Free Day on Thursday

    The congress organizers were very wise in planning one free day in an event that lasted an entire week. Sunday evening had primarily been a fantastic welcome filled with pageantry unlike anything I have ever seen in honor of the King of Kings!

  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with activity from morning ‘til night. It was nice to know on Wednesday evening that we could take it easy the next day.   There had been the opportunity early in the week to sign up for mission related activities or sight-seeing on Thursday. Some were close by and some were further away and covered a variety of price ranges.

  I would have enjoyed doing a mission related project because I knew that Brian and I were planning to stay for three days after the congress to do some sight-seeing.  Judd, Doug’s son, planned a family-outing right in Cape Town. All of us had seen each other a little bit but we had not spent time together as a family so I obviously was pleased that the opportunity finally presented itself. We were in three different hotels.  Judd said we should meet at 10:30 at the one closest to the convention center.

  Even without an alarm clock I had been waking each morning at 6 am. I would get up and get dressed and go down and have breakfast. Brian would follow a little later. There were several little tables for two that were side by side. I would usually sit at one of those and engage someone else at a neighboring table in conversation.  Many of the guests at our hotel were congress participants but not all. If they weren’t congress participants, they were quite curious about who we were and why we had gathered.

  Thursday morning I slept until 8 am! When I went for breakfast, the area was more crowded than usual and I sat at a little table way over against a wall. When going through the line to select my breakfast I saw the tall South African pastor with AIDS who had given his testimony. I told him I appreciated what he had shared. I went back to my little table and became absolutely overwhelmed with God’s grace in my life from protecting me from so many of the atrocities I had heard about during the week—human trafficking, AIDS, being displaced because of natural and man-made disasters, persecution, ignorance, etc, etc. I felt completely unworthy of the good life with which I have been blessed. I became more than just a little misty-eyed. I wept. When I started back to my room I hoped nobody would notice that I was visibly upset. However a maid met me in the hall and gave me a very sympathetic look. I stopped and put my arm around her and said, “I am so happy.” She smiled and obviously understood. When I walked in the room, Brian was on his computer. He also could see I had been crying and gave me a quizzical look. I said, “Why me?”

    “What’s wrong, sister?” I told him God has been too good to me. Brian asked what prompted my emotions and we talked about how incredibly and undeservedly blessed we are.

  When we got to the hotel lobby where we were supposed to meet the rest of the family we heard another example of God’s marvelous grace.  There was a young man who Judd knew that was of mid-eastern ethnicity. This young man was quite a story-teller and was telling a group several “getting- through-airport” stories. Most of them had to do with his ethnic appearance and the fact that he was formerly a member of the radical military group. Judd asked him if he could give a shortened version of his testimony. He was raised in a proud Muslim home. This young man did everything he could to be a very good Muslim. He did not find contentment and begged God to make Himself known to him. When in prison for political reasons he had a dramatic conversion experience like I’ve read about but never heard in person.  It was spine-tingling. My testimony of being raised in a Christian home in the USA will never give anyone chills. . .but I’m grateful for God’s grace which dramatically saves some and graciously protects others.

  It was awhile before our family outing began.  While sitting there in the hotel lobby Jeanie (Doug’s wife) and I talked to one of the ladies on the same communications team as me. She is an English and French professor at Gordon College and attends the same church in South Hamilton, MA, as Doug and Jeanie. She grew up in St. Louis, attended DePauw University in Indiana. She was raised in a mainline denomination but never heard the gospel. While at DePauw she spent a year abroad at the University of Lausanne and became friends with a daughter of the late Francis Shaffer. When she heard the gospel for the first time she knew it was different than anything she had ever heard previously. She became a Christian by Thanksgiving of that year and had the opportunity to be discipled at L’Abri. Yet another example of God’s amazing grace!

  Our family outing finally began and we went to a fort called the Castle of Good Hope that is one of the oldest buildings on the cape of South Africa built in 1666. We saw some military re-enactments and took a tour of the grounds. Part of the fort included a prison and a torture chamber. Each morning just prior to the Bible exposition, the passage to be studied from Ephesians was read aloud by a member of the drama team. A prison cell was pictured on the big screen behind the stage. It was interesting to be in that tiny, centuries-old prison cell and think of the world-wide and eternal influence Paul had during his confinement.

 From the fort we walked through a part of downtown and saw some open air markets. We saw several beggars. Local tourist information and congress information encouraged us not to give them money but to give to local charitable organizations.  We had lunch at an ethnically diverse location—Kentucky Fried Chicken. J There were some pieces left over in our bucket so I carried them to give to the next beggar we encountered. It wasn’t long ’til we saw two beggars on a bench. I gave them the bucket which included a loaf of bread. The woman told me over and over, “I love you to Jesus, I love you to Jesus.” I told her I loved her to Jesus, too. 

