On Saturday September 28, Dr. Eun Ah Cho, associate professor of intercultural studies and dean of the Gordon-Conwell Institute, gave a plenary speech at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, also known as Seoul-Incheon 2024. Her presentation, “Resilience and Unity: The Asian Church’s Voice in God’s Mission,” emphasized the important role that Asian churches play within the body of Christ and presented the analogy of the Asian church being ligaments of the church body—a crucial connective tissue.

When announcing the topic of her speech, she said, “The Asian continent encompasses a rich tapestry of Christian experiences, each shaped by unique factors. From the ancient Christian communities in the Middle East to the rapidly growing churches in the East Asia, from the Filipino Catholic tradition to the persecuted believers in North Korea, the Asian church is a vibrant mosaic of multifaceted faith expressions.” Learn more about Dr. Cho’s presentation in this article from Christian Daily, which includes numerous quotes and a general summary of the message she shared.

Gordon-Conwell was also represented by speakers Bob Doll, board of trustees member, and Grateful Itiowe-Jonathan (MAGL ’22). Doll, who is also the chairman of Lausanne’s board of directors, put forth a challenge in his panel discussion: “Our prayer is that every person in this Congress becomes an ambassador for Christ in their city. How well do you know your city? Do you pray for your city? And are you engaged in your city?”

Itiowe-Jonathan shared about her involvement with Lausanne and the non-profit she founded, Great Innovators Foundation for Transformation (GIFT): “With this God-given vision, I pursued a master’s in Global Leadership at Gordon-Conwell […] With the goal of accelerating missions, I have made connections with global Lausanne leaders, churches, family, friends, and amazing mentors, and we’ve collaborated to provide scholarships, empower widows, distribute Bibles, meals, computers, and lead community outreaches. We even shipped a van filled with donations from the USA to a younger leader working with unreached groups in Nigeria, who is here today.”

We’re grateful for the work of these individuals and everyone else in our community who live into our vision of being “a thoughtful, loving, Christ-centered community of global discipleship.”