News
Lausanne 2024: A Glimpse of Heaven
by Craig Carter, Courageous Third
October 16, 2024
Over 5,000 Christian leaders from more than 180 nations gathered September 22-28 in Seoul, South Korea. This was the fourth gathering like this, with the first one being in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1974 led by Billy Graham. The conference objectives: align resources, develop relationships, remove duplication, involve all nations and generations, and ultimately to fulfill the global Great Commission of telling all about the love of Jesus.
An Unexpected Invitation
I was beyond blessed to have been invited in May (very last minute), when a member of the Lausanne Board felt I should go in his place. In June, God opened another miraculous door. I was asked to lead/facilitate the group working with the 44 speakers for the Workplace track – and to publish it all in a book. When we follow, God surprises us!
Setting the Stage Through Prayer
Each morning, I arrived early to the room where 1,500 people attended daily for the Workplace Track of the conference. As a steward for the speakers, it was an honor to pray over the room and a blessing to start each session with an opening prayer. At the very heart of Courageous Third is prayer, as GOD is our power source! So leading prayer was pure joy!
Courage and Sacrificial Love
Having the opportunity to work with the 44 speakers for months, I came to closely know these incredible individuals from countries all around the globe – Thailand, Madagascar, India, Uganda and 25 other nations. Dear, blessed, sweet brothers and sisters, all who have sacrificed to follow Him. The Bible really came to life for me. To follow Him is a great blessing, but it also takes courage and sacrifice as God doesn’t want us to partially follow Him. I met people living out these verses:
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”
Luke 14:33
“Jesus said to them, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Luke 18: 29-30
Give it all up? What!? Yes. Even our own family and marriage is less important than following Him? Yes. This is tough to comprehend, let alone, do. But look at the promise, we will “receive many times” more in relationships here in this life (Mark 10:30 says 100x return!). Working with the speakers, and meeting people at the conference, I saw that, I felt that. The thousands there were my close dear brothers and sisters in Christ – like nothing I had ever felt before, a slice of heaven.
Brave Hearts All In for Him
It takes being courageous and being third. God wants nothing as a higher priority in our life. Period. In the USA where I live, it is rare to see a life lived like this, but in other nations, people are quickly pushed to make this choice. I met person after person who did this. They are not superhumans – they were scared, worried, and had doubts. They haven’t always made good choices, and in most of my conversations, many tears flowed. But these surrendered men and women, continue to follow Him! Here are a few of the beautiful stories I heard:
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- A lady from Asia – was imprisoned by the KGB secret police for telling people about Jesus. That didn’t stop her, and now she works for an organization that helps people in many countries. In a society where women are not seen as leaders, she leads, and her husband keeps lifting her up and supporting her to follow what God desires her to do.
- A man from Africa – had just been praying for an angel to appear to him when I showed up wearing an all-white hooded long-sleeve running shirt. Haha, I am no angel, but you should have seen his eyes get wide when I sat in front of him! I heard his story, and God used me to encourage him on this tough but amazing path God has called him to. He heard God clearly call him to study for a PhD in China, leaving his good job and his family. In tears, he told me how he has not seen his wife and children in 8 months and how much he misses them. He had been asking for a sign, then I sat down in glowing white. We prayed. His beautiful sacrifice and following has meant daily prayer/fasting times for the nation of China and over 40 people coming to know Jesus at the University.
- A lady from Madagascar – almost did not attend the conference as she had recently quit her job and was consumed with taking care of her elderly parents. Yet she heard God say “Go, trust me”. She was desperately seeking to hear God’s voice and to obey, and she was in need of a listening ear and someone to pray for her. She has such a beautiful heart. She is willing to go anywhere and do anything to follow Him.
- A lady from India – grew up in a family of six girls, and the youngest a boy. “Of course, my parents kept trying for a boy”, she stated, “…in our society a woman never prays to God for a daughter, only for a son…”. Even in a part of India that is mostly Christian, this is the perspective on women. What pain I felt to hear this, it pierced my heart. She grew up feeling she had no value as a woman. This was a common story I heard from many women from so many nations – how this hurts the heart of God! In spite of feeling lowly, she has kept working to reflect God’s love at work – and this year all the blessings of decades of effort poured over her as she was greatly honored at her workplace. She never gave up, in courage she walked forward, despite the cultural obstacles.
A Small Glimpse of Heaven
The Body of Christ is global, wildly diverse, and absolutely beautiful. The Lausanne Conference was a small glimpse of heaven, when we will have all eternity to get to know and have a wonderful time with all these great brothers and sisters from so many lands. I was blessed to go. Praise God.