Let the children come. Part 3

The recent Lausanne Congress was significantly shaped around 25 ‘gaps’ identified by The State of the Great Commission Report. But where were children? Viva’s CEO, Phil Green, reflects on his involvement with this year’s Lausanne Congress in a series of three articles.
 

The State of the Great Commission Report published earlier this year, attempted to provide a snapshot to enable the global Church to reflect on ‘how it’s doing' regarding the Great Commission. Then, the Lausanne Congress provided an opportunity to delve into the 25 gaps it identified and develop plans for how we, the global Church, could work better together to ‘close these gaps’.

 Gaps included the global ageing population, the new middle class, secularism, scripture in a digital age, AI and transhumanism, integrity and anti-corruption, people on the move, ethnicism and racism, and developing leaders of character.

 The first thing I did when I got my hands on a copy of The State of the Great Commission report was see what it said about children. I was disappointed: it said next to nothing. This seemed strange, because over the years, various research studies have shown that the vast majority of adult Christians, ‘make their commitment to Christ’ – when they are a child!!

 Then, when it came to the 25 gaps, I searched to see where children were generally and children at risk, specifically. There was the ‘next generation’ gap—but that was defined as 18-35-year-olds! Then there was ‘people on the move’ and ‘creation care and the vulnerable’—that I sure hoped would include children, but overall, it looked like children had once again been forgotten about. 

 By this time, I had been invited to lead the ‘next generation’ gap. I realised that many parents of young children worldwide are 18-35-year-olds. However, we also asked for the definition to be changed to children, youth, and young adults—to their credit, this suggestion was accepted!

 But back to the 25 gaps. We quickly saw the opportunity: it might be a good thing that there wasn’t one gap focusing on children (at risk). Children should be part of the conversation of every single gap because they all will impact children in one way or another. That’s why we produced 25 briefing documents to inspire and equip people to champion children in each of the 25 gaps. Then we began urging everyone we knew who was passionate about championing children to attend each of the gaps!

 Christianity Daily picked up on these papers and how crucial it is to involve children in discussions about global mission.

The papers include insights, quotes and calls to action for the church and individual Christians.

Children who experience racism often internalise a sense of shame and unworthiness, leading to poor self-esteem and a lack of engagement in educational opportunities.[1] – Gap 22, Ethnicism and racism

In missiology terms, the church is light years behind the NGO sector when it comes to meaningfully engaging children and young people.[2] Children's participation in polycentric, intergenerational mission must fully honour the dignity God has bestowed upon them.[3] – Gap 15/16, Polycentric missions

Starting with the printing press, over the years, Christians have used available technology to make Jesus known. How can the church fully embrace the opportunity to reach children worldwide through digital communities, the world's latest technical innovation? – Gap 21, Digital communities in a digital age

One of my personal highlights of the Congress was when I, as one of the leaders of the ‘next generation’ gap, was asked to swap with one of the leaders from the ‘ageing population’ gap so we could each share the perspective of the other and build bridges - rather than highlight the (increasingly big) divide between the generations.

But something else interesting did happen. With 25 gaps and more than 5,000 in-person participants at the Congress, the expectation was 200 people per gap. However, more than 1,000 people signed up to be part of the ‘next generation’ gap as their first choice!! This confirms that children’s involvement and place in mission are issues that people know are essential for the strength of the church today and its very existence in the future.

The organisers of the Congress hope that one of the lasting legacies is the formation of Collaborative Action Teams to address a specific issue within a specific gap. At the Children at Risk Issue Network, we’ve already started and have established or almost established four teams: (1) Child Participation, (2) Family-based care, (3) Child protection/safeguarding, and (4) Trauma/mental health. We want to inspire and equip churches to be better at these four issues. Within Viva, our partner networks often lead the way in these topics and bring together churches and organisations so that they can address them together. As we continue to play our part in Lausanne, we will continue to equip and inspire our partner networks, so more children are part of God’s kingdom work here on earth.

[1] https://www.barnardos.org.uk/blog/how-systemic-racism-affects-young-people-uk (accessed on 30.7.2024).

[2] Scott, D. H. (2023). Where Are Children in Missiology? English- Language Publications over the Past Decades. Mission Studies, 40(2), 209-230. https://doi.org/10.1163/15733831-12341911(accessed on 11.7.2024).

[3] Scott, Dave H. (2013). "The Redeemed Adult/Child Dyad and the Missio Dei: Speaking Back to Missiology." Children and Youth as Partners in Mission, p.281-301.