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Lausanne Forum on Children at Risk

Lausanne Forum on Children at Risk

From 14-17 May 2017, 80 global influencers gathered at Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania, for the Second Lausanne Forum on Children at Risk. 

The goal of the forum was to promote action within the global church community and to collaboratively discover ways ‘to educate, unify, and mobilize the global church to mission to, for, and with children at risk . . . empowering them as vulnerable agents of God

Participants at the forum spent time in 5 action groups –which included the topics of ‘children on the move (refugees)’, ‘reframing the children at risk paradigm’, ‘amplifying children’s voices’, ‘multiplying training programs’, as well as regional forums.

In 2010, the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization featured children and youth for the first time in both the agenda as well as the Congress statement. The resulting Cape Town Commitment, speaking on behalf of children, asks the global church to ‘take children seriously through fresh biblical and theological enquiry’; ‘seek to train and provide resources to meet the needs of children worldwide’; and ‘to expose, resist, and take action against all abuse of children’ (CTC II-D-5).

World Without Orphans emphasizes the child as one of five Cornerstones essential to seeing a global paradigm shift in the care for orphans and vulnerable children.

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