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PROK Letter to Partners
30 November, 2010 Dear Friends in Ecumenical Organizations and Partner Churches Greetings in the name of Jesus, the prince of peace. First of all, we, the Presbyterian Church in the republic of Korea (PROK), are deeply grateful for your concern, prayer and solidarity messages and statements to respond to the recent violence in Yeonpyeong Island and the escalation of tension in the Korean peninsula. Witnessing the current unstable situation in the Korean peninsula, the PROK is immensely concerned about political moves toward bigger clashes. We feel the need to strongly re-affirm that military provocation and retaliation are the way to self-destruction of the two Koreas, and that peaceful approach and dialogue are the only ways to resolve the conflict and to live together in the Korean Peninsula. We claim that a threat to peace and life should not be used to solve political difficulties or gain political points. Therefore, on Nov. 24, the PROK issued a statement to urge the two Korean authorities not to extend the vindictive situation but to resolve it peacefully with the following suggestions: 1. Not to abuse resentments of the victims as a pretext of revenge, to restore humanitarian support to N.K instead of engaging in hard line policies and sanctions, and to resume dialogue and mutual exchanges such as the Six Party Talks and the North-South Red Cross Conference. 2. To establish the ¡®Special Peace and Co-operation Zone in the West Sea¡¯ initiated by North and South Joint Declaration October 4, 2007, and to stop the military drill in that area rather than continue to collide because of the controversial Northern Limit Line. 3. To repeal the 1953 Armistice Agreement and replace it with a Peace Treaty, de-escalating the threats of imminent conflict between North and South Korea and ensuring peace and security not only in Northeast Asia but the whole world. We are attaching the statement of the National Council of Churches of Korea which well articulated the rationale and explanation of the Yeonpyeong Island Incident, so that you can refer to their analysis and position regarding the issue as well. We have launched a signature campaign to gather support for the making of a Peace Treaty. We will be sending you a letter and signature form to gather your signatures and support. Please join the campaign, and keep holding peace and reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula in your prayers and supporting our sincere efforts for peace. In ecumenical solidarity, Rev. Bae Tae-Jin General Secretary The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea | 
posted by cbs on Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Emmanuel-God with us, God in us, God for us and God for others
For the last few years and months we have been reading in the papers and watching on television stories of people on the move because of floods, erruption of volcanoes, landslides, draught, civil, ethnic and tribal wars. This list can go on and on to show how people in our day are getting uprooted from their homes, ancestral properties and places they and their ancestors have lived for generations. These are painful stories to listen to, read in news papers and watch on television. As one listens to these stories and see the horror of untimely deaths and destruction thousands of people one tend to wonder what is happening in the world and ask the question: how could a loving, caring and a merciful God allow these things to happen or watch so many innocent die and do nothing about it. In fact these are the questions posed to theologians and pastors by simple and pious people but disillusioned. These are justified questions and questions of this nature have been raised by most pious and faithful women and men through out the human history and some of these faith questions are recorded in the book of Psalms and Job. (Psalm 13: 1-2)
We are also being made aware because of advancement of science and technology that the root causes for most of nature’s irruptions are not the will of God but nature’s reaction to human actions such as deforestation, off shore drillings, testing and detonation of nuclear bombs underground, excess carbon emissions, building of dams and exploitation of non renewable resources. These are carried out by humans to satisfy their greed for profit making and their desire to accumulate more and more. This is the ugly side of human nature and one can say this is the outcome when human beings become slaves to forces of Mammon. Jesus warned us about it when he said “One cannot serve God and Mammon” (Mt.7:24; Lk16:13). In fact this is the power of sin and the power which alienates human beings from God, one another and God’s entire creation and enslaves humans to gods created in their own image.
It is almost impossible to think of Christmas divorced from the painful realities described above. Christmas is a time set apart in the Church’s calendar to celebrate the birth of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Matthew Jesus is called “Emmanuel” which means “God with us” (Mt. 1:23) who through his ministry became God among us, God for us and God for others. The most pertinent question is: who is this Jesus we celebrate during the season of Christmas and who is this Jesus we invoke to inspire and envision our ministries as the Church is called to reflect and reveal God’s character on this earth? Is he the Jesus of the Gospels or the Jesus we have created out of our own imagination?
