26 Jan China and India Re-Engage with the Global Church

Doug Birdsall grew up as a United Brethren preacher’s kid, the son of Roger and Marylou Birdsall. His brother Brent was a UB missionary and pastor, and Brian is a current UB endorsed missionary in Ukraine.

Doug is executive director of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, which will be holding the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Capetown, South Africa, in October 2010. This event will bring together 4000 leaders from over 200 countries to look at the future of the Church and world evangelization. A set number of persons can come from various countries (400 from the US).

I received an email from Doug, which contains some fascinating information about China and India.

Last month, I was in India and China to meet with the Lausanne leadership there. I’m looking forward with anticipation to meeting the exceptionally gifted and visionary leadership that is coming from countries such as these that will provide so much of the new leadership for global Christianity in the 21st century. The Chinese Lausanne leadership sees Capetown 2010 as a historic moment when the church in China will re-engage with the global church in the work of world evangelization. And, their delegation will be the second largest in the world with 250 people from every stream of the church in that country.

It is also noteworthy that the 250 people from China and the 175 from India will be fully funded by sources within their own countries. Furthermore, the Indian church has committed to raise $1 million (US) for the Congress budget and the Chinese church has committed to raise $1.5 million (US). These are historic firsts in global Christianity for which we give God thanks.