church. 

The Global Listening Team applied a grounded theory approach in addressing the issues and tasks faced by the global evangelical church. Global Listening Team members interviewed evangelical leaders in their respective countries and regions according to the interview guide, which sought in-depth listening opportunities through individual interviews. The previous two listening projects were based on group interviews. This time, the interviewees were also allowed some choice in answering some of the suggested questions. 

The data gathering was completed at the end of April 2024 with 14 countries in 7 regions represented by 22 evangelical leaders who were individually interviewed. Each interview session took approximately one to two hours. The seven represented regions were East Asia, Europe, Francophone Africa, the Middle East, North America, South Asia, and the South Pacific. The 14 represented countries were Japan (2 interviewees), South Korea (2 interviewees), Denmark (1 interviewee), Romania (1 interviewee), Spain (1 interviewee), the United Kingdom (2 interviewees), Cameroon (1 interviewee), Egypt (1 interviewee), Israel/Palestine (2 interviewees), Lebanon (1 interviewee), the United States (3 interviewees), India (1 interviewee), Sri Lanka (1 interviewee), and Australia (3 interviewees). The regions of Central Asia, EPSA (English-Portuguese-Spanish-speaking Africa), Southeast Asia, Central America, South America were not represented. 

The facilitators or interviewers were Eiko Takamizawa (Japan), Steve Moon (South Korea), Laura Sanlon (collaborating with Jim Memory for the four countries of Denmark, Romania, Spain, and the UK), Emmanuel Oumarou (Cameroon), Elias Ghazal (Egypt and Lebanon), Lisa Loden (Israel/Palestine), Ted Esler (the US), S. M. (India and Sri Lanka), and Sarah Starrenburg (Australia). 

Steve Sang-Cheol Moon, who prepared the interview guide and questions, analyzed the gathered data using a QDA (qualitative data analysis) software program called NVivo for macOS and wrote the first draft of this analytical report. The other members of the team participated in the process of editing the initial draft, exchanging feedback and making suggestions for revisions. The final draft of the report was finished and released in June 2024. 

The process of data analysis noted that themes were duplicated between the third and the previous two listening projects, indicating the need for a spiral analytical process to avoid redundant explanations. The analytical process kept asking ‘So what?’ toward generating suggestions and solutions for the questions and issues facing the evangelical churches and organizations throughout the world. The repeated, spiral process led to the identification of seven key underlying themes that resulted from the grounded theory approach and which undergirded many other themes on the surface level. These seven key themes are ‘building discipleship communities’, ‘mentoring for younger people for their leadership development’, ‘seeing the bigger picture of the remaining task of world evangelization’, ‘considering cultural trends for contextualized ministries’, ‘listening to various voices for a recalibration of ministry efforts’, ’caregiving for the suffering with a special attention to their mental health issues’, and ‘storytelling God’s unconditional love’. 

This analytical report of the third listening project highlights these seven strategic challenges for the global church for its global missional outreach in the years ahead. Below these dominant themes are explained in logical order.

Challenge 1: Let us build discipleship communities.

A total of 80 references were made regarding the importance of discipleship during the interview sessions by 17 evangelical leaders in 12 countries. Many of these comments emphasized the importance of discipleship by generally highlighting its whole-life aspect. In other words, living out biblical truths and values in every sphere of their personal lives was the essence of Christian faith across cultures and traditions throughout the world. This line of thinking logically highlighted the communal aspect in practicing this ideal, and some leaders clearly suggested the need to build discipleship communities.

Importance of whole-life and life-long discipleship

The missionary mandate is not just about ‘go and do’ evangelism to convert people. It is about preaching the whole life gospel that seeks to subject all aspects of life to the lordship of Christ Jesus. The core challenge is to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19, 20). This mandate involves all domains and spheres of life so a whole-life discipleship is therefore emphasized. 

The missionary mandate also stipulates a life-long discipleship, and not just during the time period of a certain program. People need to grow as followers of Christ no matter how old they are or how long they have been in the faith. Children also need to learn and practice the way of Christ from childhood. Young adults need to embody Christian truths and values in their lives as well. Adults and seniors are also invited to continue to grow in their spirituality by imitating Jesus Christ. As one Arab-Israeli leader emphasized during his interview, the challenge of discipleship needs to be understood as a life-long process.

This holistic understanding of discipleship needs to overcome the problem of the sacred-secular divide. Dualistic views about the world and life get in the way of an integral understanding and practice of Christian teachings. All areas of life need to be addressed with biblical truths through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. We need to make sure that the biblical messages are properly taught and understood so that they may be practiced throughout the entirety of their lives.

One important test of genuine discipleship lies in the finance area of one’s life according to a Spanish church planter. Is the lordship of Christ acknowledged in the financial domains of life? Financial discipleship is not a worldly matter, but an essential confession of the lordship of Christ. This challenge is for every Christian who confesses the supremacy of God and the lordship of Christ. 

