The World Evangelical Alliance has excelled in the last six years in presenting the world with a credible and faithful witness of the Gospel, says its international director.
Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe told delegates at the WEA's General Assembly in Thailand this week that the challenges for evangelicals in the world were great, pointing to radical secularism, postmodernism, declining Christianity at the same time as growing interest in spirituality, climate change, HIV and Aids, the global financial crisis, trafficking and migration.
Yet the opportunities are also great, Dr Tunnicliffe insisted, noting the rapid spread of Christianity in the Global South.
"We see this tremendous growth and this seismic shift in the church around the world and we are excited to what God is doing as he raises up women and men around the world in so many different places," he said.
"As we think about the global reality of the world in which we live, [there are] immense challenges but also immense opportunities."
During this year's general assembly - the first in seven years - participants have been helping to form a new shared vision for WEA and a five-year roadmap to achieve the vision. They have also been informed about some of the most pressing global issues and the Evangelical responses to them, received practical training to help national alliances become more effective, and networked to build a stronger Christian body.
Dr Tunnicliffe challenged evangelicals to live with purpose and focus as they continued to serve God.
"It is my prayer that we in our community will be women and men who live with divine purpose within our lives, that we will be good leaders envisioned by God to make a difference in the world," he said.
"The most important thing that you can do with your [life] is to integrate it into the never ending story of God's kingdom. God's already at work in the world. He's doing things. We just need to align with what He is doing."
The vision of the WEA was, he continued, to see the global church joined together in every community effectively living out and proclaiming the good news of Jesus.