The birth of Jesus took place in a context like today where the empires or the principalities and powers of the day were enslaving people and treating them as non humans. We know from history how the Babylonian, Persian, Syrian, Roman empires brutalized their people. This is also true of 20th and 21st centuries Empires. God in Jesus the Christ came to this world and took the form of a human being and lived among the suffering people. John records this fact in his Gospel by saying
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth;..(Jn.1:14). This is God’s way of speaking to groaning and suffering humanity and God’s heart is spoken out by Jesus when he said “…and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Mt. 28: 20)
This makes it absolutely clear that the story of Christmas is a reminder to all of us that God has not abandoned this world but God in Jesus reveals to the world that God of the bible is a God who feels the pain, the agony and the abandonment of God’s people created in God’s image. The story of Christmas is not a story of a triumphant God but a suffering God. God of the bible is not a God of the Empire but God in Jesus Christ who questioned the authority and the legitimacy of the Empire. In fact the song of Mary affirms it when she says “He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones,…”(Lk. 1: 51f). Therefore, the birth of Jesus shook the very foundation of the Roman Empire and over the years inspired his followers to challenge the principalities and powers. This trend continued until Christianity became a State religion during the 4th Century. However, over the years, even as a remnant community, women and men have opted to imitate Jesus by saying no to Mammon and gods of this world.
As stated above Mary, the mother of Jesus sang a revolutionary song (Lk. 1:46-55) when she was carrying Jesus in her womb. Those words of Mary revealed the character of God with us whom we celebrate during the season of Christmas. Herod the Great trembled in fear when he heard about the birth of Jesus and slaughtered hundreds of children thinking that through that act of violence he can eliminate the threat to his life. We also know that the poor and the vulnerable, like the shepherds, rejoiced at the birth of Jesus when the angels announced to them about the prince of peace. (Lk. 2:14f). In that sense, Jesus, God with us, is good news to the vulnerable, lowly and the meek. Jesus the gentle one is also the righteous one who called the Herod “fox” (Lk.13: 32) and turned the tables of the money changers at the Temple Court (Mk.11:15). On the one hand, at the birth of Jesus evil and inhuman powers trembled, and on the other hand, the weak and the meek sang for joy songs of liberation and hope. Prophet Isaiah’s vision expressed through the words “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined” (Isa. 9:2) is identified with the life of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt. 4:12-17) in order to indicate that his ministry was an embodiment of the vision of prophet Isaiah.
Therefore, the message of Christmas is not about Santa Claus, merry making and grand celebrations with food and drinks in a world where more than 2/3 of humanity suffer from hunger, malnutrition, lack of drinking water, security and opportunities to be human and live in dignity. In such a world the message of Christmas should be another world is possible because Jesus stood for another world and he demonstrated it through his teachings about the reign of God. Christmas, therefore, is a time to repent and rediscover the authentic Jesus as recorded in the Gospels-God with us- who suffers with those who suffer, mourn with those who mourn and die with those who die. The story of the birth of Jesus devoid of the cross is like taking about the crucifixion without the resurrection. Therefore, the story of Christmas is a story of joy and pain, the story of a savior of the world who also becomes a refugee, one who was hunted to be killed and one who is denied, betrayed, tortured and finally killed by the collaborative act of the agents of the institutional religion and the Empire. In spite of it God raised him from the dead and sent him back to the world to be God with us and in and through us. Hence, the Church which claims to be the Body of Christ must reflect in and through all its actions the mind of Christ and become God’s channel of Emmanuel. This is a sacred task and that is the reason we are called to be the Body of Christ and we are the Body of Christ (1Cor. 12:27).
Rienzie Perera
Chiang Mai, November 19, 2010
posted by cbs on Monday, November 29, 2010
Pastoral letter to Cambodia
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Cambodia:
No words could capture our shock and grief at the tragedy that befell the people of Cambodia recently. The stampede was a regrettable tragedy, claiming and injuring many lives for such a time when people are supposed to be in celebration. We raise our voices to heavens pleading for God’s mantle of healing and peace to descend upon you all soon.
The Christian Conference of Asia is one with you as you grieve for your great loss. Be assured that you are in our prayers and in our hearts, even as we continue to uphold brothers and sisters around Asia who are also suffering due to calamities and conflicts.
