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The 56th meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs took place in Bali, Indonesia, on 24 – 28 February, discussing many of the most critical concerns of churches in the region and around the world.

With the sounds of the kulkul wooden bell at the Galang Ning Hyang Protestant Church in the Badung region of Bali, Indonesia, the 56th meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs opened on 24 February, setting its yearly regional focus on Asia.

An ecumenical delegation coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) visited Indonesia on 15-22 February, including the provinces of Papua and Papua Barat - where increasing violence and discrimination against indigenous Papuan people was recently highlighted in a joint statement by five UN human rights mandate-holders.

From 18-25 January, Christians will embark on the largest prayer gathering in the world, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Whether praying together, exchanging preachers or planning ecumenical services, they will bear witness to Jesus’s prayer for his disciples that “they may be one so that the world may believe.”

Pilgrims coming from Germany, Italy and Norway ended their journeys for climate justice on 7 December upon arrival at the St Stephen’s Church in Katowice, Poland, where the United Nations (UN) climate conference is underway. They were warmly welcomed by the delegations of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that are attending the 24th Conference of Parties of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24).

Under the topic “Politicisation of Religion and Religionization of Politics in Asia”, the Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA) general secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara shared serious concerns about emerging trends where religions are used for political power gains and vice versa.

A Roundtable for Peace on the Korean Peninsula convened in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) on 8-12 November, building on decades of progress by the Korean Methodist Church, United Methodist Church, and World Methodist Council, as well the Korean Christian Federation and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit “received with joy” the news of the verdict which has resolved the long pending case of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman convicted and sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws in 2010.

The National Christian Council (NCC) in Japan and other faith-based groups in the nation have issued a joint statement regarding comments from Masahiko Shibayama, minister of education and science, about the “Imperial Rescript of Education.”

National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) general secretary Rev. Lee Hong Jung, invited by the South Korean presidential administration, attended the 3rd Inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang in September with President Moon Jae-In as part of a 53-member delegation of South Koreans from various sectors of society.

At a global conference on xenophobia in Rome, a panel of four religious leaders from, respectively, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic traditions, spoke candidly about how xenophobia can sometimes be woven deeply into the fabric of these traditions.

Even though flood survivors are displaced in some 2,000 relief camps across Kerala in south India, many of them observed the indigenous Malayali festival of Onam on 25 August in whatever way they could. The traditional festival, for thousands, carried an even more poignant meaning because the holiday celebrates the return of joy to the land: the story of the return of King Mahabali, considered to be a very kind and generous ruler, during a “golden period” in Kerala.

As Kerala, the southern state of India, nicknamed “God’s Own Country,” battles one of the worst flood disasters in a century, various religious communities have opened their doors to help homeless people.

As the worst flooding in half a century struck the southern India state of Kerala, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for prayers for those affected and for those responding, and expressed his sympathy for those who have lost loved ones in the disaster.

As the anniversary of Korea's liberation and division draws near, churches in Korea and around the world prepare for the Sunday of Prayer on 12 August.

The Christian Conference of Asia is urging its member churches and councils to join the UN’s call to observe 30 July as the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

The Korean Christian Federation Central Committee (North Korea) and the National Council of Churches in Korea (South Korea) have composed their annual joint prayer for peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula for 2018. The World Council of Churches is inviting its fellowship and all people of goodwill to use the prayer during worship, especially on 12 August, the weekend before August 15th, the anniversary of Korea's liberation and division.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church (UMC) as well as United Methodist bishops in the Philippines in appealing to the government of the Philippines for assistance and cooperation in extracting three United Methodist mission personnel from the country.

Korea’s Christian leaders have urged Catholics to work together with the WCC to help bring peace and reconciliation to their country. Rev. Dr Sang Chang, president of WCC’s Asia region, and Rev. Dr Lee Hong-jeong, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) were speaking as Pope Francis visited the headquarters of the ecumenical movement in Geneva to mark the WCC’s 70th anniversary.

When asked to talk about her story of faith, Rev. Dr Sang Chang doesn’t hesitate for a moment. The president of the Asia region of the World Council of Churches (WCC) is eager to tell how her faith has supported her career as a theologian, academic, advocate for women’s rights, and South Korea’s first female acting prime minister.