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At assembly and beyond, WCC publications inspire and move

During an interview recorded during the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in Karlruhe, Germany, Rev. Margarithe Veen, ordained minister of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, described what moved her the most when she volunteered in the Networking Zone, helping people connect with WCC publications.

From the Ashes of War: The first WCC Assembly in Europe – Amsterdam 1948

As participants in the First Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) gathered at Amsterdam during August 1948, the Netherlands bore witness to the violence of the Second World War. The port of Rotterdam was rising from near destruction. Many other cities, towns and villages across Europe were struggling to recover. To the east, Germany and Austria were divided into zones of occupation administered by the Allied Powers. Two months earlier, tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western occupiers of the former German capital led to the start of the Berlin Airlift. Since 1945, publications had been increasing their use of the term “Cold War”.

Faith-based forum condemns attacks on religious leaders, calls for immediate ceasefire in Cameroon

The members of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace and Justice in Cameroon, representing churches, church-based organizations, and networks committed to accompanying the churches and people of Cameroon, expressed in a statement how appalled they are by the continuing violence and targeted sectarian attacks against people and communities, including religious leaders and places of worship in Cameroon.

Cameroon conference on peace empowers religious leaders

A two-day conference in Buea, Cameroon, has empowered religious leaders to offer vital input into a peace plan in the divided nation. Rev. Samuel Fonki Forba, president of the Council of Protestant Churches in Cameroon, said that the conference helped religious leaders build their capacity in the area of peace.

COVID-19 in conflict zones: “a crisis within another crisis”

Damaris, a Nigerian woman, described her experience of 2020: “We’ve gone through hell.”

Damaris and her sisters were kidnapped in March 2020 and threatened with death as their kidnappers demanded money. Her father had to sell everything and beg on the streets to meet their demands. “We are just a common people in Nigeria,” she said. “We don’t know what we did.”

“Conflict Zones and Covid-19” webinar will offer a clarion call to compassion

A webinar hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 26 November will explore “Conflict Zones and Covid-19: A call to compassion.” Speakers from Cameroon, Nigeria, South Sudan, Lebanon, Belarus and Colombia will offer their insights on how conflict exacerbates the conditions for contracting and treating COVID-19 among civilians caught in the crossfire, especially women.