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Sound the Bamboo
[CCA Hymnal]

 


‘Called to Prophecy, Reconciliation and Healing: A Theological Basis for Challenges in Post War Sri Lanka’ 

27 –29 May 2012Sri Lanka

30 participants comprising pastors, women and youth leaders from different denominations in Sri Lanka gathered together for a CCA-FMU Conference on the theme ‘Called to Prophecy, Reconciliation and Healing: A Theological Basis for Challenges in Post War Sri Lanka’ at Meth Arana –Athrugiriya, Sri Lanka, from 27 – 29 May 2012.  Meth Arana, an idyllic hillside retreat centre, provided an ideal backdrop for discussions on healing and reconciliation in the post war struggles in Sri Lanka.
Participants of the Conference at Sri Lanka

The Consultation, which was conducted in collaboration with NCC Sri Lanka, aimed at building a solid theological basis for church ministries focusing on the theme ‘Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal’, analyzing the role of religion in conflict situation, learning best practices in healing and reconciliation as seen in war torn situations, and nurturing young leadership especially in peace building process.

The Rev. Ebenezer Joseph, General Secretary of NCC Sri Lanka and Rev. Ruki Fernando facilitated the participants to discuss the contemporary situation in Sri Lanka and the response of churches in Sri Lanka.
Activity in Conflict Transformation
Rev. Francis Selvaraj (Director of Visthaar Academy of Justice and Peace Studies in India), Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar (Director of Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society in India) and   Rev. Jacky Manuputty (Peace activist from the Protestant Church of Mollucus, Indonesia) shared their reflections and experiences on how the churches and christian communities are involved in peace movements in India and Indonesia. This helped the participants to think of their roles as prophets, reconcilers and healers. 

Some of the important observations made were that the process of reconciliation and healing was a long one and had to start with the understanding of the trauma and pain of the victims, helping them to reflect and reconstruct the painful memories of the past into transformative power. They also felt the need to have a training manual/resource materials on the theological basis of peace building (collect and print all the sermons, bible reflections and stories on prophesying, reconciling and healing), strengthen the programs on individual churches on healing and reconciliation, and enhance more collective Peace initiatives at the national level.

Conflict transformation
Perhaps the most significant outcome was the affirmation of the role of women in war situations, both during the war and in post-war situations, especially in healing, reconciliation and peace building, and the need to document the experiences of women and children.



 

posted by communications on Wednesday, June 20, 2012  



Mission in the Pluralistic Contexts of Indonesia and Timor Leste Today: Promoting Justice and Peace for All
Jakarta, Indonesia, 6-9 April 2012

Participants of a sub-regional mission consultation on the theme “Mission in the Pluralistic Contexts of Indonesia and Timor Leste Today: Promoting Justice and Peace for All” held in Jakarta from 6-9 April 2012, called for churches to proclaim the kingdom of God holistically through words and deeds, as a kingdom in which the relationship between human beings and nature is healed and reconciled. 

Listing the common tasks that churches have to under that churches have to undertake to reach this goal, they urged them to constantly work together and with different groups in the society in order to develop a family of God that would together build the earth as the household of God which is the house for all. (cf. Eph. 2:19-22). Reminding them that church mission is based on love they stressed the importance of preaching the gospel of justice, peace, reconciliation, and dignity in life for all. 

This consultation, which was jointly organized by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), Christian Conference of Asia (CCA-FMU) and Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) had 70 participants representing 37 member churches of these three ecumenical organizations in Indonesia.  
The aims of the Consultation were to: (1) understand the context of Indonesia and Timor Leste societies today especially in the spirit of promoting justice and peace for all; (2) discern the biblical grounding for Christian witness and identify the mission challenges in Indonesia and Timor Leste in the light of these challenges; (3) develop mission statement of the churches in Indonesia and Timor Leste, and code of conduct in mission as faith responses of the churches; and (4) strengthen the ecumenical collaboration of the churches in Indonesia and Timor Leste in mission works.
The participants shared the challenges they face in their respective communities, such as the shift of values in perceiving life; the domination of economic power in the hands of a few people; the widening economic gap; the growing culture of consumerism and corruption; religious intolerance; radicalism and privatisation of public domain, internal conflict in the communities, including the church which weakens the leadership.
Biblical reflections also gave the opportunity to discern what it means to be the church in the rapidly changing and pluralistic context of Indonesia and Timor Leste today. A few resource persons shared their perspectives and the findings of their research which enriched the discussion. 
The participants also discussed some ecumenical documents, such as: PGI Vision on Mission and Evangelism (2009), the Statement of the PGI Mission Conference 2011, the study material jointly prepared by World Council of Churches, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue under the title “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendation for Conduct” (2011); the statement of the meeting of the  Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) held in Manila in March 2012: Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes;  also the open letter of the 138 Muslim Scholars entitled: “A Common Word Between Us and You” on 13 October 2007, addressed to world Christian leaders.





posted by communications on Wednesday, June 20, 2012  



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