Preparing for Lusaka: MiWCP Questions

The MiWC meetings in Lusaka have drawn some interesting responses from around the world. It is heartening to see the global reach of Allelon’s friends in the missional conversation.

Numbers have written asking if they could participate in the Lusaka gathering. Some of you are deeply involved in these conversations even within Africa and thought that this was one of those events were you should be involved. We had little sense of the interest this would raise.

The web site has an extensive description of the project. It is a research-based project spread over some five years that will address Newbigin’s question of a missionary engagement with late modern, Western culture(s) from the perspective of the local, ordinary narratives of people in specific contexts. Six countries are involved. Each sends a team to two people to the yearly planning, design and reporting events we have (these are not conferences but working meetings that assess and move the project forward). Neil Crosbie (UK) and I are taking responsibility for shaping the planning of the event and the forward movement of the Project.

African Leaders and Mission in Western Culture Project: Coming alongside our global partners

Over the last three years Allelon has brought together teams of key missional leaders from the UK, NA, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. From this has emerged the Allelon Mission in Western Culture Project. This international project is working on understanding the kinds of leaders we need to form churches on mission in late, modern Western culture. Our annual Summit is in Lusaka, Zambia this August.

We’re inviting you to join us in this global partnership. We want to bring a significant number of African leaders to this unique gathering of missional practitioners and thinkers to our meetings this August into Lusaka, Zambia. Our African friends want to bring 16 national leaders to Lusaka from across Africa to engage the missional challenges of Western culture with a global team of practitioners and leaders.

EuroChurch Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

Eurochurch.net has networked with churches in Europe and organized conferences for more than 25 years to cultivate a generative conversation about the nature of mission in the new Europe. Eurochurch members come from all over Europe and the UK. One partner in the group states that we

…are hopeful about the future of the church in Europe because we believe that God is at work. We recognize that the future is shaped by committed minorities who use creative imagination to explore God’s purposes.  We acknowledge that history often hinges on the courageous activity of a single generation.  We desire this generation to be a hinge on which the future will be redirected.  We are convinced that missional thinkers and practitioners need to be encouraged to provide future leadership.

Journal From the Road, Part II: Connecting in Tulsa, OK

Just sitting at the airport in Tulsa, OK after spending a few brief hours with a group of Church of Christ (Disciples) who were meeting for their state conference.  They were a wonderful group who are looking at a variety of ways to cultivate transformation processes in their churches.  I did a brief workshop on change and transformation.  What was the most fun was talking with a number of people who really get that that the Spirit of God is among the people of God and in the midst of their stories are all the clues to innovating missional change.  In all the places I go I keep meeting ordinary men and women who get this so much.  They understand that God is up to something in the ordinary and the local. They get that transformation isn’t about a bunch of resources or programs and that it has to be a bottom up process.

A Journal from the Road

Alan Roxburgh is traveling at the moment in the UK and Portugal — along the way, he’s been sending back a few notes from the road. These brief reflections will not only inform you about this current trip, but also provide some insight into a few of the ongoing Allelon projects and relationships that are being cultivated. Together, they help give a sense of what God is doing through these connections in neighborhoods and around the globe. Watch for more updates and netcasts in the coming weeks following this trip. — ed.

Wednesday April 9, en route Vancouver to London

Heading for meetings in the UK and Portugal.

Missional Leadership Reflections, Part Four: Mark Lau Branson

Mark Lau Branson is a teacher and good friend. He tells the stories of his time in Oakland and how a community of Christians entered a neighborhood without hope and began to rebuild hope in its school. This is a story of Christians on-the-ground figuring out what the Spirit was up to and discovering the amazing gifts of people God was bringing to this conviction that geography does matter.

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