Ten things I enjoyed about the Fourth Lausanne Gathering in South Korea

 1. Reuniting with my friends from all around the world

Although this was my first time attending a multi-generational Lausanne Gathering, I attended two Gatherings for Younger Leaders (under the age of 35) in 2006 and 2016. There were some persons from the Gathering in 2016 that I had remained connected to over the past 8 years, and it was wonderful to reconnect with them to share stories and pray with one another. There is no telling when next we would be physically in the same place at the same time so I valued the hugs and the meals we were able to share together.

Some were missing from this picture, but this group of
ladies will always have a special place in my heart

2. The times of worship

There is something powerful about worshiping with persons from different countries - it gives you a taste of what heaven would be like. During the morning sessions we were led by Keith and Kristyn Getty (they wrote the classic hymn "In Christ Alone") and in the evening sessions there was a combined worship team from different Korean churches. One highlight for me was the evening when three participants started dancing together in a circle; one by one other women joined until there were about twenty of us dancing and enjoying God's presence together.

Hearts united in worship

3. The stories

For each of the main sessions, there were presenters from different countries who shared their experiences in relation to the theme. It really helped the presentations to come alive when we could hear from persons' real-life experiences. It also gave us insight into how we could apply the presentations to our own contexts when we returned home. The stories from those who survived persecution for their faith were particularly powerful and memorable for me.

Panelists sharing how their display Christ in the workplace

4. The volunteers

One thousand believers from churches all around South Korea made themselves available to serve as volunteers for the conference and they were simply incredible! Each morning we were greeted with warm, smiling faces as they welcomed us to the convention center. They kept their cool when directing the hundreds of persons to the dining room for meals, or to the bus shuttles that would take us to our hotels. They worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that we had a smooth and enjoyable conference experience.

You could feel the love of Jesus oozing through them

5. The organizers

To pull off a conference of this magnitude the organizers would have started planning years ago. From selecting a venue to collaborating with hotels and airlines for discounts, securing visas and letters of invitation, renting all the equipment and furniture that was used, printing all the materials, training all the volunteers, feeding the participants twice a day and so much more. The organizers did an exceptional job in managing the logistics to ensure there was a smooth flow for the entire week.

Team working behind the scenes

6. The collaborations

Before the conference started we were invited to choose a gap that needed to be filled if we were to advance the Great Commission. After lunch we met in groups according to the chosen gaps to discuss what was working, what wasn't working, to brainstorm strategies for how we could collaborate to close these gaps. The outcomes from these discussions were uploaded to an application, and participants were encouraged to share about future collaborations that came about as a result of our discussions.

Discussing how we can reach the next generation

7. The new connections

There were so many opportunities to meet and have conversations with participants - from the bus rides between the hotel and the convention center to the meal times to the breaks in between the formal sessions. These interactions were always refreshing; it was lovely to hear about how God was using persons to work in other parts of the world and to learn about their cultures and to share about mine.

We met on the bus on the way to the convention 
center and decided to go for a walk in a nearby park
before the conference started

8. The unity

In our study based on the book of Acts, one of the facilitators mentioned that the early Church grew so quickly because of their unity, and that there is supernatural synergy that is activated by unity. It was tremendous to see persons lay aside denominational differences and focus on what we agree on as we worked together that week. The highlight for me was when church leaders from Japan and South Korea (whose countries were at war 400 years ago) united to lead us in communion on the final night of the congress.

United in communion

9. The diversity

The 5000 in-person participants and hundreds of virtual participants were all carefully selected by the Lausanne selection committee to ensure there was a diversity of countries and ages represented, and that there was a healthy male to female ratio as well. There was also a balanced mix of countries from the various regions who were presenters, which helped to give a beautiful picture of the global church.

My collaboration group was a perfect example of
the diversity that existed in the congress

10. The culture 

I loved the way that the Korean culture was incorporated throughout the congress. During worship, they taught us a couple songs in Korean. They served Korean food during the meal times, complete with chopsticks! On the cultural day, there was a booth where we could dress up in their cultural wear. On one of the evenings, there was a heart-warming presentation of the history of the Church in Korea.

Dressed in a hanbok

These are just some of the things that made the Lausanne Gathering in Seoul so special and memorable to me :)