Clapham Hosts DC Lausanne Event

The Lausanne event on January 22, 2010 saw around 100 people gather to hear 7 distinguished panelists speak on the topics of Evangelicals in the Public Square and Caring for Exploited & Vulnerable Children.Before the panels began, attendees heard from author and speaker Os Guinness about the history of the Lausanne movement and from Jimmy Lee (from Lausanne) about the upcoming conference in Cape Town in October (the Third Lausanne Conference on World Evangelization).The first panel included David Aikman (author and journalist), Galen Carey (National Association of Evangelicals), Os Guinness (author and speaker), and Rob Schwarzwalder (Family Research Council). The panelists talked about the global perceptions of American evangelicalism and the opportunities and challenges that this provides to the Church’s witness. Among the insights of the panel were:

• In large parts of the world often no distinction is made between ‘Americans’ and ‘Christians’ and that US actions and culture was often seen as Christian actions and culture.
• That “we are on the verge of a post-Christian West and a post-western Christian church” (Os Guinness) and that the church needed to come to grips with the dangers of modernity.
• US evangelicals need to have a global vision and to understand God’s heart for the whole world but that this can include reaching the different people groups at the church’s door.

Mark Rodgers (The Clapham Group) introduced the panel by explaining that the issue of exploited, vulnerable, orphaned, exploited and unborn children had been chosen because of its relevance as a global issue and the clear Biblical mandate.On the second panel participants heard moving and powerful stories from Reggie Littlejohn (Women’s Rights Without Frontiers) about the violence again women as a consequence of China’s one child policy, including the forced abortion of thousands of unborn children. Bethany Hoang (International Justice Mission) shared personal testimony of the injustices of many countries legal systems, where bribery and corruption stop the poor and powerless from receiving justice. Bob Zachritz (World Vision) talked about the importance of community in addressing the global problems facing the church that are bigger than any one country, organization or denomination.Finally Jimmy Lee gave a brief overview of how individuals and organizations could participate in the Lausanne conference in South Africa. The event was moderated by Mark Rodgers and held at Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse in Downtown DC near Union Station. Attendees were encouraged to go from the event to the ‘March for Life’ occurring later that day.