  Our downtown walk included a visit to an Anglican church where Desmond Tutu had presided. It was the only church which allowed both blacks and whites to worship together during apartheid. Beautiful cathedrals are so conducive to worship.

  The parliament building in Cape Town is beautiful and is surrounded by large and gorgeous gardens. The trees, grass, flowers, and plants were lush. The birds were different than we see at home but they had squirrels which had been imported from the US. They look just like the ones we have running around in our yard on High Street!  The afternoon was spent leisurely. We stopped at a coffee shop for something to eat and drink. On our way back to the hotel we walked through another open air market, the Green Market, that has beautiful jewelry, tapestries, and wood carvings. It was a very pleasant afternoon with Doug, Jeanie, Jessa, Judd, Joji, Brian and me.



"I love you to Jesus" all because of KFC!

L to r; me, Jessa, Jeanie, and Joji--Doug's sister, daughter, wife and daughter-in-law at the gardens surrounding the parliament building in Cape Town.



This man's conversion experiece is similar to that of the Apostle Paul.



World Faiths

   I mentioned John Piper's message the other day and the fact that he addressed the importance of the meeeting currrent societal problems and the need for" people saved." I wasn't as clear as he was in saying the two must go hand in hand. We cannot neglect one for the other. We must address homelessness, hunger, poverty, HIV/AIDS, etc but he said we must remember to claim the gospel as well. If people don't accept Christ as Savior their eternal suffering will be much greater ithan any suffering they are currently experiencing here on earth.
      
 Libby Little, the window of a recently martyred missionary to Pakistan gave a testimony following Piper's talk. Her husband and 9 others went into a remote part of Pakistan only available by foot. They went to do medical work. Little called his wife 2x a day for one minute. She read notes from the brief comments he made. After completing the medical work, the team started to return home. The entire team was killed. Afterwards someone presented her with some notes from her husband's Bible. He had been asked to deliver devotions to the group which on their trip. It was obvious that he had cared for physical needs to aleviate people's current pain but he had also delivered the gospel while in that remote area. What a powerful testimony.
 
When Mrs. Little finished her testimoy I noticed a fairly loud "moaning" sound. I thought it sounded as though it was meant to be disruptive. I assume security would take care of it quickly. I found out soon afterwards that it was a Muslim man just experiencing deep sorrow for the lostness of many of his people. Apparently several people surrounded him and prayed for him.

John Piper and me.

  I wrote in my notes that day that I yad noticed delegates who came in wheel chairs, with walkers and a blind man being led by another.
 
  There is defitely more to be said about Wednesday's activities but I can harly hold my head up any longer sitting here in the Abu Dhabi airport. It is time to try again to get as comfortable as possible in a molder plastic chair.

Reconciliation

Ned and Robin Kiser and me in the chairman's office.

The topic for the second day of the congress was reconciliation. The Bible exposition was done by Ruth   of Costa Rica. She emphasized the words dealing with time—you “were” dead in sins, but “now” you are alive in Christ. The second chapter of Ephesians also talks about the “one new man instead of two.” The session which followed dealt with examples where reconciliation was needed—in countries where there has been civil war, in places were human trafficking is very prevalent, etc.

  I believe I already mentioned that there was very effective use of video, dramas and creative dance. That morning a video was shown which depicted young boys being forced to become soldiers at very young ages; a creative dance at the beginning of the session depicted incredible discord and the same group presented an image of beautiful harmony at the end of the session. A Jew and a Palestinian were on the platform together giving personal testimony of the reconciliation that Christ provides for people of nationalities/ethnicities that traditionally hate each other. The message conveyed that morning was powerful.

  During some of the free time, I went to the chairman’s office and helped Ned and Robin Kiser (formerly of Huntington) with some of the constant minu of details that need to be cared for throughout the week. Ned was one of the “point men” on Doug’s behalf. He was constantly on the move. Robin cheerfully handled the never ending mundane tasks such as folding and stuffing, writing names on name tags or placards, making sure rooms for Doug’s appointments were properly prepared, etc, etc.

  I had met a gal that day named Sandy Smith from Quebec who was instrumental in a prayer request I had later in the week.

  I also mentioned earlier that I went to the multiplex session in the afternoon on the environment. That was considered one of the areas of reconciliation that should be important to evangelical believers. God created two things before the Fall—family and work in caring for His creation. During creation he pronounced everything that He had made as “Good.”  Its our job to keep it that way, or in many cases to help restore it.