Sharing mistakes is valued among people who desire to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ as a Spanish evangelical leader stated in an interview session. People are not perfect in their process of growth but need to mature over time. Therefore, they do not claim that they have reached flawless perfection on the way. When Christians willingly share their sense of vulnerability and their past mistakes, those stories can be used to emphasize God’s saving grace based on a recognition of their fallen nature. 

Discipleship also comes before leadership development as a Korean pastor pointed out. Similarly, a British leader posited the importance of connecting theological education to discipleship because the foundation of theological education is something Jesus commanded us to do, not something to “manufacture” what we are. Discipleship should be a core foundational course in theological education. 

Finally, discipleship should be a core strategy in world evangelization as well. Other strategic frameworks need to be based on this never-changing mandate of Jesus Christ. 

Importance of relationship with people

Our relationship with people matters in practicing what we learn from the Bible. This is because our discipleship is not just about teaching biblical truths but living them out. Our discipleship is about modeling. We both learn and teach the Christian worldview by modeling. That is why our relationships are important in our practice of discipleship. In this highly digitized world, we need to restore the relational dimensions of life and ministry. Engaging in the realities of human relationships is critical in our missional approach.

The focus of our discipling efforts, as one Arab-Israeli leader succinctly put it, is to build resilient believers. The core task is to help them foster their own critical thinking, not to direct them on what to do and what not to do. The times are changing very quickly and even the most competent teachers cannot address everything all at once. We need to help people address new issues on their own based on biblical teachings. This aspect of discipleship demands attention to personal relationships more than on programs, which again suggests the need for more models and mentors. 

The relational dimension is also important in evangelism. Evangelistic efforts demand more of such relational approaches. The notion of friendship evangelism underscores that evangelism is neither a project nor an event, but rather a life-long effort to build life with people around us rooted in what we believe. The relational ties with people around us are foundational not only to evangelistic approaches but also to discipleship processes.

A British evangelical leader expressed his yearning to see more face-to-face discipleship created through some form of digital innovation. People need to be led into in-person discipleship and empowered in their faith and maturity in their spirituality. That is because the nature of discipleship training at its core requires person-to-person contact. 

Social media is an important means of connecting with people and sharing stories today, but it has not automatically led to more effective evangelism. As one American leader noted, social media has benefits in sharing and promoting our lives, but it is not a good site for building relationships. This is because relationship-building requires genuine listening and sharing at a deeper level.

Growing together in a faith community

We need to grow together as followers of Christ Jesus. It takes a community for us to grow in our faith and spirituality. People in general need to belong and relate with other people for overall health and well-being, but it is even more so in practicing the Christian faith. The nature of Christian discipleship demands a communal context within the body of Christ. 

One important observation is that there is a new spiritual hunger filled with potential among younger people, a hunger that was not previously there. According to an Australian pastor, younger people are less attracted to games and entertainment than before, and there is a genuine hunger for the spiritual and the supernatural. Oftentimes, young people try to fill that void in the wrong places, but they are more and more aware that this is a spiritual hunger that must be addressed. 

The Australian pastor also emphasized that community and the discipleship community are not natural aspects of our lives. Isolation and loneliness characterize many people’s lives; there has been a noticeable increase in individuals living alone not only in Australia but in many other parts of the world. In this kind of sociocultural environment, people need deep conversations. One challenge for us is to resist this alienating culture by gathering together in friendship and discipleship.

Indeed, this requires not only one-on-one discipleship, but also a process of growing, belonging and sharing with other Christians. The evangelical churches and Christian organizations need to gather around discipleship. This pastoral vision is the true foundation for a future outreach of the global evangelical church. 

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The whole point of our first challenge is to conclude with a renewed faith and hope and love in Christ Jesus for the people around us. An Australian pastor summarized the core challenge as follows:

One of the important challenges ahead is to build discipleship communities as a solid foundation for missional living and outreach in the world. It is one of the most foundational conditions for global evangelical missions. The isolated souls in this hyperconnected but spiritually deprived world need to belong to and grow with a warm community of disciples.

Challenge 2: Let us engage in mentoring relationships with younger people especially for their leadership development.

This challenge is based on 53 references made by 17 evangelical leaders in 12 countries. The main point is that there is a specific spiritual need for younger people to be in mentoring relationship with older people. Christians need to be engaged in such relationships as a means for practicing discipleship and missional living. The importance of such a need was discussed repeatedly through the interview sessions across many cultural and traditional contexts around the globe. The sociocultural complexities and existential questions of our times demand a wise and balanced perspective as well as the intergenerational sharing of thoughts and feelings.

Intergenerational friendship and sharing

“A key aspect of being intercultural is [to be] intergenerational” as a Nigerian British leader put it. We need younger voices in whatever we do, but we need to be intentional in giving up spaces for younger leaders to emerge. That takes mentoring and apprenticeship for younger people. 

