Gottfried Osei-Mensah on the The Holy Spirit in World Evangelization at the First Lausanne Congress

Lausanne Movement Podcast

A Special Episode from the Lausanne Movement Archives

How does the Holy Spirit empower the Church for global mission?

In this powerful talk from the First Lausanne Congress (1974), Rev. Gottfried Osei-Mensah explores the Holy Spirit’s role as Teacher, Master, and Helper in evangelization. With deep wisdom and clarity, he calls Christians to submit to the Spirit’s leading, embrace bold faith, and work together for the Gospel.

A timeless message that is still relevant today!

Gottfried Osei-Mensah Bio:

Gottfried Osei-Mensah served as the executive secretary of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization from 1975-1984.

Born in Ghana, Gottfried worked as an engineer in the oil industry before helping develop Christian witness in the universities of West Africa through the Pan African Fellowship of Evangelical Students. From 1971-1975, he pastored Nairobi Baptist Church in Kenya. In 1973, he served on the planning committee of Lausanne and presented a plenary address at the International Congress on World Evangelization in 1974. Appointed as executive secretary following the congress, he traveled the world, encouraging the formation of national and regional movements based on The Lausanne Covenant to identify unreached people groups within their communities and beyond and devise effective ways of evangelizing them.

In 1986, Gottfried was invited to serve as a special representative on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) staff. He joined African Enterprise (AE) in 1993 and set up the AE team in Ghana. He also served on the UK board of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse until his retirement in 2013.

Gottfried lives in Reading, UK, with two grown-up children and four grandchildren. After 53 years of marriage, his wife, Audrey, went to be with the Lord in June 2016.