Capetown Kickoff
CAPETOWN KICK OFF
I am in one of the most beautiful cities in the world attending one of the most diverse and representative gatherings in human history! Capetown is the venue for the Third Lausanne Congress on world evangelization. The congress theme is expressed in the words of that great gospel pioneer ,Paul who declared,” God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” ( 2 Corinthians 5:19)
As I reflect on the opening of the Congress, I want to offer three messages from the launch of Lausanne Three – a message from those who came to Capetown 2010 and two messages from those who did not.
We sang the hymn that marked the Edinburgh Conference in 1910, as we did over 4,000 voices from 198 nations were raised to God. We sang, “Crown him with many crowns.” This collective song of adoration is a foretaste of heaven, when people from every tribe and tongue will declare the greatness of Jesus- the Lamb of God. Lausanne Three may well be the most representative gathering of Christ followers in human history. 40% of the participants are in their 20s, 30s, or 40s; 1/3 are women; there are 1200 pastors or denominational leaders; 1200 missionaries; 1200 academics; and 600 leaders who exercise influence through business, government, or medicine.
The message from the anthem we sang is, in the words of Leighton Ford, Jesus is Master of every culture and servant of none- Jesus is LORD of the nations! I was moved deeply as our voices were raised ...our singing was a declaration of the supremacy of Jesus and the supracultural nature of the gospel. We sang:
“Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne,
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing
of him who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King
through all eternity.Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed o'er the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save.
His glories now we sing,
who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.Crown him the Lord of peace,
whose power a sceptre sways
from pole to pole, that wars may cease,
and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end,
and round his pierced feet
fair flowers of paradise extend
their fragrance ever sweet.Crown him the Lord of love;
behold his hands and side,
those wounds, yet visible above,
in beauty glorified.
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For thou hast died for me;
thy praise and glory shall not fail
throughout eternity.
Doug Birdsall, the Congress chair, read a letter from the man who launched the Lausanne movement, 92 year old Billy Graham. The veteran evangelist is frail and is not in attendance. He assured the Congress of his prayers and reminded us that while there have been dramatic changes over recent years, some things do not change, “the needs of the human heart are the same, the gospel is the same and the love of God is the same.” Billy Graham challenged us via his correspondence : “keep evangelism at the center, keep your focus on Christ, make Scripture foundation, and pray,pray,pray.”
The final message conveyed at the launch of this global gathering was a message sent in silence. The Chinese participants were prohibited from coming by their repressive government. Their absence is a sober reminder that many Christ followers across the planet face mistreatment, hardship and persecution because of their devotion to Jesus. Check out the article below from Christian NewsWire:
ChinaAid: Chinese Government Persecuting Lausanne Delegates
Christian Newswire 10/14/2010
BEIJING—Over the past few months, the Chinese government has been suppressing the 200 house church representatives who have been invited to attend the 3rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. According to information obtained by ChinaAid, all invitees, whether Uyghur Christians from Xinjiang or Han Christians from Beijing, have been contacted by authorities for questioning. Family members of the invitees have also been threatened.
Two underground Christians from Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, were stopped by officials as they tried to depart for South Africa. On Oct. 9, one of them was placed under a 15-day detention.
Five invitees were stopped by customs officials at the Beijing airport on Oct. 10. Four had their passports confiscated; one was detained.
Dr. Fan Yafeng, who holds a doctorate degree in comparative constitutional law, is a prominent legal scholar, leader of the Chinese Christian Legal Defense Association and the winner of the 2009 John Leland Religious Liberty Award. He was harassed by Beijing police on Oct. 12 after accepting an interview from National Public Radio pertaining to the Lausanne Congress. Twenty policemen were assigned to stop him from leaving his apartment.
According to inside sources, approximately 100 house church members and pastors will be arriving at Beijing International Airport to depart for the Lausanne Congress. On Oct. 13, about 1,000 police officers arrived to prepare to restrain the believers and prevent them from boarding planes. The officers will have about a 10-to-1 advantage over the house church Christians.
Fan commented that underground Chinese Christians should not naively put hope in the Chinese communist regime, and should place their trust in God, and continue to nonviolently strive for religious freedom, human rights, rule of law and democracy in China. Fan strongly supports legal defense as a very effective tool. He also strongly criticized the persecution of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and his wife by the Chinese government.
ChinaAid will continue to closely watch upcoming developments. ChinaAid encourages the organizers of the Lausanne Congress to refuse to be intimidated and speak on behalf of the persecuted Christians who have been invited to attend.