May God continually grant us all the strength and the good will to be in solidarity with each other, and to remain hopeful in times of despair.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7)
Very sincerely in Christ,
Henriette Hutabarat Lebang
General Secretary
cc.:
CCA Member Churches and Councils
Members of the CCA General Committee
Ecumenical Partners and Friends
CCA Staff and Consultants
posted by cbs on Friday, November 26, 2010
CCA e-Letter - 24/11/10
 | CCA e-Letter
24 November 2010 | Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Ecumenical Movement, Greetings from the island of Creete, where the first meeting of the 2013 WCC Assembly Preparatory Committee (APC) is being held on November 19 to 24, at the Orthodox Academy in Chania, Creete. We were warmly welcomed by the Moderator of APC, His Eminence, Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople. After discussing the Term of Reference of the APC, the APC received the presentation of the Korea Local Planning Committee (KAPC), as the WCC 10th Assembly is planned to be held in Busan, Korea, on 2-13 October 2013.
The APC discussed, among others, the following: vision, ethos and character of the Assembly; possible themes for the Assembly; and style, size and shape of the Assembly. To familiarize the participants with the site of the Assembly the KAPC represented by Rev. Dr. Sam-whan Kim (Moderator), and Rev. Dr. Jong-hwa Park (Vice Moderator), presented information about the Assembly site, facilities available, as well as the extent of involvement of Korean churches in welcoming ands hosting the Assembly.
The discussion on the possible theme of the Assembly began with an introduction of the results of the preparatory process conducted by the WCC staff at different occasions and with different groups by Rev. Theo Gill, It was followed by presentations of the contribution of Korean hosts and the Asian region.
Dr. Jhong-wha Park presented the contributions of the Korean hosts, which were developed through a series of seminars and hearing sessions organized by the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCC Korea) through its Faith and Order Committee. The proposed theme was: “Now Choose Life.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
The presentation from Asia region is basically the result of a Theological Consultation organized by KAPC in partnership with CCA and the WCC Asia Desk which was held in Seoul, Korea, on 10-12 November 2010. The fifty-two participants invited came from Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Korea, including seven Asian members of the WCC Central Committee, seven from CCA, resource persons, theologians, delegates from WCC member churches in Korea, delegates from NCC Korea member churches that are not members of WCC, and some theologians from the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in South Korea.
A theme proposal from the Faith and Order Commission of NCCK, “Now Choose Life!,” a presentation of different theological perspectives on Asian contextual challenges, interfaith initiatives, struggle for justice, and Asian spiritual traditions, enabled an extensive discussion resulting to an agreement to propose the following theme for the 2013 WCC Assembly: “Living Together in God’s Justice and Peace.”
It is a privilege for me as General Secretary of CCA and as a member of the APC, to present the report of the above-mentioned consultation on behalf of Asian churches. The result of this APC meeting will be presented to the next Central Committee meeting to be held in Geneva in February 2011, when the theme of the WCC 10th Assembly and other related matters on this Assembly will be decided.
These recent ecumenical meetings from Korea to Creete provided an opportunity for various ecumenical encounters. It was an enriching experience in my faith journey that on Sunday November 12, I was part of the worshipping community in Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul. On November 19, I joined the worshipping community of the Orthodox Church in Creete. Those worship experiences allowed me to taste the richness of the worship life of Christian communities around the world.
At the last day of the APC meeting yesterday, Nov 23, we were struck by the sad news about the rising military tension in Korean Peninsula. North Korea shelled the disputed Yeonpyeong island in South Korea on Nov 23, resulting to the death of two South Korean marines, and injury to 16 South Korean marines including three civilians. This incident immediately attracted the attention of the international community.
Let us hope that this tension will not escalate. In our prayers, let us remember the people of North and South Korea. May God strengthen the churches in North and South Korea to discern God’s guiding light and wisdom as they strive to achieve peace for all Koreans.
We were also disturbed by a bridge stampede during the Water Festival on Diamond Island in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The chaos on November 22 killed 375 and injured 755 people. seen as the biggest tragedy for Cambodians since the Pol Pot regime. This is according to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
We yet have to hear from our member in Cambodia, the Kampuchea Council of Churches. Let us get down to our knees seeking God’s help and comfort as the people of Cambodia face this tragedy and loss. We extend our hand in solidarity and prayers that brothers and sisters in Cambodia will keep faith even in mourning and be able to move on in hope.
