IN THIS ISSUE

• John Stott in China

• Preacher’s Progress

• Langham in the Middle East

• Chris Wright visiting in Canada

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Marking his continuing love and con-cern for the church in China, JohnStott led a delegation of six repre-sentatives from LanghamPartnership International on a visitto China and Hong Kong, in January2006.

The purpose was to build upon the goodrelationship established during his previous visits in1996 and 1999. As a renowned internationalChristian leader, John Stott is well-respected by theChinese churches. Cooperation with the churchleaders in China has resulted in at least four of hisbooks, including three volumes in the Bible SpeaksToday series, being translated, and published by theChinese Christian Council and these are beingdistributed through the country-wide official churchnetwork.The delegation included Chris Wright,Mark Hunt (International Chair of LPI), DavidCansdale (Chair of LPUKI), Philemon Choi (Chairof Langham Foundation East Asia),Abigail Lim andVictor Sun (members of the council of LFEA, fromHong Kong).

There were much cherished times of fellowship withthe senior church leaders in the national as well asthe municipal level Committees of Three-SelfPatriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian

Council (CCC) in Shanghai. John Stott explainedthe Langham vision and logic and then introducedChris Wright as his successor. Chris furtherexplained the three programs of LanghamPartnership International and assured

cooperation with the Chinese churches in any waysin which the Langham programs can be ofassistance.

On Sunday 8th of January, we attended GraceChurch, a local Chinese church in Shanghai formorning service.Well over 1500 people werepresent at the one service and the church has atotal membership of around 7,000, growing by 200a year.

China welcomesJohn Stott back

L to R. Victor Sun, Philemon Choi, Mark Hunt, Chris Wright,Rev Cao, John Stott, Elder Ji, David Cansdale, Abigail Liew

John Stott was invited to bring afive-minute greeting andencouragement to thecongregation. In the afternoon,both John Stott and Chris Wrightpreached in the foreigncommunity church at the 2pmand 4pm services. It wassurprising to see more than 1,000expatriate (mostly other Asian)Christians now worshipping at thethree English language services inShanghai. Victor Sun who was aresident in Shanghai for five yearsbetween 1992 to 1997remembered that there were only40 foreigners worshipping in ahotel room 15-years ago.

After the service at Grace Church,

Shanghai

The next stop for our visit was NanjingUnion Theological Seminary - the premiernational seminary in China.The delegationshared tea with faculty and students, ChrisWright gave a talk, and we learned much aboutthe needs of the seminary and its library.Wewere impressed by the dedication of thestudents. In Nanjing we also visited the AmityPress and Amity Foundation. Amity Press,which enjoys a good relationship with thegovernment authorities, has produced morethan 37 million copies of Chinese Biblesbesides other theological books.

On the whole, we were overwhelmed by the warmth and enthusiasmwherever we went. Throughout the trip, John Stott was accompaniedby his medical friend Jonathan West, our 'beloved physician', and we areindeed thankful to God that John coped with the rigours of the journeyand had strength for all the meetings and speaking engagements. Werejoiced to see the evident popularity of his books in both English andChinese, as well as the high esteem and personal honour in which he isheld in East Asia.

We believe God is opening a door for Langham Partnership to findways of helping to resource the phenomenal growth of the churches inChina. What Langham can offer is exactly right for the needs ofchurches of all varieties with whom we hope to work. Pray for LFEA inHong Kong and the International Program Directors as they work inthe months ahead to follow up this initiative and build on the welcomealready received.

Then the delegation flew down toHong Kong, where several meetingswere arranged for Chris and John bythe Langham Foundation East Asia.These included a lecture on therelevance of Old Testament law forcontemporary ethics by Chris to theLawyers Christian Fellowship, and then areception and dinner for 180supporters and donors. John Stottspoke on “A Call to Christian Maturity”from Colossians 1:28-29, after whichChris Wright introduced the Langhamministries and showed our DVD. Theevening ended with Dr Choi, theChairman of LFEA,successfully launchingthe LanghamPartners' scheme inHong Kong.