A Japanese leader clarified that the mentoring relationship is not one-directional; he emphasized that we need to learn from the younger generations about their interest in climate issues, diversity, and inclusiveness through intergenerational friendships. In such friendships, sharing our experiences of mistakes with them is not only acceptable but also desirable.

An American mission leader observes that younger people are looking for parental figures in their lives, whether in the church or elsewhere. It is therefore important to provide safe places to have safe conversations as parental-type figures. Such parental figures could be characterized as having an open posture or “open arms” that lead young people to willingly talk about where they might disagree, added the American interviewee.

In many cases, young people cannot find any support groups around them. The government organizations or other private institutions have been inadequate in caring for them, which suggests that this is an area where the church can play a significant role, according to a Lebanese pastor. Intergenerational sharing can address a wide range of life issues, not just spiritual matters. This support is particularly crucial when young people develop ministerial visions or assignments; they need heartfelt support and guidance, as emphasized by a Cameroonian pastor.

The actual practices of intergenerational friendship are not so positively described in many church contexts. A Korean mission leader observes that the hierarchical sense of order within many churches intimidates younger people. He identifies the root cause of this rigid hierarchy to Korea’s Confucian cultural tradition. However, this kind of phenomena is not confined to Korea but can also be found in other cultural contexts as well. An American mission leader also notes that younger generations, who are generally sensitive and easily triggered, are weary of individuals with extreme, polarized views. They often have a victim mentality. Another American interviewee who is a lay church leader also observes that younger generations are consumed with anxiety and depression. A Japanese leader pointed out that there is a sense of powerlessness that has resulted in a tendency to focus on dealing with small issues in their lives. For this reason, they do not want to be part of the church, thinking that the church is not relevant to them, as Lebanese pastor explains it.

Showing an example of Christian maturity 

One of the pitfalls in mentoring younger people is to try to make them model after current church leaders. Sometimes church leaders prefer to invite those young people who are most like the current leaders to lead the church, which is the worst case in many contexts, as a Spanish church leader emphasized. A true mentoring relationship would guard against manipulation or coercion and not try to turn them into one’s clones, as a British leader underscored. Instead, the older leaders need to delegate authority to the younger people and allow them to take possible risks, commented a Palestinian leader. 

The essential task of mentoring is to counsel them, giving them advice based on biblical teachings. This task is not only about teaching the Bible, but is also about living out the biblical teachings, as a Lebanese pastor summarized. For this task, the most important thing for a young man or woman is for someone to be there for them whenever they need such counsel. 

One critical aspect in playing this kind of role is the quality of relationships and conversations, according to a Danish leader who runs a student movement. These qualities are relational things that come before other tasks. Based on this kind of quality relationship, the mentoring relationship need to pursue spiritual formation in many contexts, as an Egyptian leader emphasized. 

Mentoring for leadership development

Eventually, mentoring relationships need to pay attention to the need for leadership development among younger people. A Romanian leader observes that younger leaders are emerging, but they are doing so by themselves and not by the efforts of existing churches or organizations. 

A British evangelical leader emphasized that most young people have a very narrow vision of what the Christian life looks like and what their future is meant to be like. As a result, they need to be given a whole life vision, which is not only true in the UK but also in many other cultural contexts. An Arab-Israeli leader also pointed out the need to help younger people’s understanding of leadership. For this kind of understanding, a class isn’t enough. There has to be a mentoring relationship as well, as an Australian pastor explained.

A Lebanese interviewee underscored that young people are the engine of the church. The church cannot continue if they don’t have young people. As he stated, “We don’t want to lose the future of the church, so we need to care about mentoring younger people.” 

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All our research participants provided helpful insights on various aspects of mentoring relationships with younger generations. Alex Pettett, an American mission leader, succinctly described the importance of this challenge in our times:

That statement succinctly encapsulates the challenge we face in this era of cultural deconstruction, manifesting in various ways across societal structures and social norms.

We need a “retro revolution” to realize this ideal in our spheres of interaction across today’s generations and cultures. The whole process of worldview transformation could be facilitated and mediated through such an intergenerational friendship, contextualized within the cultural dynamics of our times.

Challenge 3: Let us see the bigger picture of the remaining task of world evangelization.

It is important to clearly see the larger picture of the remaining task of world evangelization. Ralph D. Winter’s presentation on the Unreached People Groups (hereafter UPGs) during the Lausanne Congress in 1974 helped the evangelical missions community to see this big picture. Over the past three years, the importance of reaching UPGs with the gospel has been emphasized repeatedly, but there also have been requests to redefine the remaining task clearly in order to reflect changes in the situations and conditions of missional realities around the globe. 

Through the third listening project of the Global Listening Team, a total of 37 references were made by 14 interviewees in 10 countries that stressed the importance of seeing the bigger picture of the world evangelization based on a redefinition of the remaining task. The redefinition needs to be more inclusive to reflect the changed ministry environments and the emergence of new needs and issues facing evangelical churches globally.

