Research resources from and for missional Christian leaders
Occasional Papers
Lausanne Occasional Papers are our in-depth essays addressing key issues related to global evangelism, missions, and contemporary challenges facing the church. They provide analysis, theological reflection, and practical insights to equip Christians for effective ministry and mission work.
'At Risk' People
Jesus’ approach to people is counter-intuitive, even shocking. Instead of the King of all consorting with rulers and dignitaries, He preferred to spend his time with those that nobody else wanted to be with – let alone touch. As we, the ‘At...
A Neopentecostal Experience of Aimara people
The distinctive nature of Aimara culture For more information go to A Neopentecostal Experience of Aimara people on the Lausanne Movement website. The above link opens in a new tab.
A Theology of the Human Person
This paper seeks to provide a preliminary theological and biblical response to the urgent and pertinent gap in evangelical and global Christian thought on the theme of the human person. The mounting anthropological concerns of our time relating to...
An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle
“Life” and “life-style” obviously belong together and cannot be separated. All Christians claim to have received a new life from Jesus Christ. What life-style, then, is appropriate for them? If the life is new, the life-style should be new...
An Exposition and Commentary by John Stott
A theologian who teaches in Asia has written about the Lausanne Covenant, “History may show this Covenant to be the most significant ecumenical confession on evangelism that the church has ever produced.” It is a bold statement. As he says, only...
Being Church in a Digital Age
Already in the early days of the internet, Christian individuals and groups saw the potential in the technology for fellowship, outreach and evangelism. Digital technology has long been adopted by enthusiasts, but also marginal groups such as those...
Biblical Perspectives on the Role of Immigrants in God’s Mission
We know that throughout history we have seen great movements of peoples and groups from one place to another. This includes the Latin American continent where the history of many peoples, ancient and modern, tells the stories of periodic migrations...
Bioethics: Obstacle or Opportunity for the Gospel?
Two questions faced the bioethics group at the 2004 World Evangelisation Forum. First, many were asking ‘What is bioethics?’ and second, ‘What on earth has it got to do with evangelisation?’ For more information go to Bioethics: Obstacle or...
Business as Mission
The world holds fresh opportunities and challenges for the global Church. In regions where Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are dominant and where 90% of the world’s unreached peoples live, you also find 80% of the world’s poorest populations....
Can Christians Belong to More than One Religious Tradition?
Perspectives on Non- Christian Religions This paper seeks to explore the notion of multireligious belonging and evaluate whether it is theologically possible for a Christian to follow Christ while retaining some form of identification with one’s...
Case Studies
Peacemaking amidst urban violence in Brazil – C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell (Brazil) It all started with a flirt between two teenagers on a dusty street of Londrina, Brazil. It ended with one person dead, another death-listed and an entire family on...
Case Study: How Will We Know When the Holy Spirit Comes? The Question of Discernment
When the Apostle Paul stood in front of the Areopagus, he began by connecting with the spirituality of the ancient Athenians, affirming their search for God and the spiritual awareness of their poets. Paul attempted to use the Athenians’ spiritual...
Case Study: Overseas Filipino Workers
Globalization has engendered the phenomenal growth of transnational economic migration, with its opportunities and heartaches. The economic interdependence of countries has resulted not only in the exchange of goods but also in the exchange of...
Christian Faith and Technology
Technology has always been an integral part of human life. Throughout history technology has allowed humans to communicate, build, explore, create, prosper, and survive, but also to exploit, dominate, destroy, and kill. Technological artefacts are...
Christian Witness to Buddhists
This report deals with the two basic schools of Buddhist thought: Theravada (Hinayana, the Southern Schools) and Mahayana (the Northern Schools). ... The problem motivating the study was that, except in Korea where a strong indigenous concept of God...
Christian Witness to Hindus
We regret that, after so many years of sincere effort by so many faithful people, the number of Christians in India is still less than 3% of the population. Further, the dispersed Hindus in other parts of the world have been largely neglected by the...
Christian Witness to Large Cities
Realistic strategies for world evangelization must inevitably confront the awesome urbanization of the world. The Consultation on World Evangelization, therefore, recognized that challenge in designating “Christian Witness to Large Cities” as...
Christian Witness to Marxists
Marxism today is not monolithic. First, there is the post-revolutionary Marxism of the Eastern European bloc of nations, including the Soviet Union. Secondly, there is the potentially revolutionary situation of the Third World of Africa, Asia, and...
Christian Witness to Muslims
A Call to Reflection Since many of the study materials produced by the Strategy Working Group of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) have been based on the “Peoples Approach,” we have tried to analyse the different disciplines...
Christian Witness to New Religious Movements
New religious movements are springing up in the wake of worldwide religious ferment. In some cases, dying embers of old religions have suddenly burst into new flames. In other situations, religious “seed” transported, accidentally or...
Christian Witness to Nominal Christians Among Protestants
There could be hundreds of millions of nominal1 Christians among Protestants around the world. It is impossible to get a precise figure; and in this matter, we are aware of the danger of appearing proud or judgemental. As we considered our task, two...
Christian Witness to Nominal Christians among Roman Catholics
Among approximately one billion people in the world who are classified as “Christians” it is recognized that many still need to be evangelized. They are “nominal Christians” who have not committed themselves to Jesus Christ and do not...
Christian Witness to Nominal Christians among the Orthodox
The history of the Orthodox churches goes back to the early centuries. Throughout many centuries of persecution, these churches bravely proclaimed the gospel and were very much alive. This history reflects the reality of the often-quoted axiom,...
Christian Witness to People of African Traditional Religions
This paper is divided into two major sections. The first deals with a general understanding of African Traditional Religion (ATR) and our attitude toward it. The second deals with a selected comparison between ATR and Christianity and suggests some...
Christian Witness to Refugees
The plight of the refugees around the world has provoked our Consultation to reflect upon our responsibility, as Christians, to them. The following paper represents the fruit of that study and is intended to serve the church of Jesus Christ in the...
Christian Witness to Secularized People
This document focuses primarily on strategy for reaching the secularized with the gospel. Initially, we shall attempt a broad definition of the concepts of “secularization” and “secular” in order to identify the target groups. Moreover, we...
Christian Witness to the Chinese People
The Chinese constitute the largest single segment of the human race. Their unbroken history of more than five thousand years marks a culture that is durable and resilient. They have survived the ravages of countless internal struggles and foreign...
Christian Witness to the Jewish People
Scripture gives the rationale for Jewish evangelism in John 14:6 and Acts 4:12, which indicate that salvation is found only in Christ. For Christians to know that Christ is the only way to be saved and then not proclaim the gospel to Jews presumes...
Christian Witness to the Urban Poor
In 20 years from now, the world’s population will have increased by 2 billion people. In 20 years, 80% of the world’s population will live in the Third World countries. In 20 years, 12 of the 15 largest cities will be in the Third World, and 60...
Christian Witness to Traditional Religionists of Asia and Oceania
In a time of rapid urbanization, the revitalization of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism, and the spread of secular materialism, it is easy to overlook the fact that there remain many millions of people on the fringes of the great religions in Asia and...