The GCF Asia Regional Meeting
CCA was a strong presence at the Global Christian Forum (GCF) Asia Regional Meeting on 12- 16 November 2010, hosted by Yoido Full Gospel Church and held at Yoido’s Choi Jasil Memorial Fasting and Prayer Mountain in Kyunggi Do, Paju Shi, an hour’s ride outside of Seoul, Korea.
Together with Joint Executive Secretary of CCA-FMU Dr Hope Antone, I represented CCA to this meeting. A number of NCCs and churches which are members of CCA were also represented – e.g. NCC Australia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Laos and Thailand. Three CCA Executive Committee members were present there: Dr. K B Rokaya of Nepal, Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri of Malaysia, and Rev. Po Kam Cheong of Hong Kong. There were around 60 participants.
The meeting included the sharing of faith journeys; hearing reports from four countries (Philippines, Nepal, India and Indonesia) on efforts that have brought together ecumenical, Catholic, Evangelical and Pentecostal groups. Part of the meeting was also to share ideas for the forthcoming GCF to be held in Indonesia in 2011, during which around 200 participants from all over the world are expected to attend.
Time was given for brief sharing by the four main groups represented in the GCF: CCA, FABC, AEA and Asia Pentecostal Society (a regional body of the Pentecostals). Dr Antone gave the sharing on behalf of CCA using a powerpoint presentation.
This GCF meeting affirmed the efforts of CCA and FABC to foster unity through the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU) since 1996 and through the subsequent gatherings in1998, 2001, 2007. They were happy to note that this program has been open to the Asia Evangelical Alliance since 2007, following the Asia Regional Meeting of GCF in 2006, which CCA hosted at the Bangkok Christian Guest House. They recommended that the next AMCU gathering (1-5 December 2010) should be open also to the Pentecostals in Asia.
CCA have sent an invitation to the Asia Pentecostal Society (the only regional structure so far among the Pentecostals) through Rev. Dr. Joseph Suico to send someone to the AMCU V in Bangkok, Thailand on 1-5 December 2010. We hope that they can indeed send someone to be a voice of the Pentecostals at this gathering despite the short notice.
CCA has a lot to do to disseminate its understanding of wider ecumenism among its constituents and also with others. There is a need to share our understanding of wider ecumenism – and to expound the rich meaning of OIKOUMENE as the whole household of God, including the whole humanity and the whole creation. There is also a need to point to the danger of making ecumenism captive to the church – it should be beyond the church and beyond all the expressions of the ecumenical movement. (with reports from Hope Antone)
Free Space Process Strategy Caucus agreed to a Common Advocacy Agenda
The Steering Group of the Free Space Process that has existed since five years held a Strategy Caucus involving Country, Regional and Global level participants of the ten networks: Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), World AIDS Campaign (WAC), Global Network of People Living with HIV (GPN+), Global Network of Sex Workers Projects (NSWP), International HIV/AIDS Alliance, International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO), International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW), International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), Global Forum on MSM (MSMGF), International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD). The partnership is supported by the International Civil Society Support based in Netherlands.
There were 37 participants in the meeting that was facilitated by an independent consultant, Robin Gorna and rapporteur, Mr. Jeff Hoover. The Strategy Caucus was held at Swissotel Nai Lert Park on November 21-22, 2010. The Steering Group, which set the agenda met on November 19, 2010 and as of this report is currently meeting to refine the outcome of the caucus.
The aim of the meeting was to develop a shared, comprehensive, global civil society HIV/AIDS advocacy agenda and to map activities to identify opportunities for collaboration, establishing synergies and efficiencies as well as removing redundancies.
The HIV/AIDS Advocacy Priorities which the ten networks could subscribe are:
1) Positioning HIV/AIDS as a key priority within a rights-based movement for Universal Access and Global Health;
2) Accessing and sustaining Anti Retroviral Scale Up;
3) (Protection of) Human Rights as a leading concept in the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS services;
4) Community-led combination prevention that is targeted, holistic, comprehensive and that fits the needs of key populations, e.g. women, sex workers, people who use drugs and MSM; and
5) Strengthen community systems at global, regional and country level.