Redefining the remaining task

The concept of UPGs does not necessarily need to be understood geographically as an Australian pastor pointed out. The migration of people groups is one reason that calls for a more nuanced understanding, but there are other factors and dynamics involved with UPGs. Comments were made on the need for a common definition or redefinition of the remaining task of the Great Commission through the listening calls of the Global Listening Team.

There have been contrasting views between conservative leaders who primarily focus on continuing the mobilization efforts for UPGs and those who are leaning toward a more holistic missions approach. The UPG movement is not a fad but the essence of missions, many mission mobilizers claim. However, migration and other emerging realities complicate our understanding and call for further consideration of these changed realities. For example, there are various UPGs including Muslims in Europe and the United States. They are considered unreachable there as explicated by an American mission leader. 

In measuring the progress of world evangelization, our job is to do our best with the information and instruments for measurement that we have. However, we need to be reminded that the ultimate metric belongs to God. We do not expect that Christ will only return once the last translation of the last Bible is finished or once we have reached every people group. We should not apply a Western-centric metric on defining the remaining task based on a worldview that arose from the Enlightenment era.

A near-culture missional approach

In understanding the remaining task of the Great Commission, we need to intentionally make near-culture mission efforts. Our approaches should activate the missional imagination and explore adjacent missional possibilities. These kinds of approaches would not exclude going to remote areas in another country but would explore the missional openings nearer to our cultural context. Many other groups of marginalized people have been neglected in terms of the gospel witness due to a narrow, geographical-based understanding of UPGs.

The three listening projects of the Global Listening Team repeatedly pointed out the need to pay attention to what marginalized people are saying to the church. Many kinds of marginalized people have been identified through the listening calls, so it is not reasonable to exclusively focus on one kind or group of people. 

One Japanese evangelical leader pointed out how Japan is a least evangelized country. A newly highlighted group among many in Japan is single-parent families and their children. They need special attention both in terms of the gospel witness and a holistic mission approach. Another example of marginalized people is the LGBTQ+ community in many countries. There may be different perspectives on such a community, but one common baseline is that all people need to hear the Good News. 

More inclusive definition and understanding

According to a Lebanese pastor, the least the church can do is include everyone so that no one feels left behind or excluded. To achieve this holistic understanding and approach, we need to be more inclusive in defining the term. We also need to be more inclusive in suggesting how to participate in the task of the Great Commission. Christians can participate in serving the cause of missions as a volunteer in a church program for evangelism or missions outreach. This is one of the important challenges of discipleship in our times as emphasized by an Australian pastor. We need to understand the whole cultural nuance of missions in realizing this mandate of missional discipleship today. 

Such near-culture and inclusive approaches would specifically increase the sustainability of missional living and mission movements in general. The practice of such missional discipleship will strengthen the cultural acceptance of a missional spirit in a new way. For this quiet revolution, more awareness and training are required that are near to our daily lives and practices. 

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One of our interviewees who is an evangelical leader in Sri Lanka highlighted this important challenge. His perspective is both inclusive and balanced. His statement clearly encapsulates our third challenge:

We note that this challenge must start with prayer. Prayer must precede any planning before going out for specific activities. Our listening calls helped us to hear of how prayer movements are happening in many parts of the world, but there are also many other regions where no specific movements for prayer are occurring. 

We need to expand our understanding of the big picture of world evangelization as we continue to reflect on the biblical mandate and to pray for its realization in our times. A quiet expansion of our understanding of missional living will be the beginning of the transformation of lives and worldviews for those who are geographically both near and far.

Challenge 4: Let us consider cultural trends for contextualized ministries.

This challenging message reveals the need to understand and consider the changes in culture for contextualized ministries, which was based on an analysis of 70 references made by 19 evangelical leaders in 13 countries. The main point is that a contextualized ministry entails an in-depth understanding of cultural trends that are rapidly changing in this ever-globalizing world. The changes in the cultural orientation of new generations are important and need to be considered to make Christian ministry efforts more relevant and effective.

Need for contextualization

A Cameroonian pastor asserted that the contextualization of Christian ministries needs to take place in areas like form of worship, the presentation of the gospel, and the method of discipleship. A Japanese American church leader emphasized that Bible study programs, discipleship programs, and even systematic theology and other specific areas of ministry require contextualization. In short, the key areas of church ministry call for contextualized approaches and efforts.

One Korean pastor, for example, stated that sermons need to be applied to the congregants’ real lives through a contextual interpretation. A Spanish church planter pointed out that preaching becomes de-contextualized partly because those who are preaching are not working during the week and thus become distanced from external realities. Preaching as the core part of the church ministry needs to be based on a relevant understanding of the contextual realities and consciousness of those who hear the message.