  The time and praise and worship was incredible. After two days of 5,000 participants being together we were definitely worshipping as one body!!!

 The regional focus that evening was on the Middle East. It was great to hear reports of how open the church is in Iran. On our flight down here, the airplane captain pointed out the lights of Tehran as we flew over it. Based on what I remember from 30 years ago, I was surprised to hear how open that country is to the gospel.  However, in many of those countries persecution comes with salvation.

  The global issue was HIV/AIDS and human trafficking.  A tall white South African pastor talked about his experience with AIDS. A beautiful, passionate woman from Zambia told of her work among HIV/AIDS patients in her country. The pastor acknowledged that the church is sympathetic to AIDS patients who have “accidentally” contracted AIDS through unclean needles but are generally quite judgmental to those who got the disease through a promiscuous lifestyle. He acknowledged that by the grace of God his life has been transformed. Such testimonies side by side helped people like me to realize that no matter how a person became ill or became a victim, they need Jesus. The Zambian princess closed in the session in prayer. She prayed first in her native language and then in English. Her praying was powerful!

  The evening session was closed by reciting the Lord’s Prayer simultaneously in many languages and then singing the Doxology.  I loved the celebratory praise early in the evening and equally loved the older hymn to finalize our time together as believers.

   Later in the week we heard about a group of Portugese who formally went to some Nigerians and asked for forgiveness from decades ago regarding slavery. We also heard to reconciliation between two men at the congress where animosity have been present for a long time.

Abu Dhabi

This is the second largest mosque in the world. It is still under construction. It is huge and beautiful.

   Brian and I are heading to Abu Dhabi today. We left the retreat center this morning at 6 am to head to the Cape Town airport.  I’m sorry to leave such a beautiful country and this place where I’ve experienced some of the highlights of my life. Once again the sun was brilliantly flooding the valley where we spent the last three nights. Those very nice accommodations were courtesy of a generous Christian couple who have supported the third Lausanne congress since the initial planning to come to Cape Town three years ago.

   Abu Dhabi is the capitol of one of the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf.  The website said it is crime free (because of severe punishment if caught) and has 24/7 bus service from the airport to the city. One of the newest, largest and most beautiful mosques in the world was recently constructed in Abu Dhabi. The outside is made of Italian white marble and is supposedly even more beautiful at night than during the day. We have a 9-hour lay-over from mid-night to 9 am so we are hoping to take advantage of a night time tour. A young Christian lady we met at the congress, Kavita Mathews, lives in Abu Dhabi and agreed that it is safe and beautiful to visit the Arab city at night.

Session Summary 3

SESSION SUMMARY

“LOCAL LEADERS IN THE GLOBAL CHURCH”

DATE/TIME: Sunday, October 24, 2010, 2:00-3:30 pm (14:00-15:30)

SUMMARIZER:  Connie Potter                          

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE/PROBLEM: Well trained local leaders are instrumental in being hands and feet as mission agents.

KEY POINTS:             Biblical basis for developing local leaders—Mark 3:13-15 and II Timothy 2:2

PRESENTERS: Paul Joshua, Bangalore, India; Yamile Santos, Argentina, South America; Duncan Olumbe, Kenya, East Africa

SYNOPSIS OF THE SESSION: Paul Joshua talked about significance in leadership: the spirituality of leadership—being with Jesus; all true authority is derived from God; leadership is not about position but exerting wholesome influence. Spiritual leadership should result in healthy polycentrism, cultural pluralism and multiple patterns.

Yamile Santos presented a case study of leadership training which started in her home. As the opportunities for leadership training continued, schools with curriculums were developed. At the heart of the training was instilling conviction, imparting knowledge and understanding, and then the ability to live out those two things.

Duncan Olumbe discussed some tensions which are potential concerns especially for young emerging leaders. Higher education may cause a concern for the leader in terms of being globally aware vs. locally relevant; credibility may be an issue between a well-known leader in a highly visible locale vs. an unknown leader in an obscure location; transferring leadership from older leaders to younger leaders needs to be handled with care.

TAKEAWAYS

Attendees gathered in groups of 4-6 to discuss the following questions:

What is significant  (+ve & -ve) about your leadership? What changes will be required if you follow Christ’s model?

Do the new realities of the church resonate with your experience? Does it make sense from where you are? If yes, explain. If not what do you see?

If you follow through with the three recommendations made, what would it look like on the ground where you are?

What are the implications for the world church as she works together in God’s mission?

A question and answer time followed the group discussions.

Session Summary 2

Session Summary 2 is included below.

