An overwhelming majority of Young Lausanne leaders from the Majority World are looking for theological education opportunities. Nana Yaw Offei Awuku, the Global Associate Director for Generations - a gathering of young leaders hosted by Lausanne - said 87% of the members requested a theological education directory.
Speaking at a press conference at Lausanne 4 in Seoul, South Korea, Awuku said the convention provided an opportunity for young leaders to network with delegates from the academic field. “Presidents of seminaries and Christian universities have committed to full time scholarships from across the world. We have been very encouraged by the meetings,” said Awuku.
The meetings gave impetus to the YLGen Educate, a programme run by Young Lausanne Generation (YLGen) which has so far attracted over $1 million in scholarships for 43 undergraduate, graduate and PhD students from 21 countries.
Additionally, the Lausanne Emerging Theologians Initiatives (LETI), a partnership initiative between Lausanne, Union School of Theology and SaRang Church seeks to equip emerging theologians to ‘multiply training for pastors, scholars and leaders worldwide’.
Awuku explained that YLGen has taken a more long-term view of mentorship by admitting cohorts of young leaders to a 10-year journey which enables them to grow in their leadership skills by connecting them to Lausanne networks, resources, peer groups and mentors.
He provided context of how the mentorship programme was mooted by saying: “The current CEO was the chairman of the planning team for the 2006 younger leaders gathering, which I attended and after that experience of like a week of a mountain top experience, his question was; for younger leaders who are under 35 and are leading in these strategic areas, what will happen in global mission if we kind of walk along with another, not only for one week but a 10 year journey?”
He added that the cohort that will be joining the Lausanne younger leaders gathering in 2026 will be “signing up for a journey that is taking them to 2036.” Awuku said that the impact of the mentorship model was visible at Lausanne 4 where many of the young leaders in the cohort are actively participating in various roles at the convention. He mentioned some of the young leaders including the senior executives at Navigators, IFDS and CREW who were at the convention.
He said: “This is just a deep encouragement of the fruit of what happens when we walk intentionally with younger leaders.”
The YLGen community now has a membership of 937 young Christian leaders from 140 countries with more expected to join in 2026 at the YL Gathering that will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. YLG2026 is intended as a strategic follow-up to Lausanne 4 congress and will bring together 1,200 younger leaders and over 200 mentors from all 12 regions.
“The people who come (for the gathering) come because they are members of a certain network. It is just the vision, the mission, the credibility of the leaders who gather here (at Lausanne),” noted Awuku.
