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Churches in Africa and disabled persons organizations are condemning the use of disabled children as beggars and slaves, amid media reports of cross-border smuggling of the children between Kenya and Tanzania.

In a meeting held 9-11 November, the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism evaluated its work and impact on mission and global Christianity. The commission, since the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan in 2013, prepared the WCC Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, which took place in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2018.

The World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism released on 10 November a new publication “Call to Discipleship: Mission in the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace,” a collection of study documents of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism 2018-2021.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism opened its online meeting 9-11 November, convening to evaluate its work and impact from the 10th WCC Assembly in Busan in 2013 to the 11th WCC Assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022.

On 10 November, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism will release a new publication, “Call to Discipleship: Mission in the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace,” a collection of the commission’s study documents from 2018-2021.

The World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism will hold an online meeting 9-11 November to evaluate its work and impact from the 10th WCC Assembly in Busan in 2013 to the 11th WCC Assembly in Karlsruhe in 2022.

In a recent meeting, the World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism discussed how COVID-19 has reshaped mission and the church.

A webinar held 22 October gave space for persons with disabilities to share their reflections. Entitled “From Lamentation to Transformation,” the event, first in a series of webinars on COVID-19 perspectives, highlighted hope through stories, practical support, and social change as experienced by persons with disabilities.

On 22 October at 15.00 CET, persons with disabilities across the globe will share their experiences related to COVID-19 and the transformation that has come out of it during a public webinar entitled “From Lamentation to Transformation: Persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19.”  

Beate Fagerli, World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly coordinator, answers the most frequently asked questions about the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in 2021.

How much is the mission of the church related to people with disabilities? These days we talk a lot about inclusive societies and churches. But, have we arrived there? Are our societies and churches taking seriously the problems and challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis? People with disabilities find themselves quite often at the margins of the societies and even of the churches.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) welcomed representatives of the organization Faith and Light to explore together how the WCC can help more people be enriched by the gifts of those with intellectual disabilities.

Losing his hearing and speaking ability as a young man has not deterred Kenyan Karim Okiki in his wood carving, and a symbolic sculpted cross he presented to Pope Francis on his visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva represents people with disabilities everywhere.
“I would like this cross to speak to Pope Francis and the churches worldwide on the need to embrace persons with disabilities especially the deaf and hard of hearing as part of the church today,” said Okiki.

Participants in a 7-11 December consultation on ecumenical diakonia held in Seoul, South Korea, didn’t just talk about the important concept of service. They also took time to visit local projects where Korean Christians are fleshing out their call to actively practice diakonia in the communities they serve.

Fifty church development practitioners and leaders as well as organisations for persons with disabilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda met in Nairobi, Kenya from 9-13 October to share their experiences on disability inclusion in church development programmes and to explore strategies to ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting was organised by WCC Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network Project on Disability Inclusion in Development.

A Swedish WCC working group which met in Stockholm on 4 September has called on Swedish churches to use ‘The Gift of Being: Called to be a Church of All and for All’ as a resource for including persons with disabilities in church life.

Members of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (WCC-EDAN) Reference Group and the regional coordinators met in Geneva from 12-14 June to reflect on the work of the network in the last four years and plan for the next four years.

Soundings in contemporary and historical ecumenical self-understanding form the substance of the double issue of The Ecumenical Review just released from Wiley Blackwell.

When we refer to the disabled as “vulnerable,” we strengthen the delusion that individuals without disabilities are strong and can take care of themselves.

Dr Samuel Kabue, executive secretary of the WCC’s Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, an initiative of the World Council of Churches, was elected to the Committee of Experts to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities.