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Christian Conference of Asia
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Greetings of the CCA General Secretary to the 50th Anniversary Worship and Celebration with President of the Republic of Indonesia March 7, 2007, Medan,Indonesia His Excellency the Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia His Excellency the Governor of North Sumatra Region Religious Dignitaries, Distinguished Guests, Sisters and brothers in Christ I invite you in a silence moment! All of us in the Christian Conference of Asia extend our deepest sympathy to the victims, and to the families of the victims, of two recent tragedies here in Indonesia- the earthquake in West Sumatra and the air crash in Yogyakarta. The prayers of the churches around Asia are with you at this time of grieving loss. Today is an important day for all of us and for the faith communities related to the life and destiny of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA). As the General Secretary of the CCA, I count it a privilege to bring greetings to all of you from the CCA family representing about 55 million people in almost 100 national churches and 16 national councils of churches and national Christian councils in the whole of Asia including Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The vision that we have for Asia today is to ‘build communities of peace for all’ based on justice, healing, reconciliation, harmony, equality and unity. Today is also a special day for the Indonesian people because the CCA was conceived in its institutional form 50 years ago (1957) in Parapat, and the presence of your late President, Sukarno at the inaugural conference gave the CCA its international character and visibility. CCA was born at a time when the world was breaking away from shekels of colonialism, grip of imperialism and the might of European domination. Nations were being born and the peoples of Asia were determined to move ahead to preserve their freedom, dignity and to fight against all forms of divisions and violence which denied their humanity. The leaders of the Christian Communities met in Parapat to confer together to discern ways and means to spiritually undergird and empower Asian people to realize their dreams and visions. Furthermore, CCA was also conscious that it was called to be witnessing community in the midst of healing the wounds of nations and within the process of National Building and the struggle for self-determination. After 50 years of our existence we decided to come back to Indonesia merely to celebrate, but also to thank God for accompanying us right through these 50 years. We have also come here to seek God’s forgiveness for our lack of courage to witness and to take a stand for justice and peace amidst untold sufferings of our people. Our hope and prayer is to go from Parapat with a renewed commitment to become ambassadors of Jesus Christ to transform the principalities and powers of this world which kill the innocent, deny food, shelter, education and security to the majority of our people and abuse God’s creation. As we move to the future we are also committed to walk hand in hand with people of other faiths and no faiths to make this world a place where “… they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation and neither shall they learn war any more;…” (Micah 4:3) This is the challenge before us and therefore let us put aside all forms of divisions within and among nations, within and among faith communities and within us, which make us ineffective and spiritually paralyze us and discredits us in the face of the world. The need of the hour is to pool all our resources together in order to transform this continent and the world to become humane, just and compassionate. Therefore I urge you my sisters and brothers to go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honour everyone; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. God Bless You Prawate Khid-arn General Secretary Christian Conference of Asia posted by cbs on Monday, March 12, 2007 |