CCA is a member of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA). Dr. Erlinda N. Senturias, Consultant on HIV and AIDS in CCA is a member of the HIV Strategy Group and represented the regional concerns of EAA in the Strategy Caucus of the Free Space Process. (with reports from Erlinda Senturias)
Meetings of INERELA+ and AINA
INERELA+, the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with and Personally affected with HIV and AIDS, convened the first meeting of the Asia Pacific Regional Reference Group at the Bangkok Christian Guest House on November 19-20, 2010. It also hosted the meeting of the Governing Committee of the Asian Interfaith Network on AIDS (AINA) on November 21, 2010.
The first agenda was to prepare for the Interfaith conference prior to the 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), in Busan, Korea on August 26-30, 2011. CCA, that facilitated the birth of AINA helped organize two interfaith pre-interfaith conference events in Colombo in 2007 and in Bali in 2009.
The INERELA meeting was attended by Dr. Erlinda N. Senturias, CCA Consultant on HIV and AIDS and invited member of the Regional Reference Group of INERELA, two Salvation Army soldier and officer active in HIV work in Seoul, Korea, INERELA secretariat, Dr. Asavari Herwadkar, Fr. Philip Kuruvilla and Mr. Baiju Joseph, and members of the reference group from India. Rev. J. P. Heath, Actiing Executive Director of INERELA+ facilitated the process of the meeting. Present also in the meeting were Ms. Dawn Foderingham of UNAIDS Regional Office in Bangkok, Dr. Myun Hwan Cho, Co Chair of the 10th ICAAP in Busan and Mr. Sungchal Yu, Executive Secretary for the ICAAP secretariat.
The theme of the 10th ICAAP is "Diverse Voices, United Action". Strategic advocacy for the Interfaith Participation in the ICAAP were raised to the congress organizers such as providing a visible and meaningful presence of faith communities in the Plenary Sessions, Prayer Room for multi faith participants and an Interfaith Space in the Asia Pacific Village. Religion is one of the tracks for the 10th ICAAP.
Early registration already started on 1 November 2010 and will end on 28 February 2011 and late registration is on 1 June 2011 - the time of the ICAAP. The cost of early registratino is USD 450 and late registration is USD 650.00. The regular registration period is on 1 March 2011 - 31 May 2011 and the cost is USD 550.00. Young People from 16-26 years old can apply for scholarship and a youth forum is planned for August 24, 2011.
INERELA+ of the Asia Pacific Region and the Asian Interfaith Network (AINA) will organize a multi-faith event prior to the ICAAP and will also participate in community fora organized before the 10th ICAAP to listen to the voices of key populations. The importance of contacting the churches and pagoda in Korea was considered a priority.
On November 20, the INERELA+ Asia Pacific Regional Reference Group met. Dr. Erlinda N. Senturias was voted by the Asia Pacific Regional Reference Group of INERELA+ to the Global Board of INERELA, which will hold a meeting in Nairobi on January 6-8, 2011. Dr. Prawate Khid-arn, immediate past general secretary of CCA, was voted as the new Chair of AINA. (with reports from Erlinda Senturias)
NCC Korea elects new GS
The Rev. Dr. Kim, Young Ju, an ordained minister of the Korean Methodist Church(KMC) was recently elected general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCC Korea) at its 59th General Assembly that took place on Monday, 15th of November, 2010, for a four-year term.
Prior to being selected as the General Secretary of the NCCK, Rev. Kim Young Ju has been working for the Korea Peace Foundation, a civil organization pursuing and preparing unification of Korea since 2007, as director of its board. He was director of the NCC Korea Human Rights Committee for 1989-1992; Church Unity Committee for 1992-1998; The North and South Sharing Movement; the Planning Committee for Jubilee Celebration toward peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula, and the North and South Human Chain Movement for Peaceful Reunification. He worked for the Korean Methodist Church as director of the KMC Education Center (2000) and as the General Secretary of the Education Department of the KMC Assembly office (2002-2006).
He graduated from the Graduate School of Theology of Methodist Theological University in 1984 and further studied and received a Ph. D. at the University of North Korean Studies. Ordained as a minister on 1980, he has a long years of experience as local pastor at the Gasoowon Church, Hwachun Church, Songak Church, and Hyungjae Church (1975-1989).
