Over the past four decades, the Lausanne Movement for World Evangelization has hosted three congresses. It was my great privilege to participate in the most recent, last month, in Cape Town, South Africa.
Five thousand believers from 198 nations participated, making the congress perhaps the most global Christian gathering in church history. For an addicted internationalist like me, it was a taste of heaven. During a short break one morning, for example, I engaged with delegates from Peru, Vietnam, Egypt, and Poland.
What was my primary take-away from Cape Town? Simply this: Ministering to students and faculty is the most strategic ministry in the world. Why? Because tomorrow’s leaders are on campus today.
I was taken aback by the number of plenary speakers who either came to Jesus while in college or cut their ministry teeth in campus ministry. More particularly, I was stunned by the sheer volume who had been impacted by ministries affiliated with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) – of which InterVarsity/USA is a founding member.
Cape Town was a vivid display of our vision to “see world changers developed.” For evidence that student ministry matters, read on.
Nicky Gumble (UK)
Nicky (pictured above) is the founder of the Alpha course, a ten-week curriculum for seekers to investigate the Christian faith. To date, over 15 million people worldwide have participated in the course. Of Jewish descent, Nicky became a believer through the IFES student work at Cambridge. He serves as Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London.
Ruth Padilla DeBorst (Costa Rica)
Ruth serves as General Secretary of the Latin American Theological Fellowship, Director of the publishing house Ediciones Certeza Unida and team leader of Christian Reformed World Mission’s work in El Salvador. As a student, Ruth was a leader in the Argentine IFES mission and, later, served as an IFES Director in Latin America.
Antoine Rutayisire (Rwanda)
Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Kigali, Antoine serves as a commissioner on the Rwandan National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. In the 1990s, he was founding General Secretary of the IFES movement in Rwanda.
Os Guinness (UK)
Author of 25 books and founder of the Trinity Forum, Os is a renowned evangelical intellectual. When I asked him about his college days, he proudly recalled his participation in the IFES student work at Oxford.
Patrick Fung (Singapore)
Patrick became a Christian while a medical student in Australia and subsequently studied at the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong. After his student involvement in HKFES, Patrick served as a medical missionary in Pakistan. He joined Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) in 1989, and now he serves as the first Asian general director of OMF International.
Tim Keller (USA) 
Author and pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Tim is perhaps the most influential Christian thinker in America today. His Wikipedia biography states: “He became a Christian while at Bucknell University, due to the ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, with which he later served as a staff member.”
Brenda Salter McNeil (USA)
It was sheer joy to see Brenda in action at Cape Town – both as a plenary hostess and as a speaker. As a college student, she was involved with our Rutgers chapter and, later, for 15 years as a campus staff member.
Ramez Atallah (Egypt)
Ramez, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt, served in IFES student ministry for almost 20 years. He is currently the Honorary President of the IFES. At Cape Town, he served as Program Chair.
Hwa Yung (Malaysia)
Hwa became a Christian as a high school student in Malaysia and attended college in Australia. He got involved in the Malaysian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (MFES) when he returned to his country, both as a student and later as a board member. He was elected bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia in 2004 and has continued to speak at IFES events in east Asia.
Rene Padilla (Colombia) and Samuel Escobar (Peru)
It was a true privilege to listen to these two lions share their thoughts on “integral mission” – the twin roles of evangelism and social justice in the Gospel. Together, Rene and Samuel have served with IFES in Latin America for well over half a century.
Femi Adele (Nigeria)
Femi’s stirring talk about the dangers of the prosperity gospel will be long remembered. He serves as IFES Associate General Secretary.
Lindsay Brown (UK)
As the International Director of the Lausanne Committee, Lindsay played a central role at Cape Town. I was thankful to our former IFES General Secretary, situated so centrally in the congress.
Carver Yu (Hong Kong)
Since his days as a student in the Hong Kong Fellowship of Evangelical Students (HKFES), Carver has remained involved with the ministry. Currently he is professor in Dogmatics and president of the China Graduate School of Theology. Carver is a frequent speaker at events for IFES staff and students in south Asia. He has also served on the HKFES board.
Lindsay Olesberg (USA)
As at Urbana 2009, Lindsay superintended the manuscript study of Ephesians for the whole congress. I received many enthusiastic comments from delegates who had no idea about Lindsay’s InterVarsity connections.
Jenny Hall (USA)
As one of the drama team members, Jenny shone on stage. For those of us who have enjoyed her performances over the years, this came as no surprise. She serves on volunteer staff in Los Angeles.
Conclusion
There are so many other key leaders to mention, such as Daniel Bourdanne, IFES General Secretary. InterVarsity/USA staff designed programs, hosted tracks, and served operations. Particular kudos go to Nikki Toyama-Szeto, Greg Jao, Diana Collymore, and Tommy Lee. In addition, more than a third of our board members participated in the congress.
I returned from Cape Town with a reconfirmed conviction about our mission to reach students and faculty with the Gospel. May we be faithful to such a high calling!
(Alec and three other InterVarsity staff members gave a report on their Cape Town experience during a chapel service at InterVarsity’s National Service Center. Listen or download here. The other staff members are Lisa Espineli Chinn, Diana Collymore and Helyn Luisi-Mills. In addition, InterVarsity staff member York Moore posted a daily blog from Cape Town.)