A British evangelical leader also recognized the need for contextual approaches in areas such as education, politics, and other social domains. We need to understand the dynamics that shape today’s culture—a task that is far from easy but essential. Achieving a holistic understanding of the sociocultural dynamics and undercurrents will enable the development of relevant contextual approaches.

Researching contextual issues

This kind of effort for contextualization may demand rigorous research that narrows down to the grassroots level of the local in many cases. However, according to one Korean pastor, we can start by respecting local cultural traditions and characteristics. In this way, contextualized research efforts need to be directed toward understanding the insiders’ view of what is happening in and around their lives.

This approach cannot succeed if it remains dependent on imported foreign methodologies and skills. The researcher needs to be familiar with the local cultural context of the ministry environment. Understanding people’s existential questions in times of natural or economic disasters is critical in pursuing an emic view of local perspectives, as one Egyptian leader reminded us. In addition, there is a significant need to invest in contextual writing and scholarship, a Palestinian leader emphasized. Discipleship materials need to be reviewed in light of this principle of contextualization, which is why Islamic or Middle Eastern worldviews and background need to be considered in this region. 

A British evangelical leader noted the contextual issue of migration and the rise of right-wing politics in European contexts. Local cultures show characteristics of cultural mélange not only in Europe but also in other regions of the world. Understanding the mosaic of population composition and trends is increasingly important in leading church ministry programs and Christian organizations throughout the world. 

A Lebanese mission pastor pointed out that churches are not relevant to young people these days. In fact, churches are not doing well in approaching issues around young people in many parts of the world. This recognition underscores the need to research what young people feel and think in response to what they perceive the church’s views are on important issues. An Australian youth ministry leader suggested that research projects need to take into account the perceptions and responses of younger generations toward the churches’ views on sexuality. 

Most of the interviewees’ suggestions emphasized the need to send people who are as close to the context as possible, suggesting the need for field-based empirical research including participant observation and listening to people. A Cameroonian youth pastor asserted that his ministry context suggests the need for field-based missiologists who will go into the field and carry out research.

Warnings against extreme views

 In the process of discussing the research findings, a learning posture on the part of Western leaders is important in terms of seeing theology from the perspective of others and not just writing things off just because they don’t agree with them, according to a Japanese American interviewee.

The main point of contextualization is to make the gospel proclamation and other related ministry efforts clear and relevant in each cultural context, but we also need to guard against going to the other extreme of excessive contextualization that resorts to syncretism. As a Sri Lankan ministry leader, pointed out, if the content of the gospel is compromised for the sake of relevancy, that could lead to a syncretism that loses faithfulness to biblical truths.

Need for training programs

The whole task of contextualization includes efforts for innovating ministry approaches. A Palestinian leader pointed out that there is a need for innovative nonformal training programs for pastors and lay leaders who tend to be very busy. Innovative training programs could enable the provision of relevant means of learning using advanced technologies that have not been available through traditional means in a more effective way.

An American mission leader suggested providing training programs for young people so that they can research important spiritual movements and church issues. Training is also needed to equip ministry leaders with proper knowledge frameworks and approaches of theological contextualization so that they can teach the masses. 

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The fourth challenge reflects a global trend of changed generational cultures and the newly emerging questions associated with it. A Nigerian British evangelical leader summarizes this challenge well:

Our overall ministry approaches need to be based on an in-depth understanding of the existential questions and real needs of people for which a more dialogical process is needed. This need demands getting along with people and understanding their needs holistically. An incarnational or a down-to-earth approach is greatly needed in approaching them. 

Challenge 5: Let us listen to various voices for a recalibration of ministry efforts.

The Global Listening Team wishes to emphasize the importance of listening to diverse kinds of people based on the 106 references made by 19 evangelical leaders in 12 countries. This challenge is about the need for evangelical leaders to recalibrate their ministry efforts.

Listening to the culture and people

Listening to people creates effective ministry pathways. Listening is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to another human being, and it is one of the things that we do most poorly, an Australian pastor emphasized. Because we do it so poorly, we miss out on so much, she added.  Another Australian pastor also posited that evangelism needs a recalibration, suggesting that we need to make conscious efforts to listen to the diverse voices of people.

An American mission leader said that we need to be out into the culture and listening more to what people are saying all around us. This posture calls for a more open approach to others around us, instead of staying within our small comfort zones. One Arab-Israeli leader said that we need to make conscious efforts to listen and engage with people around us, and even dare to bring others in to speak their opinions and share what they feel. Our gospel message will not be realistic without such listening, so churches need to listen to the people around them, a Lebanese leader explained. It is the same with para-church organizations and NGOs because they also need to listen to the people they serve, an Indian evangelical leader emphasized.

As a Lebanese leader explained, this challenge highlights the need for conversation and the importance of the depth of conversation. We need to ask questions well. This shows how the Christian faith is a relational faith, added a Spanish church leader. 

