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WCC President for Latin America and the Caribbean Rev. Gloria Ulloa and Rev. Dr Nestor Miguez. ©Jooseop Keum/WCC

WCC President for Latin America and the Caribbean Rev. Gloria Ulloa and Rev. Dr Nestor Miguez. ©Jooseop Keum/WCC

Some 40 participants, coming mainly from Latin American countries, attended a consultation promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) entitled “Together Towards Life: Mission in the 21st Century”, from 30 April – 4 May, in Rosario, Argentina.

“Reflections on a theology of mission that surpasses a vision that generated much suffering to native peoples were particularly relevant during our discussions”, said Thomas Kang, from the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB).

“There are no easy answers to these questions, which strengthens the need to think more about them”, added Kang, who is a member of the WCC Executive Committee.

For Rev. Dr Nestor Miguez, president of the Argentinian Federation of Evangelical Churches (FAIE), the meeting was very productive. “The participants elaborated on more than 80 pages of contributions that are currently being systematized by the group working on the draft of the consultation’s final document.”

Miguez was the key facilitator of the consultation, together with Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum, head of the WCC’s Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME).

“The idea is that our final document, rather than a statement, be a motivation and a guide for further study in different contexts, local congregations, think tanks, and thereby, help to provide material for the 2018 World Mission Conference”, added Miguez.

The 2018 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism will be held in Arusha, Tanzania, from 8-13 March, under the theme “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship”.

Rev. Dr Carlos Ham, rector of Matanzas Theological Seminary and former WCC team leader on mission, education and health was among the speakers of the event. He delivered a public lecture on "Life at the Margins and Witness to God of Life".

The meeting held at the Methodist University also had participants coming from the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, with a balance of gender, denomination and age, participation of young people, laypeople, ordained pastors and professors of theology, as well as specialists in sociology, economics and psychology.

WCC's Commission on World Mission and Evangelism