Young prophets, healers and reconcilers

Twenty-two young ecumenical leaders responded to the call to be prophets, reconcilers and healers of our time through the Asian Ecumenical Course (AEC) 2010. The AEC participants who come from Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Taiwan, Aotearoa New Zealand, the Philippines and Malaysia will also be observers and animators of the Bible Studies and worship for the 2010 CCA assembly.

A two-week intensive course, the AEC is one of the highlights, if not a turning point in every participant’s faith journey. We shared life stories, social realities where each one grew up, and the big role the church plays in our formation. The Church, we learned, has an important role to play in our societies in ensuring peaceful co-existence and equity of resources. The unity of the Church is a powerful witness of the message of love.

We are challenged to be active participants in the ecumenical movement as it is an evangelical imperative to bring people to Christ. We are reminded of Jesus’ prayer for unity and to focus on the Church’s efforts on things that unite. People of other faiths are not objects of conversion but people whose religious beliefs must be respected. At AEC we are taught to uphold the Asia-ness of our Christian practice in the use of our own songs and instruments in worship, and in contextualizing the Bible in Asian realities. We celebrate our gift of diversity and affirm our Asian spirituality.

As prophets, reconcilers and healers we dare speak against repression of the people in Asia. We dare speak against disunity that crippled the Church to action, losing its powerful witness. We dare speak against globalization that promotes consumerism, dehumanizes Asian communities and destroys our environment. We dare speak love to communities of other faiths and blessings to the delegates and participants of CCA’s 13th General Assembly. Finally, we dare speak peace based on justice to abound in Asia as was never known before.

CCA’s Dr Hope S. Antone and Rev Dr. Joseph Kumar, dean of the AEC 2010 are our nurturing hands at the AEC. We sincerely thank them.

Friends, we are here to help make our assembly experience more enriching and more stirring for all of us.

Ariel Siagan, with the AEC participants

~ Berita Terkini CCA Assembly 2010 April 17