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Christian Conference of Asia
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About CCA
Program Clusters: Special Programs:
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International Seminar on Asian Peace and URM"For as long as the masses in each of our societies continue to live out their reality through the images of poverty, exploitation, and repression, URM [Urban Rural Mission] will have a reason for being." Thus said Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, in her keynote address at the International Seminar for Asian Peace and the URM on October 6, 2003. in Seoul, Korea. With the theme "Asian Peace and the URM in the Twenty-First Century," the seminar gathered some 50 participants, including senior URM leaders, peace activists and theologians from Korea and other Asian countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Participants also attended the 45th anniversary service of Yongdungpo Urban Industrial Mission on 5 October and the opening of the Saebyuk World Peace Center on 6 October at Saebyuk Presbyterian Church. On 7 October the stone sculpture of the Hand of Peace was unveiled at the Saebyuk World Peace Center led by Saebyuk senior pastor Lee Seung-yong. Participants shared sub-regional reports and Bible studies, heard presentations, made exposure visits, and united together in worship. In a statement, they reaffirmed that "the churches of Asia must continue to identify with and accompany the people in their pursuit for peace, justice and freedom" and that the URM must "continue to stand with the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized in their struggle against the forces of globalization and militarization." Co-hosting the seminar were the Saebyuk World Peace Center and the Asian URM Diakonia Training Center in Korea. Co-sponsors were the CCA and the NCC in Korea. posted by hope on Friday, October 10, 2003 |
