Dispatch #5 from Lausanne: "The Suffering Church"

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

This is Ebony (Dr. Sabrina Black) and Ivory (Dr. Peggy Rayman) reporting to you live from Cape Town, South Africa at the Third Lausanne World Congress on Global Evangelism.  This report contains the rest of day 2 and the beginning of day 3.

Glory to God in the highest. Many of you already know that today is my (Sabrina's) 52^nd birthday.  What a joy to celebrate it in South Africa with people from various tribes and nations. Thank you to my family and friends who sent blessings via email and Facebook. When the questions are asked, “What did you do for your birthday? and/ or What gifts did you receive?” the response will be without hesitation. The Lord gave me an “Open Door to the World.” The significant memories of this day will always hold a special place in my heart.  The reminder that “I am Joseph” is ringing in my ear along with a plea to be involved with the African Diaspora. My calling as a missionary to the masses of unreached people groups in the 1040 Window and other places around the globe was yet again confirmed through prayer, praise, worship and dancing. Prophetic words spoken to me in the past are being manifested this day. As a servant of the most high God, my life is not my own; I’m willing and available to go beyond where the roads end to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This day of celebration was reflective and sobering; it follows the Congresses focus on suffering and sacrifice the night before. Lord I am willing. How often we here Christians profess that they want to enter into the fellowship. The cry of my heart for all who will read these documents in days to come is that the Lord reignites in you a burning passion to serve Him. We are God’s witnesses in the earth. We need to share hope, help and healing with a lost and hurting world. “Lord, pour us out as a drink offering.” Do we really know what it is to suffer persecution and still proclaim His name or to be a martyr for the faith? Today, many bishops, pastors and world mission leaders prayed for me and the work of the ministry to which I am called. As you read our post breath deep. Celebrate in knowing that you too are called and the Lord wants to give you a message of salvation to the world as well. Will you respond, “Here am I, send me?”

THE SUFFERING CHURCH - MONDAY NIGHT - FOCUS ON ASIA

SUFFERING CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

After all the beauty and pageantry of the opening night ceremonies, Monday night was extremely difficult emotionally.  I was still grieving over the fact that the Chinese delegation had not been able to join us.  I was sitting at my table praying for them, when a man came up to me, handed me a pamphlet, and asked me to pray for him.  I glanced at his name tag and noticed it said North Korea.  Immediately I said yes.  I felt as if the Lord was saying that though I could not meet any of the Chinese delegation, here was a man I could pray for who was coming from a country right next door to China, and also coming out of the persecuted church.  I began weeping as I prayed for him, and continued weeping through the whole evening’s presentations.

The man who handed me the pamphlet had been a church planter in North Korea before fleeing persecution several years ago.  For the past few years while he has been in South Korea, he has been working with South Korean churches to set some infrastructure in place to support missionaries who are going into North Korea.

They have put much work, thought, and prayer into this effort.  But what really struck me is that he said he is going back to North Korea within a few months.

One of the things that caused me to weep, is that I had been reflecting on the condition of the American church at large, and wondering, “Where is the spirit in our churches that would cause people to lay down their lives, lay down personal comfort and safety, and embrace the Cross of Christ with joy?”  Here was this man standing in front of me who embodied what it means to be a disciple.  I felt very impoverished as I considered the fact that he was asking me to pray for him.

The theme on Monday evening was on Asia, the suffering church, and religious freedom.  The multimedia presentations were very powerful, and of course, I cried through them.  Then a young woman from North Korea got up and gave her personal testimony.  Her parents came to the Lord, but both were martyred for their faith.  She was adopted and educated by a Christian family in South Korea. When she was about 16, Jesus came to her in a dream and asked her to follow Him. She gave her life to Him, and is now preparing to go back to North Korea as a missionary. I don’t believe she is 20 yet.  She has her life ahead of her and is at a time of her life when the normal thing is to think about a career, getting married, starting a family, and all of the cares of life.

What is it that would cause a young woman, who has already gone through enough suffering to last for a lifetime, to be willing embrace more?  The only thing I can think of is that it is a “Who” and not a “what.”  She has discovered the living truth of the Word of God.  Paul says to the Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”  Only someone who has been crucified in Christ can undertake such a mission.  This young woman has already lost her life.  She has nothing left to lose, and the only life she now has is the one Christ gives her to live for her glory.  These are not words on a page to her; nor are they truths learned in a classroom or a seminary, and coming only from books.  These are the words written in the blood of the martyrs through the ages, and started by the One who set the example by first laying down His life.

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Today, like every other day here at the Lausanne World Congress, we laughed and we cried. There is much joy and sadness. The Congress is a place of expressed emotion, engagement, enlightenment and edification. Embrace it with us as we share these brief glimpses into days filled and overflowing with love for God’s people around the world. www.lausanne.org