News
The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia have announced a regional consultation on “Evangelism and Missional Witness in a Multi-religious Asia” from 29 November to 5 December.
Convening in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the gathering will explore evangelism as an effective means to extend and spread the good news. The WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia have a long history and tradition of being deeply involved in mission and evangelism through different programmatic areas.
The consultation is the fourth in a series of regional meetings planned by the Mission and Evangelism Programme of the WCC. The primary objective of this process is to reflect regionally on key aspects of evangelism, as it is shaped by the respective many-faceted continental milieu each time. These series also aspire to strengthen cooperation among member churches, councils, and networks within the ecumenical family.
The consultation will address the concerns pertinent to the Asian context, and will focus on contemporary Asian countries embroiled in ever-increasing religious fundamentalism and extremism. Asia is facing an unprecedented level of religious intolerance and persecution of religious minorities, which affects the mission and witness of the church in Asia. The work towards evangelism faces innumerable challenges in Asia, especially amid threats of proselytization. Once known for their rich heritage of religious tolerance and harmony, many Asian countries are now infected with religious hatred.
The consultation will provide opportunities to discuss, analyze, and arrive at a comprehensive assessment of the new mission and evangelism possibilities in Asia.