CCA warmly welcomes Dr. Kim, Young Ju, and prays that God’s continuing benediction of grace and wisdom be his for this enormous task.
ACISCA re-elects Chair
Dr. John Zechariah was re-elected Chair of the Association of Christian Institutes of Social Concern of Asia (ACISCA) for 2010 - 2014 in its recent General Assembly held in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 10, 2010.
ACISCA is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2010. It has been working closely with CCA and Global Oikosnet. The composition of ACISCA includes Academies, Lay Centers and others (Rural Development Centers, Promoting Community Health, Education, Agriculture, Secularism and People’ movement). Its primary focus is on Lay Training, Leadership Formation and Ecumenical Learning. ACISCA believes in balancing spiritual action and social action.
There are many challenges for ACISCA to face like funds and drop in membership. Let us remember Dr Zechariah and the new Executive Committee members in our prayers as they strive to make ACISCA a vibrant organization in Asia and in the global Christian community. (with news from John Zechariah)
Annual FABC – OSC Bishops’ Meet
The 15th Annual Bishops’ Meet of the FABC Office of Social Communications was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 15 – 20 November 2010, with the theme, “Communication Formation for Priestly Ministry in Asia”. Dr. Liza B. Lamis, CCA Communications Consultant represented CCA at the meeting, where she briefly shared on the communications work of CCA.
The challenge for the ecumenical movement in Asia is foundational need to articulate a communication theology and for an integration of this theology in theological formation and in our ecumenical work. Additionally, effective communication happens when we are truly a ‘communicative’ community that cares a lot about how the ‘good news’ is being communicated, what to do with the communicated message received, and how to maximize the use of high communication technologies in the service of the least and the afflicted.
CCA and FABC have various partnerships and collaborative works that started in 1993, aimed at promoting Christian unity in the Asian region. Areas of cooperation between CCA and FABC include the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU), the Asian Ecumenical Committee (AEC), the Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS), Joint Asian Ecumenical Courses, Asia Conference of Theology Students (ACTS), and Joint Staff Meetings, among others. (with news from Liza Lamis)
Welcoming the refugees
MEPP or the Mekong Ecumenical Partnership Program, together with SDSU-CCT (Social Development and Service Unit, the Church of Christ in Thailand) provided emergency assistance to Burmese refugees who fled to Thailand at the Three Pagodas Pass, Sangklaburi District of Kanchanaburi.
Prior to a national election in Burma on 7 November 2010, conflict broke out between the Burmese Army and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. The fighting affected the people living in Myawaddy town of Burma, opposite Mae Sod town of Thailand. Twelve thousand people fled, crossed to Thailand in Maesod. Within 48 hours most of them were repatriated back to Burma on Nov 9.
However, the situation further south remained tense as fighting continued in Pyaduangsu, the town opposite Three Pagodas Pass, causing another exodus into Thailand. Around 3,000 refugees stayed in school, temple and church premises.
Thailand already shelters over 150,000 Burmese refugees who fled the fighting in their homeland over the past 26 years. It also has about 2 million migrant workers from Burma.
MEPP and SDSU-CCT were able to raise an emergency fund of USD 700 to buy food, milk, mats and tents for about 300 refugees welcomed by a local church. Most of them were children, women and elderly people.
MEPP and SDSU-CCT met with TBBC (Thailand Burma Border Consortium), COERR (Catholic office for Emergency Relief and Refugee) and CWS (Church World Service) to discuss the situation in Burma and the concerns in preparing emergency assistance to be provided for future refugees. (with news from Janejinda Pawadee)
Meeting with Act for Peace
The CCA Staff, through the leadership of Rev. Dr. Rienzie Perera, AGS for Finance and Relationship, met with Ms Janet Cousens, International Program Coordinator of Act for Peace (AfP). AfP is the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia, and works to reduce poverty, prevent conflicts, protect refugees and empower communities.
The meeting on 22 November 2010 at the CCA Office was mainly about knowing more about AfP and its work, and sharing on CCA programs that could be areas for potential partnership between CCA and AfP.
CCA looks forward to a fruitful partnership in mission with AfP by 2011.
Henriette Hutabarat Lebang
General Secretary
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posted by cbs on Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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Christian Conference of Asia