Listening for innovation

A Sri Lanka leader pointed out that the process of ministry innovation can begin with listening. We need to understand what is needed to be addressed in our contexts. The importance of listening to younger people was emphasized explicitly by a Japanese leader and a Sri Lankan leader through the interview process, but many others agreed on this need through the interview sessions. This is because young people are often marginalized in a church or in Christian ministries, as asserted by a Korean mission leader. An Arab-Israeli leader also called our attention to what younger leaders have been saying. 

A Korean mission leader drew our attention to innovations that are being realized through relational restoration. He suggested that there is a need for local platforms and the Lausanne Movement needs to be a local platform that is contextualized in local situations. A Lebanese evangelical leader explained that there has been a shift from church programs and evangelistic events to a more relational evangelism in many churches there. These leaders suggest that the Lausanne Movement needs to lead such efforts for ministry innovation.

Gender equality and listening to women

Listening efforts should be made to address the issues faced by ethnic minorities and other marginalized people. Listening to various voices is the key to practicing a polycentric missionary approach according to a Spanish leader.  

A consensus of evangelical leaders emphasized that special attention in our listening efforts needs to be given to gender equality issues. Answering questions on gender equality, most of the interviewees agreed on its importance as a core value in many contexts today, both culturally and religiously. A Spanish leader recognized that there are not enough female leaders to listen to. A Palestinian leader reminded us that in most churches, the majority of people are women, yet they are not given proper roles. 

A listening posture and prayer

A British evangelical leader highlighted a double listening mandate: both listening to the world and listening to the Word. An Egyptian leader emphasized that we need silence before speaking, which is meaningful in many contexts. Additional emphasis was laid on working on the grassroots level in the process of listening. 

Listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit through the Bible and prayer has been emphasized through the three listening projects. Innovation can be initiated through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As a Korean pastor aptly put it, we see a vision and dream a dream which attracts people through the Holy Spirit. He suggested that ministerial innovations can happen not artificially, but through the Spirit in this way 

The third listening process attempted to trace prayer movements around the world. In some regions, an increasing momentum for prayer movements has been observed, but not everywhere. The interviewees wished there would be more prayer movements being catalyzed in their regions and local contexts. 

Suggestions for Lausanne Movement

Some of the key informants who participated in the listening process made important recommendations and suggestions for the Lausanne Movement. Both Korean leaders showed a concern that the Lausanne Movement was becoming institutionalized, adding that it needs to be loosely organized so that it is not misperceived as an organization. A Korean mission leader stressed that this is the way the Lausanne Movement has been able to last for so long. The other Korean interviewee also asserted that the Lausanne Movement does not need to become larger in terms of its structure; rather, it needs to pursue becoming a dream-driven movement rather than a structure-driven movement. 

A Sri Lankan leader raised a concern over the problem of over-reaching and trying to do too much with the Lausanne Movement. He reminded us that everyone involved already has their own ministry or church and the addition of too many activities can be counterproductive. Therefore, adding activities should be done thoughtfully and selectively. They should be added based on the unique characteristics of the Lausanne Movement and where they can add the most value, the Sri Lankan interviewee emphasized.

On the other hand, there were important requests made for innovative training programs to be provided through the Lausanne networks. Taking advantage of innovative training programs that do not have residential requirements, online training programs need to be provided for bi-vocational ministry leaders, a Nigerian British leader suggested. A young Cameroonian pastor asked the Lausanne Movement to facilitate organizing seminars to help pastors and other ministry leaders utilize specific research findings.

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Many of our research participants or interviewees highlighted the relational dimension for recalibrating our ministries through their insightful comments. Among them, a church planter or leader in Spain seems to explicate the point clearly: 

The importance of relationships and a listening posture are considered to be the key aspects and process in recalibrating the purpose, methods, programs, and activities in our ministry in this rapidly changing world. An environmental scan of the changes in the realties surrounding our ministries will point to the need for such recalibration. We need to figure out a wise and strategic way for listening to the diverse voices of people around us.

Challenge 6: Let us give care to the suffering people with a special attention to their mental health issues.

This recommendation is to encourage caregiving for people who are suffering in this troubled world. This point is based on 33 references by 16 interviewees in 10 countries according to a frequency analysis using the NVivo software. This point also draws Christians’ attention to the issue of mental health among people in our times.

Disaster relief

A Japanese leader emphasized the importance of relief work for the victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Churches need to be prepared so that they can provide practical, emotional, and spiritual help for the victims and other people in desperate circumstances. A Sri Lankan interviewee also described the effectiveness of relief work during different crises, such as the 2004 Tsunami. When people have seen Christians step up and serve the citizens of the country, without expecting anything in return and not forcing the message down people’s throats, they felt respect for Christians and the rights of Christians in Sri Lanka. 

