World vision

THE LAUSANNE LEGACY:
Landmarks in Global Mission
Edited by J E M Cameron
Dictum. 204 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 915 934 079

Every 15–20 years since 1974, the Lausanne movement holds an international congress focused on global mission. The first was called together by Billy Graham and John Stott in Lausanne. The second was held in Manila in 1989, and the third in Cape Town in 2010. Wind the clock forward to 2024 and the fourth will be held this September in Seoul, Korea – and thus why this book is so helpful for anyone interested in the history of the Lausanne movement.

Last year I was elected by the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism as their International Coordinator. As a global mission practitioner and CEO of International Mission to Jewish People, I have a vested interest in the Lausanne Movement, not only because it has had a massive positive influence on me since the late 1980s, but also because it has been a helpful and important way to get mission practitioners together to think about how to address the mission needs of the church in challenging contexts the world over.

The issue of global and local mission is not just important for full-time mission practitioners though; it should also be an issue for every Christian, as Jesus commanded His followers to go and make disciples of all nations. So, is this book helpful in covering the bases when one wants to learn more about the challenges and answers to global mission? Definitely!

My take is that this is very much a handbook for thinking about mission in a much broader context. In many ways, this is an accessible ‘systematic missiology’ for global mission and its evolution over the past 50 years. With the closing addresses for each global congress from the likes of Billy Graham, Leighton Ford and Lindsay Brown, as well as the doctrinal teachings on mission with a study guide, this book is accessible for anyone with an interest in mission, especially in a global context.

With all the challenges humans are facing, the need for making disciples remains as great a challenge as ever. This book is a great way to begin to align your heart and mind to the call of Jesus’ Great Commission and start thinking about your own role in His call to make disciples the world over.