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Witnessing the mighty river flow

What an incredible time to be living in! While skepticism and eco-anxiety tend to be the results we most see nowadays as we grow aware of the dimensions of the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity and the socio-environmental crisis, for me I can't help but feel the daring and stubborn Christian hope as I grow increasingly committed to ecumenical care for creation. 

Women’s wellness and mental health as part of the mission of the church – a wounded healer’s balm

I received a call from a friend of mine - we both work as medical doctors and had earlier realised that our husbands, who are ministers in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, had been friends for years —this is one of the reasons that drew us to each other.  She had been attending the February meeting of the Methodist Womens Prayer and Service Union (Manyano), Connexional Extended Executive Meeting. My friend said that the general president, Gretta Makhwenkwe, had appointed us to the Wellness Committee.

Women suffering from fistula need urgent help

Rose Mantey qualified as a state registered nurse in Ghana in 1996, and completed training in midwifery in 2002. In 2005 she started working in a maternal and child health community clinic, attached to the Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital in Mankessin, Ghana. 

A meeting place, a zone for exchange, and a second home: The Networking Zone from the perspective of the Protestant Church in Switzerland

Nomen est omen – the big white hall right next to the entrance really lived up to its name as a Networking Zone during the assembly. Here, there were times of colorful confusion, laughter, concentrated listening, and relaxed tranquility on the sidelines of a program that was filled to the brim. The Networking Zone was a source of strength for us at the Protestant Church in Switzerland, which was allowed to occupy a booth here as one of the host churches. This hall came to life only through the efforts of everyone at their booths: after getting their bearings, refueling with the best assembly coffee, some Ricola drops, and candies from the ACK, they were ready to keep going.

Voices on the ground: peace, social justice, and ethics—the way to the end of hunger

Halfway to the sustainable development goals, the latest UN indicators show a record increase in hunger. The World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization report that 828 million people are hungry, an increase of 46 million from the previous year and an increase of 150 million people since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people worldwide who cannot afford a healthy diet has increased by 112 million, reaching nearly 3.1 billion by 2020, the report said. Millions of people are at risk of falling into a vicious cycle of malnutrition, ill health, and poverty, exacerbating inequalities already visible to current and future generations.

Pentecostals at the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany 2022

As a Pentecostal, I have dreamed dreams” and had visions aplenty, but often it has been the WCC that brought those dreams and visions to life. What is found in this report fulfills a vision that I took with me to Geneva in 1989 in a meeting with then-general secretary Emilio Castro. During that visit, I called on the WCC to bring together 120 Pentecostal scholars from around the world to the WCC 7th Assembly known as Canberra 91.

Borders and Migrants

On 20 May 2022, a group of us, 14 pilgrims from different parts of the world (Kenya, Brussels, Germany, Hong Kong, Philippines, Poland, Rome, Korea, Canada, Fiji, Australia, London, Scotland, and Geneva—a very diverse group) gathered in Palermo, Italy for a Pilgrim Team Visit on the theme of migration. 

Leadership Matters!

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how the world functions and how people relate to each other. The whole of my life I never imagined a moment where the world would come to a standstill, people giving up travelling and their busy lives to stay at home leaving the streets and public spaces empty. This shows how bad the situation was, at its initial stages. The month of March 2020 is one in which the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt in almost every country in the world. Leaders and policy makers rushed in to stop the spread of the deadly pandemic.

Remembering Patrick Matsinkinyiri (27 July 1937 – 15 January 2021)

Patrick Matsikenyiri was born in Biriri, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and died in Mutare, Zimbabwe near his home village a few kilometers from the border of Mozambique, as a result of complications due to the COVID-19 virus. His career included virtually all aspects of church music — singing, choral directing, composition, hymnal editor, festival leader, professor, and enlivener of global songs in venues around the world.

Catching the moment

Will the COVID-19 pandemic be remembered as a time when everything changed, as a unique moment in history that all can personally relate to? It has already changed a lot for many – while many people have been hit very hard, almost all have faced totally new situations, having to adopt new daily routines, think differently.