A Korean mission leader expressed his concern regarding the declining reputation of the church in Korea. He pointed out that the negative public image of churches in Korea has hindered effective evangelism there. In retrospect, he thinks the churches should have contributed to the general well-being of society more actively during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other sources of human suffering

Churches and Christian organizations also need to raise awareness of the problem of global human trafficking as pointed out by an Indian evangelical leader. There is a growing awareness of the seriousness of the problem among humanitarian organizations, but churches and Christian organizations need to pay more attention to this issue. It needs to be addressed specifically in each local context.

A Palestinian ministry leader lamented that not much has been done for those with special needs such as the handicapped in his region. Improving the accessibility of disabled people is something Christian ministries need to contribute to. An Indian interviewee illustrated how all the disabled and all those who had been confined to their homes were able to virtually attend online church services and programs during the COVID-19 pandemic period through new technologies. There should be more opportunities for partnerships and collaborations with disabled people in the years ahead.

In a rapidly aging society such as Japan, a Japanese leader emphasized the significant need to care for the elderly in their neighborhoods. Also, care for those who battle terminal illness was needed, according to an Australian pastor. It is also important to help families navigate things like infertility or raising autistic children in a Christian context.

In many countries of the world, economic hardship creates a sense of instability in many sectors of society. There are always deprived and underprivileged people who need the caring touch of the churches and Christian organizations. The faith communities need to make efforts to take care of such people by way of an incarnational ministry.

Mental health issues

The mental issues of teenagers and young people such as depression, stress, and anxiety are keeping people from themselves according to an observation of a young Danish ministry leader. A Romanian leader also thinks that young people also suffer from emotional ups and downs. Children’s mental health also needs our attention as specified by a Nigerian British leader. We need to be there with the brokenhearted.

An American church leader also understands that this digital generation, more so than others, is consumed with anxiety and depression. They are a generation immersed in technology and consumed with their self-image; as a result, low self-esteem is pervasive. We need to assure them that there is a purpose outside of themselves and that there is something worth living for. They need to know that God has designed them that way and that they can be liberated from focusing only on themselves to focusing on others. 

Another American interviewee finds that the younger generations are sometimes shaky in their faith as many were not raised in a healthy family background. As a result, they have grown up with a victim mentality and become thin-skinned because the world has told them so. They need a place where they can be with a team that can love them and challenge them. They want relationships, and they want to be involved. 

Missional discipleship in a context of suffering

A Nigerian British evangelical leader encourages us to reimagine discipleship in the context of suffering. He asserts that a discipleship paradigm that is rooted in power must be displaced. We need a discipleship that is rooted in suffering, which simply means we need to take seriously Jesus’ model of discipleship, which is rooted in suffering and sacrifice. We need to reimagine discipleship in the light of suffering and sacrifice to be able to minister in our world. 

Talking to people and addressing their real pains, their real concerns, is critical in practicing a missional discipleship. According to an Arab-Israeli leader, we need to address not only spiritual needs but also physical, emotional, and other needs of suffering people.

Expertise for healing and restoration

Various approaches for healing and restoration are needed as the churches and Christian ministries try to engage in the reality of these kinds of suffering. An Australian ministry leader reminds us that we can come off as victims if we have not fully healed from our woundedness. Healing from different kinds of trauma, from experiences of walking away from faith, from being fully immersed in other counterfeit faiths—these healings are a critical part of Christian ministries in our times. 

Churches and Christian organizations need to build expertise in areas such as counselling, medical care, and other related fields. NGOs and orphanages and other parachurch organizations need such expertise as well. The key task is to identify those who are suffering and to love them by meeting their needs. Our programs must be driven by our active engagement in realities on the ground and the needs of people. We need to be where the most marginalized and ostracized communities and people are as suggested by an Indian evangelical leader. 

One focus of Christian ministries is to help people to find the meaning of life as they go through hardships and traumatic experiences, explained an Arab-Israeli leader. It is encouraging to find that an openness to the gospel emerges when people are in situations of suffering, when they feel that life is completely uncomfortable or when life is short, as posited by an Australian pastor.

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A Japanese evangelical leader persuasively illustrated how churches and Christian organization interventions helped progress the gospel through their relief activities after the Great Tohoku Earthquake in Japan in March 2011. This illustration summarizes our sixth challenge on the need for caregiving to those who are going through a crisis, a traumatic experience, or hardships of various kinds:

There is progress also being made in some of the areas that address mental health issues or other related things as seen by an Australian pastor. We need to move forward in our ministry approaches to bring about changes, healing, and restoration in the many lives that are variously suffering. This challenge is at the core of the missional mandate in our times.

Challenge 7: Let us tell the lived stories of God’s unconditional love.

This seventh and final challenge is an overarching theme related to the previous challenging messages. Its main point is that we need to tell the message of God’s unconditional love as stories lived out in our contexts. This important point emerges from a reading of 28 references made by 9 interviewees in 6 countries.

