Research resources from and for missional Christian leaders
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Holistic Mission
This Lausanne Occasional Paper begins with a general introduction to holistic mission by René Padilla, which was written as a common foundation for the work of the Holistic Mission Issue Group at the Lausanne Forum held at Pattaya, Thailand in the...
'At Risk' People
Jesus’ approach to people is counter-intuitive, even shocking. Instead of the King of all consorting with rulers and dignitaries, He preferred to spend his time with those that nobody else wanted to be with – let alone touch. As we, the ‘At...
Hidden and Forgotten People Including Those Who are Disabled
In 1963, some said that the Age of Missions was over and that missionaries were only to go where local Christians invited them. Yet, 1970 figures showed that 44% of the world lived in unreached people groups. In 1974, God used Dr. Winter’s...
Ministry among People with Disabilities
In South America, a woman with cerebral palsy has been lying in bed for 7 years in a back bedroom of a cinder-block home. In Africa, a young girl with Down syndrome is left on a river bank to perish because her parents believe she is a bad omen. In...
Towards the Transformation of Our Cities/Regions
Christianity was first and foremost an urban movement. However, for much of the history of the Church that has not always been true (Conn and Ortiz: 39-43). In June 1980, a fresh missiological movement with the large cities of the world was born in...
Partnership and Collaboration
When Jesus was preparing to leave this earth, a key element of His prayer in the 17th Chapter of John dealt with “unity.” This is familiar to all of us. And our inability to fully realize Jesus’ prayer is too. For more information go to...
The Local Church in Mission
It is our deep conviction that congregations both in the West and in the Two-Thirds Worlds must make the transition to become “missional congregations”. Just what is a missional congregation? Missional congregations are those communities of...
Marketplace Ministry
Many may have had the experience of stepping onto a train in London, Sydney or elsewhere, to the ritualistic incantation of the words ‘Mind the Gap’ warning you not to fall between the platform and train. This is an apt analogy for the gap...
Future Leadership
The Vision: A Global Movement for Developing Christ-Like LeadersWhy do we need a global movement of leader development?Who is a leader?What sort of leaders do we need?What is a Christ-like leader?How are leaders developed?How can a global movement...
Prayer in Evangelism
The vision of Issue Group 13 on ‘Prayer in Evangelism’ was to ‘Embrace God’s agenda for World Evangelization through Prayer in Evangelism.’ Its purpose was to ‘Reawaken, encourage and equip the church to be involved in world...
The Realities of the Changing Expressions of the Church
Over the past thirty years new varieties of church have emerged all over the world. This study is based on cases from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Each of these churches considers themselves to be authentic expressions of...
The Two Thirds World Church
The Two-Thirds World Church and Evangelization What is God doing in the Two Thirds World Church?How can these churches be more effective in the following areas?What is the role of the Two Thirds World churches in the world today?In what ways can the...
Religious and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World
In the Western world there is a growing sense of need to have some spiritual orientation in life. However, those who pursue this quest for spirituality are uncomfortable with institutionalised religion. They are also disturbed by explanations of...
Redeeming the Arts: The Restoration of the Arts to God’s Creational Intention
For an established and respected mission organization to recognize the arts as strategic to the life and mission of the church, and to commission a paper about the arts in the context of faith and redemption, is both visionary and long overdue....
Evangelization of Children
The dominating issue in children’s evangelization is: Children represent arguably the largest unreached people group and the most receptive people group in the world. Yet the church is largely unprepared to take up the huge opportunities for...
Media and Technology: The Rainbow, the Ark and the Cross
Why Media Concerns UsMedia Specific ConcernsMission Specific ConcernsModel Specific ConcernsMedia CasesDiscussion Guidelines for the Local Church For more information go to Media and Technology: The Rainbow, the Ark and the Cross on the Lausanne...
Understanding Muslims
All over the world, innovative forms of witnessing to and discipling Muslims are developing which are seeing greatly increased fruitfulness. There are movements of Muslims to Christ numbering in the thousands, in diverse parts of the world,...
The Impact on Global Mission of Religious Nationalism and 9/11 Realities
History is the story of nations. History includes the stories of culture, language, politics and religion. Down through history, religion has played a major role in shaping nations and society. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity Islam and other...
Reconciliation as the Mission of God
The chapter presents a theological vision for reconciliation as God’s mission in a broken world. While pointing to signs of hope, the paper analyzes how the Christian community is being caught up in many destructive conflicts and divisions across...
The 12/25 Challenge Reaching the Youth Generation
We are called to develop a passion for the young generation. What is the generation like? They are a generation of unbounding energy, a generation with high powered creativity, a generation characterized by existential questions, a generation with...
Empowering Women and Men to Use Their Gifts Together in Advancing the Gospel
In order that the whole Church may take the whole gospel to the whole world, we, the issue Lausanne Issue Group 24 “Empowering Men and Women for Ministry,” affirm that more labourers, both men and women, must be released to exercise their...
Making Disciples of Oral Learners
From the time of the Gutenberg Bible, Christianity “has walked on literate feet” and has directly or indirectly required literacy of others. However, 70% of all people in the world are oral communicators • those who can’t, don’t, or...
Diasporas and International Students: The New People Next Door
The movement of peoples in our world creates many new challenges. The word ‘Diaspora’ meaning ‘a scattering’ is used to describe this large-scale movement of people from their homeland to settle permanently or temporarily in other countries....
Funding for Evangelism and Mission
Lausanne 2004 … Forum for World Evangelization … addressed many of the key issues facing the church and its mission in this decade. Participants at the conference were invited to join one of over 30 “Issue Groups,” with each group assigned...
Effective Theological Education for World Evangelization
“When he saw the crowds Jesus had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,...
Bioethics: Obstacle or Opportunity for the Gospel?
Two questions faced the bioethics group at the 2004 World Evangelisation Forum. First, many were asking ‘What is bioethics?’ and second, ‘What on earth has it got to do with evangelisation?’ For more information go to Bioethics: Obstacle or...
Business as Mission
The world holds fresh opportunities and challenges for the global Church. In regions where Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are dominant and where 90% of the world’s unreached peoples live, you also find 80% of the world’s poorest populations....
Jewish Evangelism: A Call to the Church
We are Not Ashamed of the Gospel Jewish evangelism means to share the gospel with Jewish people. Jesus did it and the apostles did it. The first communities of Jewish believers in Jerusalem and Galilee did it. The early church took shape through...
Following Jesus in Our Broken World
‘The whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world’. This is the resounding vision of the Lausanne movement. Emerging out of the epoch-making first Lausanne Congress of 1974, Lausanne has functioned as a forum for a wide range of...
Following Jesus as Unique Lord and Saviour in a Broken Pluralistic World
Truth claims lie at the heart of every religion. The uniqueness of each religion is framed primarily in terms of its respective truth claims. In their attempts to construct a Christian the-ology of religions, leading theologians like John Hick, Paul...