SESSION SUMMARY

“CALLING THE CHURCH OF CHRIST BACK TO HUMILITY, INTEGRITY AND SIMPLICITY”

DATE/TIME: Saturday, October 23, 2010, 11:00-12:30 pm

SUMMARIZER:  Connie Potter

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE/PROBLEM

1--The main problems facing the church are not from the outside—they are from God’s own people.

2—A “different” gospel is rapidly growing in nations and denominations.

3—Christ redeemed both men and women.

KEY POINTS 

1--Idols among God’s own people—the idol of power and pride, the idol of popularity and success, the idol of wealth and greed.

2—The prosperity gospel focuses on material possessions, physical well-being and success in this life; Scripture is often manipulated to promote that false message.

3—God calls and gifts women as well as men. The gifts of all are needed to reach all.

PRESENTERS: 1--Chris Wright,

    2--Femi Adeleye,

    3--Elke Werner

SYNOPSIS OF THE SESSION

1--Chris Wright discussed the idols that tempt Christian workers. He presented Scripture which showed that all three “idols” were present in both Old and New Testament. The antidote for the idol of power and pride is repentance in humility; for popularity and success is integrity; for wealth and greed it is simplicity.

Jesus faced the same temptations in the desert but resisted using the word of God. The Reformation in Europe centuries ago was necessary because of the same three idols. The world-wide evangelical church should take the lead in cleaning up idolatry in our day and age.

When Jesus preached repentance it was to religious leaders. We need a radical return to the Lord through Humility, Integrity, Simplicity—HIS.   

2—Misinterpretation of Scripture misleads some to believe that Jesus came to make us rich rather than take away sins; overlooks that giving is primarily a form of worship; portrays Jesus as rich; overlooks the needs of others.

TAKEAWAYS

A call to a time of personal reflection and repentance. The three presenters and Brenda McNeil Slater, emcee for each morning session, led the congress participants in a responsive prayer of repentance.

Session Summary 1

Writing sessions summaries was my job. Included below is one of four which I did.

SESSION SUMMARY

“DISCERNING THE WILL OF CHRIST FOR THE 21^st CENTURY WORLD EVANGELIZATION”

DATE/TIME: October 22, 2010, 11:00-12:30 pm

SUMMARIZER:  Connie Potter

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE/PROBLEM

Where is the church not present? What are we going to do about it? After 2,000 years there are still people who don’t have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that’s just plain wrong!

PRESENTERS: David Yoo, Paul Eschleman, 5 participants (*see below)

KEY POINTS 

Assumptions in setting global priorities: 1) All elements of strategy must have a scriptural foundation; 2) Taking the gospel to all nations is the only part of the Great Commission with a completable dimension; 3) Taking the gospel must go where churches are not present; 4) No country of the world is exempt from the sending or the receiving of the Gospel 5) Faith must be demonstrated—it is hollow without demonstration.

SYNOPSIS OF THE SESSION  

Eschleman stated that Scripture translation is our number one priority. It is impossible to do ministry without a Biblical foundation. Many statistics were presented to congress participants regarding the number of people groups with no or limited printed Scripture. A “new” method of evangelism, resembling what was done before the printing press was invented, is called the Oral Story Bible.

*Two young ladies involved in Oral Story Bible teams in sensitive areas told of their experiences of evangelizing via story-telling. Both have seen many come to know Jesus Christ and share the Gospel with others as a result of communicating the message of the Bible through stories.

 Eschleman also reminded congress participants that evangelism must remain a priority in ministry. It must not be pushed aside. It must be delivered with the right platform in order to be received. Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists make up half the population of the world. We must reach out to these people with acts of love and prayer.

*Two gentlemen gave testimony of their witness to Muslim scholars mullahs, imams and sheiks resulting in converts.

Eschleman’s final point was to present information and hand-outs identifying the UUPGs—Unengaged & Unreached People Groups. After explaining the printed information he asked congress participants two questions: 1) Why haven’t these groups been reached with the Gospel? 2) How could your church or organization work with a local partner to launch an effort toward one of these people groups? Time for table discussion was granted. Eschleman reported that the number one answer to his first question is, “I didn’t know.” “Now you know,” he responded! Fortunately, much progress has been made in that area in the last five years. A call for written commitment was issued. Eschleman said the four minutes allowed for the response may be the four most important minutes for millions of unreached people concerning their eternal destiny.

 TAKEAWAYS

1.      A DVD--The classic JESUS film in 8 languages

2.      A DVD--The Story of JESUS for Children and Magdalena, which portrays God’s love and affirmation of women, also in 8 languages.

3.      Flash drive—many congress resources including the latest resources and information on the top 2,000 unreached people groups.