BWA NEWS IN BRIEF
SOUTH AFRICA: BAPTISTS TO ATTEND CONGRESS ON WORLD EVANGELIZATION
There will be a strong Baptist presence at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization to be held
in Cape Town, South Africa, from October 16-25.
Baptist World Alliance vice presidents Paul Msiza, general secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa
and president of the All Africa Baptist Fellowship, will be part of a South African delegation; Regina Claas, general
secretary of the Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany, will be leading a German delegation; and Ross
Clifford, principal of Morling Baptist Theological College in Sydney, will lead an Australian delegation.
Others expected to attend include Tony Peck, BWA regional secretary for Europe and general secretary of the
European Baptist Federation. Wendy Ryan, former BWA director of communications who works with a mission
project in Cape Town, is helping to coordinate the press room for the congress.
The Third Lausanne Congress is planned by the World Evangelical Alliance. It is expected to bring together
approximately 4,000 leaders and delegates from more than 200 countries to discuss issues such as other world
faiths, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and persecution, among others. These issues will be looked at in light of the future of
the church and world evangelization.
Thousands more around the globe are expected to participate in the discussions at remote congress sites
such as seminaries, mission organizations and churches through Cape Town GlobaLink.
The First International Congress on World Evangelization was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from July
16–25, 1974. The second was held in Manila in the Philippines in 1989.
SOUTH AFRICA: BAPTISTS WITNESS DURING SOCCER WORLD CUP
Baptists in South Africa and from elsewhere used the staging of the World Cup football tournament as a
mission and ministry opportunity.
The World Cup, which takes place every four years, is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world
and was held between June 11 and July 11 in South Africa, the first African nation to host the prestigious
tournament.
Ignite the Flame Trailer Ministry, an initiative of Eastside Community Church in Pretoria, “used sports ministry
and the soccer World Cup to ignite the flame of evangelism in the hearts of churches,” a report from the
congregation reads. The outreach consisted of four main ministry activities – a Super League Holiday Club that
ministered to children through crafts, games, songs and Bible stories; soccer clinics and games aimed at older
children and youth; sideline ministry for those who attended the soccer games planned by Ignite; and big screen
screening of World Cup matches and other films.
Approximately 50 churches were engaged in the program, as well as an estimated 1,000 volunteers
from South Africa, Brazil, the United States, and elsewhere. The volunteers were divided into 10 trailer teams
that participated in various mission and ministry opportunities.
During the five weeks of the outreach effort, more than 9,000 meals were provided to children, 3,000 blankets
distributed, more than 500 soccer balls given away, and more than 20,000 books and other resources distributed
as well as more than 500 Bibles. “The mobilization of volunteers in South Africa superseded expectations,”
Eastside reported. “God used soccer to unite churches.”
Baptists from the state of Virginia in the United States took a group of volunteers to South Africa to share in the
Ignite Internship Program. The volunteers helped to lead soccer clinics, pick-up games, and music and drama,
and provided children’s ministry with a soccer theme.
“It was a privilege to be part of 2010 Ignite the Flame,” said Mike Gray, pastor of Newington Baptist Church in
Gloucester, Virginia. “I saw God at work in the energetic enthusiasm of team members. Whether Americans or
South Africans there was a love and commitment to minister to children.”
A team of approximately 180 Brazilian Baptist volunteers were in South Africa, led by pastor and missionary
Marcos Grava, coordinator of the Sports Missionary Program of the World Missions Board of the Brazilian Baptist
Convention. “This kind of evangelism during events like the World Cup or the Olympic Games focuses not only
on tourists but also local people,” said Grava.

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