The high point ofJohn Stott's visit toHong Kong tookplace at the WingKwong PentecostalHoliness Church inLok Fu. More than1,500 people turnedout for an evening ofthanksgiving to Godand honouring JohnStott for his 60 yearsof faithful service.We began by singing

John Stott's favourite hymn, 'Jesus,The Name Highover All'. A number of community leadersrepresenting the Anglican Church, seminaries,student work, mission agencies and LanghamScholars paid tribute in turn to John Stott as aBible expositor, Christian leader and evangelicalstatesman.A special Chinese calligraphy scrollcontaining the words from Philippians 2:9 - 11 waspresented to John Stott as a token of ourappreciation amidst thunderous applause from thecongregation. John gave a powerful delivery of hisspecial address on “ A Call to RadicalDiscipleship”. Many responded to Dr Choi'sclosing appeal by becoming Langham Partners thatevening.

Faculty and students gathered to meet the delegation

Nanjing Union Theological Seminary

Chinesehospitalityover meals

was adaily

delight

John Stott presented with a scroll of Philippians 2 in Chinese calligraphy in Hong Kong.

LanghamPreachers

An update on the work fromJonathan Lamb,International Program Director forLangham PreachingInitiatives in French-speaking Africa

“Presently the country is facing civil war, caused byethnic and political tensions.The country is split intwo parts.That situation has created a lot ofuncertainties at the education, economic and sociallevels.The church is affected, as most Christians arepredominantly from the south.The north, occupiedby the guerrillas, has few churches….. Participantswere very excited by the Preaching Seminar.Theystarted a Yahoo email group and they areinteracting, asking advice from others if they aregoing to preach on some specific passages. At theend of the seminar, they unanimously requested asecond level for next year.”

This was the report sent by Daniel Bourdannéfollowing the launch of the Langham Preachingprogram in Cote d'Ivoire in Autumn 2005. It istypical of news we are receiving from several parts ofthe world - a story of social instability,economic collapse, the ravages of war andillness, coupled with news of a genuine desireto equip a new generation of preachers andteachers to strengthen growing churches.

The story is very similar in Congo. There wereseveral challenges related to the development of theLangham Preaching program there last year, notleast the civil war affecting some delegates, the poorcommunications, and the difficulties of travel.

But the Lord was in control, and the event wentforward with 35 delegates, strong local leader-ship, and very positive commitments to developthe training regionally and nationally.TheLangham Preaching Facilitator, Gordon Woolard,had this to say afterwards:

“The eastern region of Congo is still in a state oftension with outbreaks of inter-tribal or rebel war-fare.The UN presence is keeping an uneasy peacefor the moment.There is high unemployment.Theaverage pastor is paid about $80 a month. Overallthe delegates were deeply committed to the Word. Iwas told that most preaching would be topical andnot very close to the text. I found the delegates allto be well-educated and articulate and ready tohandle the Langham material.

The Preaching Seminar group in Tanzania.

Three years on and still growing fastLangham Preaching is now entering its fourth year, and we are very thankful for thesteady growth of the program.Your prayerful solidarity has enabled our small teamto develop the preaching network in different corners of the world. Last autumn sawthe launch of work in French-speaking Africa, with plans for further developmentlater this year. One positive spin-off from the Cote d'Ivoire event is that a smallgroup travelled to Abidjan from Burkina Faso. Having caught the vision, they tooare seeking to launch a Langham program later this year. At the same time, a newprogram took place in Kenya, and plans are underway for a follow-up event in Maythis year. It was also very encouraging to see a further seminar program inZimbabwe, run alongside the Zimbabwe Keswick Convention, when a good numberof theological students from Harare joined pastors and lay preachers for three daysof study together.The local team did a great job despite the special pressures of lifein Zimbabwe - 1000% inflation, shortages of many basic food stuffs and energy sup-plies, and sustained political pressure from the Mugabe regime.

Martin Accad is a Langham Scholar who is now the Academic Dean of the Arab BaptistTheological Seminary, in Lebanon. Recently he wrote to us:

“Lebanon as you know is going through tremendous change, that is both exciting and risky.Please pray for the security in our country and that the Lord may take control.

