No.2, May - August 2004

Editorial

The 33^rd General Assembly of the Federation finished successfully last month in Chiangmai.  Throughout the whole General Assembly, the theme “Talitha Cum – Arise to life in Abundance” provoked a lot of discussion among SCMers from all over the world.  The whole question of the Federation’s life and vision was challenged seriously.  Is the Federation dead already?  Or is the Federation in a deep sleep?  If the Federation is neither dead nor sleeping, why the Federation is not so visible in the campuses as well as ecumenical communities?  What should be the Federation’s vision to “arise to life in abundance”?  Is the vision still relevant to the societies, churches and campuses?   

Through thematic workshops on globalisation, higher education, justice & peace,  ecumenism and inter-religious cooperation, the delegates of over 70 movements from the world, reaffirm the Federation’s vision toward the Reign of God: “Through the work of Holy Spirit, the WSCF is called to be a prophetic witness in church and society.  This vision in nurtured by a radical hope for God’s reign in history.”

In terms of structural basis of Federation to realise the said vision, the 33^rd General Assembly reconfirmed that the Federation should be based on movement-oriented structure rather than an institutional one.   

All the delegates of the Assembly recognised that the Federation is situated at a critical juncture of time confronting with the most crucial call to the faith: the call to arise from death to life!   In order to make the Federation’s vision relevant to the world where the power of death prevails, the Federation should respond quickly and profoundly to the challenges given by the societies and churches.  It is a kairotic time for the Federation as the movements move forward to a “life-centered vision and mission” and to proclaim the good news of life for all.

In this issue, we reflected the kairotic significance of the Assembly’s theme “Talitha Cum” where in Perspective, you will find the full text of Dr. Musa Dube's bible study to the Assembly; in Women’s Space, Talitha Cum from the Feminist Perspective; in Solidarity, Jerome Porres, the Humans Rights intern of WSCF-AP to DAGA analysed the decade long conflict in Sri Lanka.

Finally, on behalf of all movements in the region, the Asia-Pacific office would like to bring a sincere gratitude to all Praxis readers for your prayers and support for the Federation’s 33^rd General Assembly.
 

Shin Seung Min
Regional Secretary