There are movements aiming to transcend denominational boundaries across the world and unite as one for ministry, among which is the WCC. However, some considered that this organisation has significantly compromised the essence of the gospel. In response, a movement rooted in evangelicalism called the Lausanne Movement emerged. The 4th Lausanne Congress, attended by 10,000 individuals from 222 countries, is scheduled to take place in Songdo, Korea, in September 2025.
The Lausanne Congress is important because influential spiritual leaders worldwide gather to discuss the future direction of missions. This means that we can anticipate how missions will proceed in the future. In fact, the first and secondary missionary conferences proposed that the Christian population focus on evangelising unreached groups, which constitute less than 2% of the global population. Soon after, most missionary organisations and missions followed suit. However, after actively pursuing these missions for ten years, we realised there were still unfound groups referred to as ‘unfound, unreached groups’. Consequently, major missionary organisations rallied together to focus on reaching these unfound, unreached groups. One of the key figures leading this movement was Kang Hee Ahn, the first generation Korean missionary. When I started this missionary endeavour, I met him in London. Since then, we collaborated to spread the gospel to tribes of 100,000 people in India, and now we are focusing on reaching smaller tribes of 50,000 people.
The third Lausanne Congress was held in 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. At that time, one of the major topics of discussion was diaspora missions. I was convinced this would become a primary focus for future missions. Scholarly discussions about this mission began at that time, and for such a mission to actually take place, a sample model must emerge from a particular city. London is the city where the atmosphere for this has matured.
The primary focus of the 4th Missions Congres to be held in Korea next year is missions in the Workplace. This aligns closely with one of the ministry visions of our church, the Christians at Work groups. The need for this has been highlighted for a long time, and one of the individuals who showed the most interest within the evangelical community was Pastor John Stott, the pastor of All Souls Church. In recent years, Pastor Tim Keller has significantly ignited interest in this area. While their churches have programs and organisations related to this, our church created an area where all members of the church can participate. Our Christians at Work group is the starting point of this ministry.
I did not emulate this mission simply because the Lausanne Congress emphasised it. Instead, it is because our church is located in London, where diverse ethnicities from around the world gather. Because the members of our church have a wide range of professions and expertise, we naturally developed a vision to assist them.
The challenge lies in the fact that this missionary direction is an uncharted territory, making it difficult to provide detailed explanations. Nevertheless, despite our church’s inexperience and the inevitable learning curve, I believe that by first sketching the outline, we can provide a foundation upon which many churches can easily build beautiful portraits on top. I hope we can move forward together through prayer, mature consideration, and perseverance.