In June 2005 we launched our Institute of Middle East Studies, which I had been workingto develop over the past two years. It was a great celebration, done under the patronage of amember of parliament and attended by political, religious and media personalities.We feel thatIMES will play a very positive role among our Arab societies for years to come, and be anEvangelical mouthpiece to address current affairs.

We are holding our third Middle East Conference, June 19-23, 2006, on the theme'Waging Peace from East to West'. It will focus on political Islam, politicized Christianity, andconflict resolution and reconciliation.The Vision Statement of IMES is 'to bring about positivetransformation in thinkng and practice between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East andthe West'.”

Just before this event, May 12-14, the first LanghamPartnership Regional Council for the Middle East will beheld in Lebanon. Elie Haddad, Provost of ABTS, andcurrently a scholar supported by LP-Canada, has beeninvolved in the planning of these events and will also bean active participant with Martin Accad and otherLangham Scholars and key Christian leaders in MiddleEast churches and seminaries in the region. Please prayfor both of these events and their strategic importance.

Langham Scholars'waging peace' in the Middle East

THE LANGHAM PARTNERSHIPINTERNATIONALFounder & Honorary President:John StottInternational Ministries Director:Chris WrightScholarships Director:Meritt SawyerLiterature Director:Pieter KwantPreaching Director:Jonathan Lamb

THE LANGHAM PARTNERSHIP - CANADARegistered Canadian CharitableOrganization BN119241537RR0001

Chair of Trustees:

Donations to Administrator:Elizabeth Denbeigh6 Buttonwood Dr.Kitchener, ON N2M 4R1Elizabeth.Denbeigh@langhampartnership.ca

Scholarship Committee:David MatthewsPreaching Committee:Barry ParkerScholar Care Committee:Joan Neilson

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:Stephen AndrewsThena AyresClyde ErvineGina LambBill LambPeggy PeacockGeorge Sumner

THE LANGHAM PARTNERSHIP (UK & IRELAND)Executive Director:Ian BuchananChair of Trustees:David Cansdale

JOHN STOTT MINISTRIES (USA):President:David JonesChair of the Board:Mark Labberton

THE LANGHAM PARTNERSHIP - AUSTRALIAChair of Trustees:Rob ForsythAdministrator:Wendy Toulmin

THE LANGHAM PARTNERSHIP -HONG KONGChairman of the Board:Philemon Choi

langham partnership international

Our websiteThe Langham Partnership International has a common website now with links to eachmember organization.Visit: www.langhampartnership.org with link www.langhampartnership.caFor information or requests in Canada:Elizabeth.Denbeigh@langhampartnership.ca or (519) 745-3667Mastercard and VISA payments welcomed.

GROWING A NEW GENERATION OF PREACHERS AND TEACHERS

Cross-Canada Tour withRev. Dr. Chris Wright- Ministries Director of the

Langham Partnership InternationalPlease join us in one of the following locations this April to hear from

Rev. Dr. Chris WrightTopic: the Changing Face of Global Missions

Rev. Dr. Gordon Smith, of reSource Leadership International, will also attend andspeak specifically about the Vital Place of Theological Scholarship

for Christian Missions.

During the week of April 25 – 28, 2006.Please join us at 7:30 pm for discussions and receptions

in one of the following locations:

Vancouver: Monday,April 24th, at Regent College,5800 University Boulevard,Vancouver, BC

Calgary:Tuesday,April 25th, at Centre Street Church,3900 2nd Street NE, Calgary,AB

Winnipeg:Thursday,April 27th, at Grace Bible Church,366 Oakwood Ave.,Winnipeg, MB

Toronto: Friday,April 28th, Bayview Glen Alliance Church,300 Steeles Avenue E.,Thornhill,ON

Special OpportunityPlease note that Dr. Chris Wright will be preaching at Little Trinity Anglican Church

on Sunday, April 30th at both services. Please attend if you can!

This tour is sponsored jointly by Langham Partnership – Canadaand reSource Leadership International

RSVP (519) 745-3667or Email: Elizabeth.Denbeigh@langhampartnership.ca

Bring a friend!