In order to fulfill the Great Commission, every believer needs to be a minister and every workplace a place of ministry.

The words belong to bishop Efraim Tendero from the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). He was one of the speakers at the Global Workplace Forum arranged by the Lausanne Movement in Manila June 25-29. Together with several others he pointed out how Christians at work is a missing link in accomplishing the great commission.

The Great Commission can never be fulfilled by pastors and missionaries alone. Yet the falsehood of a “sacred-secular divide” has permeated the Church’s thinking and actions, said Michael Oh, the Global Executive Director/CEO of the Lausanne movement.

United Nations assigns August 22nd as a day for “commemorating the victims” of religious persecution. According to several reports no religious group is facing more persecution than the Christians.

Any act of violence against people belonging to religious minorities cannot be accepted, said Jacek Czaputowicz when he introduced the draft for the new initiative to fight religious persecution at UN’s General Assembly in May. Czaputowicz serves as the minister of foreign affairs in Poland. 

The international day will aim to honor the victims and survivors of persecution who often remain forgotten. We hope that it will help combat hate crimes and acts of violence related to religion or belief, and will further strengthen inter-religious dialogue, he added.

Global Intent’s and Tent’s GO Equipped courses have had record numbers of participants every year the past years. 2019 will be no exception. Close to 400 people from a variety of nations are expected to take the course this year.

The course season starts next week with a GO Equipped course in Ganta, Liberia. Then follow courses in Nigeria, Costa Rica, Niger, Ecuador and Brazil. 

It is amazing to see the interest for our GO Equipped-courses. Our capacity is limited by the number of teachers we have available – not by the number of people who want to take the course. To meet demands, it feels like we could run courses every week throughout the year, says Tent’s international director, Steinar Opheim.