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Individuals, groups, churches and councils of churches from Kenya to Sweden to the United States to Australia are carrying out hundreds of advocacy actions involving Christians concerned about the Gaza crisis, especially the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, and the need for a just and lasting peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Straddling the equator in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Australia and Hawaii, is the small island country of Kiribati.  The vast majority of its 33 coral atolls never exceed three meters above sea level, making Kiribati's 94,000 inhabitants vulnerable to a rare danger: their country is sinking. Â

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The plight of people displaced by war will be the main topic of a " Living Letters " visit to Uganda, 27 October to 2 November. An international ecumenical delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) will discuss with representatives of churches, state and civil society about the protection of refugees, with a specific focus on sexual violence and the vulnerability of children.

The Philippines - a country where approximately a tenth of the population is indigenous and lives in isolated areas where access to basic services and opportunities for economic growth is lacking even as natural resources abound - will be the meeting place for some 30 indigenous theologians from the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia.

By Maurice Malanes (*)

By Maurice Malanes (*)

By Maurice Malanes (*)

West Papuans have yet to recover from the trauma of human rights violations. At the same time continuing in-migration is threatening to marginalize them in their resource-rich province, an ecumenical team from the World Council of Churches (WCC) told top-level Indonesian government officials.

Churches working for peace in Indonesia - a country which over the last decades had to cope with repeated outbreaks of ethnic and religious conflicts, the integration of internally displaced people as well as refugees from outside its borders - will receive a solidarity visit of an international ecumenical delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 17 to 24 July. The delegation members (see list below) will learn about peace-building projects by Indonesian Christians and share experiences made in their own churches in Australia, USA, Germany, Korea and Sudan. After a general introduction in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, the delegation will split into two groups in order to visit different regions. While Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, has a tradition of tolerance, the regions of Central Sulawesi and the Moluccas have been the scene of Muslim-Christian fighting after 1998. Meetings on 18-20 July in Poso (Central Sulawesi) and Ambon (Moluccas) , including an encounter with Muslim leaders, will be an opportunity to learn about initiatives to tackle radicalism. From Sulawesi, the first group will travel on to Kupang in the western part of the Timor island, capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The province has seen a considerable influx of refugees and deportees following the independence referendum in East Timor in 1999. Meanwhile, the second group will pay a visit to West Papua , where tensions between the traditional Christian majority and Muslim migrants arriving from other Indonesian islands have led to "the emergence of new, exclusivist groups in both religious communities", according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group. Over the past years the WCC has also repeatedly expressed its concern over human rights violations against the indigenous people of Papua . On 24 July, both groups will be back in Jakarta for an evaluation session with the executive board of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), who hosts the visit. The ecumenical delegation is sent to Indonesia as "living letters" to express the solidarity of the WCC fellowship, which comprises 349 churches worldwide. Until 2010, several Living Letters visits take place each year throughout the world in the context of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence in order to prepare for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in 2011. Indonesia, the world's 4th most populous nation, is also the country with the biggest number of WCC member churches, 27 in total. Group visiting Poso and Kupang:

Over the last decade, Orthodox women reached significant milestones regarding their participation in church life, but many of their concerns have not yet been fully addressed, an international gathering of Orthodox women stated.

In Australia a broad spectrum of church leaders came together to address national public opinion makers on the Israel-Palestine conflict and launch a parish awareness kit. In Scotland a cross-party group in Parliament met with Christian, Jewish and Muslim representatives. In Budapest, Hungary's second largest church sent letters about peace for Israelis and Palestinians to the national and foreign governments. In Norway the foreign minister and a Palestinian bishop addressed a multi-religious peace service.

Today in Jerusalem, at the launch of a worldwide week of action for peace in Israel and Palestine, different churches will come together for an ecumenical service giving thanks for "every church and parish around the world that is praying with us this day for peace".

By Annegret Kapp (*)