The message of the cross

The task of the church should not be understood as expanding its borders but as expanding Jesus’ love according to a Japanese leader. The orders created by churches and denominations need to be integrated so that the unity of the churches can be strengthened. The emphasis on the love of God shown in Jesus Christ is at the center of the gospel message, which is the uniting force for diverse parts in the body of Christ. 

A Korean pastor reminds us that the churches and Christians need to follow the way of the cross and not depend on external powers. The way of the cross is the source and method for our lives and ministries as followers of Christ in the world. This truth is the liberating message for the whole world.

 A Danish ministry leader notes that young people are not searching for the answers to their questions in the right place. They need to come to the true knowledge of Christ Jesus through the ministry of the church. Faith stories of diverse backgrounds and realities need to be shared using the advanced media of our times, as suggested by an Australian pastor. 

The message of hope, not guilt

One important issue in delivering the gospel is that there is a recognition that the evangelical church has made people feel guilty and impotent about personal evangelism and sharing their faith according to a British evangelical leader. The overall congregational enthusiasm for sharing the gospel has been declining over the years, which has to do with the feelings of guilt mentioned above.

A Romanian evangelical leader also draws our attention the fact that many theological teachings or messages tend to create guilty feelings rather than empowerment. It also has to do with the exaggerated emphasis on “testing our heart” or “checking our path” within the church. We need to devote our thinking more to what we believe about our new identity in Christ. We need to teach more about the promise in Christ, sharing our hope that we can make a difference both in our lives and the lives of many others. He goes on to suggest that we need to bring the message of hope to the forefront in offering guidance on pressing issues within our Christian context. 

Telling the lived and healed stories

We use stories just as Jesus used illustrations because we wish to tap into that part of people that either makes them laugh, cry, or feel as though ‘they are just like me’ explained an Australian pastor. In addressing the questions of younger people, we also need to take a storytelling approach. We need to tell the stories of goodness in the past and the present to encourage younger people, as suggested by a Nigerian British leader.

Storytelling can reach the brokenhearted according to a Romanian leader. An Australian pastor underscored the importance of presenting the message of love in sharing our stories of faith. They may be perceived as imperfect glimpses of the gospel, but God can use them powerfully to bring men and women into saving knowledge of who he is. The shared stories bring us together based on that which is universal among people. We can tap into what we have in common and tell stories that make a way for the gospel. We need to share the stories of how coming to faith has changed someone’s life through real situations such as terminal illness, death, infertility, and financial struggle, as emphasized by an Australian pastor.

The stories of lived and healed experiences of people emerging from horrible situations powerfully display the unconditional love of God. Such storytelling is worthy of listening to and persuasive to the brokenhearted, as explained an Australian ministry leader. People need to hear compelling stories so that they may engage meaningfully with a faith community. An Australian pastor pointed to the fact that even in a completely anti-Christian environment, people tend not to oppose love or peace. As another Australian pastor emphasized, at the local level, every individual has a need for Jesus and most of them are not offended by Jesus. Rather, it is our framework for what we think is evangelism needs recalibration. 

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The core content of this challenge can be summarized by the following two passages of statements made by two comparatively young evangelical leaders. The first part reflects a Romanian perspective, but it could just as well reflect the global church:

The second part of this challenge emphatically points to the need for telling the lived and healed stories of faith, our faith in God’s unconditional love. This part is drawn from a listening call or conversation in Australia: 

In telling real-life stories of experiencing God’s unconditional love, the guidance of the Holy Spirit is critical. We need to seek this guidance as we try to understand the trajectories of people’s lives and the existential questions contained within them. Storytelling requires cultural relevance but the entire process of empathetic listening and telling needs to depend on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

Conclusion

The first three challenges can be regarded as the foundations of a house. The recommendations to 1) construct a discipleship community, 2) mentor younger generations, and 3) see the bigger picture of the remaining task of the Great Commission come before all other challenges. They are foundational to the other specific recommendations and approaches.

The next three challenges serve as the pillars of the house. The recommendations to 4) consider the cultural trends, 5) listen to diverse voices, and 6) care for the suffering are the essential approaches needed in the global outreach of the evangelical church.

The seventh and final challenge of telling the lived stories of God’s unconditional love may be likened to the roof of the house. This recommendation is the overarching theme that can be applied to Christian ministries that are crossing cultural barriers in this turbulent world. This ultimate task entails the core biblical message that must be creatively delivered in a variety of ways. People who talk about the meaninglessness of life need to hear this message.

The following is a conceptual framework that summarizes our findings through the listening research:

The changes and challenges in ministerial environments reflect how the complex dynamics of globalization and postmodernism intersect with one another and combine to affect the hearts and minds of people in our times. A renewed emphasis on the immutable biblical message of God’s love needs to cover every corner of brokenness in people’s lives. God’s unconditional love needs to be expressed creatively in our practice of discipleship and missional living. 

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 (Romans 8:37-39, English Standard Version)