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Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering, West Africa

The Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering, West Africa (YLGWA) was held in Nigeria between 30 November - 4 December 2008. On the eve of the programme major ethno-religious riots broke out in Jos, where the gathering was supposed to be held. Within twenty-four hours the venue was changed to Abuja. With several uncertainties due mainly to the Jos crises and the change of venue, the YLGWA opening session started with praise and prayer.

The gathering brought together mentors/speakers and younger leaders from the English-speaking West African countries of Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.

The younger leaders unanimously voted to adopt the theme: “Live and Lead Like Jesus.”

Plenary speakers included:

1. Pade Tokun, Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) in Democratic Republic of Congo and Central Africa
2. Rev. Steve Asante, president, Ghana Baptist Convention
3. Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Egbunu, Bishop of Lokoja Diocese, Anglican Communion
4. Gideon Para-Mallam, Lausanne English, Portuguese, Spanish-speaking (EPSA) International Deputy Director

Participants identified six critical issues concerning evangelizing West Africa:

1. Orphans and Vulnerable Children
2. Transforming the Sub-Region through Prayer
3. The Remaining Unreached People Groups
4. Unveiling the Giant of Islam
5. Understanding Youth Culture
6. The Challenge of Liberal Theology and Nominalism

Additionally, the countries represented had an opportunity to share the challenges and opportunities for the gospel in their various countries. Participating younger leaders were divided into ten small mentoring groups. Participants then spent time getting acquainted, sharing challenges and testimonies, praying together, and learning about what God is doing in different contexts. The main thrust of the messages at YLGWA was the need to re-evaluate leadership styles and take personal note of Jesus’ calling on Christians to live and lead like him as revealed in the Gospels and Epistles. Participants left with a clear understanding that it would not be possible to lead like Jesus unless they live like him. This remains a fundamental call Jesus made to all his followers. Christians cannot respond to this call without re-focusing on the cross of Christ as his followers in their leadership journey.

To lead like Jesus means answering the call to servant leadership—a scarce commodity within the African Church setting today. Participants were reminded that they “have no mission of their own”—only the mission of the master and those they serve on the mission field. The vision for world evangelization will receive further boost if Christians intentionally invest in growing younger kingdom-minded leaders.

Participants were given a closing charge by Ghana Younger Leaders team coordinator, Nana Yaw Offei-Owuku, who summarized the joy of learning together. He said that God had done three things during the gathering:

1. Jesus had called them back to himself through fellowship and learning together.
2. Participants had been challenged to move out of their comfort zones to finish the work of world evangelization in the sub-region, continent, and beyond.
3. Participants had been encouraged and charged to submit to mentorship and to commit to identifying other younger leaders and seeking out practical ways to mentor others until Jesus’ return.

Para-Mallam told participants that the YLGWA 2008 started as a faith project and ended as such. He reminded all present that the planning suffered many “hiccups” along the way, but God’s faithfulness saw them through each challenge. Para-Mallam took time to appreciate the mentors and facilitators for their efforts and noted the doggedness and personal initiatives of the younger leaders, even some who could not be present at the gathering. A brief DVD presentation on Lausanne was shown, and participants sang “In Christ Alone” as a closing rallying song of collective declaration of commitment.
( Source: Mark Kolo, Lausanne World Pulse )

The Manga Messiah, Japan

Operation Mobilization (OM) workers will be using a new tool, The Manga Messiah, to communicate the gospel in Japan. Published by New Life League, the 300-page comic book depicts Jesus’ life from birth to resurrection. Comics in Japan are enjoyed by all age groups, with Manga now a large part of the Japanese publishing industry. During the Christmas season, The Manga Messiah was passed out by volunteers to busy shoppers in the town of Karuizawa. One missionary stated, “For reaching the Japanese, this book is far more effective than showing the JESUS film.” (Assist News)

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Poverty facts FYI:

• World Bank estimates Over 140 million children in developing countries are underweight, and over two billion are undernourished.
• Every year, more than ten million children die of hunger and preventable diseases—that’s over thirty thousand per day and one every three seconds.
• 800 million people go to bed hungry every day.
• Every year, nearly eleven million children die before their fifth birthday.
• 600 million children live in extreme poverty.
• The three richest people in the world control more wealth than all 600 million people living in the world’s poorest countries.
• Income per person in the poorest countries in Africa has fallen by a quarter in the last twenty years.

• UNICEF estimates 158 million children aged five to fifteen are engaged in child labor. An estimated two million children are exploited in prostitution or pornography. Approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked around the world every year.
• According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report, eighty percent of transnational trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to fifty percent are minors—and most are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.