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Seven Weeks for Water 2020, week 3: "Feminization of Water Poverty: Women’s Perspective on Water Justice", by Adi Mariana Waqa

The third reflection of the seven weeks for water 2020 of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network is by Adi Mariana Waqa, the Child Protection Coordinator of the Pacific Conference of Churches with contributions from Frances Namoumou Programmes Manager, PCC  and Mereani Nawadra (Project Officer for Gender Equality Theology,  Methodist Women’s Fellowship. In the following reflection they critique Abraham’s decision to send off Hagar into the wilderness with a child with very little water. They draw comparisons that Hagar then and women of today take on the responsibility of securing water needs of the family at the cost of their own safety and wellbeing. This reflection is to commemorate International Women’s day in the context of right to water.

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Luke 24:13-35 "The Walk to Emmaus", by Susan Durber (Pilgrimage Bible study)

There are all sorts of pilgrimages for which one plans and prepares, looks forward to and anticipates with excitement. This story in Luke 24:13-35 is nothing like that. This is a story about a walk that comes from grief and trauma, from profound disappointment and sorrow. It is a story that starts with the slow steps of the depressed and cast down. But it ends with the excited running of the redeemed, and the joy of finding life transformed.

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Ephesians 2:11-21 "A pilgrimage of unity", by Susan Durber

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul addresses the particular faith journey that the early Christians found themselves walking. Their pilgrimage is a journey of discovering the unity between Jews and the Gentiles, in which the Gentiles are welcomed into the covenant of promise. It invites us to wonder where God might be doing the work of reconciliation and building bridges today. God’s purpose is to lead all of us into unity with one another and to welcome those who were once strangers into the household. The reconciling love of God reaches beyond any borders.

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Seven Weeks for Water 2017, week 7: "Blue Community: Churches response to the right to water", by Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri

The final reflection of the Lenten Campaign: Seven Weeks for Water 2017 of the Word Council of Churches’ (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) is by Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri.  Dr Phiri is the deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and responsible for WCC’s work on Public Witness and Diakonia. A Malawian by nationality, Apawo Phiri was a professor of African theology, dean and head of the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, and director of the Centre for Constructive Theology at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.  In this reflection she explains the concept of a ‘blue community’ and points out why the bottled water industry is an impediment to the human right to water. She then takes us through the journey of the WCC into becoming a blue community through one of its ecumenical initiatives, the EWN.

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Seven Weeks for Water 2017, week 6: "Water: a source of conflict and a source of peace building", by Rev. Frank Chikane

The 6th reflection of the Lenten Campaign: Seven Weeks for Water 2017 of the Word Council of Churches’ (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) is by Rev. Frank Chikane. Rev. Frank Chikane is a former Director General and Secretary of Cabinet in the presidency of South Africa under Thabo Mbeki (1999 – 2008), Khalema  Motlanthe (2008-2009) and Jacob Zuma (2009). He was also Director General in Office of Deputy President Mbeki and Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet during President Nelson Mandela’s Presidency. He is also the former general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (1987-1994). Currently, he is the moderator of the WCC’s Commission of Churches on International Affairs and is the author of many books. He is remembered for his struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa during his student days and the rest of his adult life until 1994. In the following reflection, relating to his own context as well as from the biblical story of Isaac’s wells, he highlights how water can be a source of conflict as well as a source of peace-building. Water has the potential to create peace when it is shared. He further explores the River Nile on the African continent as an example.

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Seven Weeks for Water 2017, week 2: "Feminization of water poverty in Africa", by Dr Agnes Abuom

The second of the seven reflections of the Lenten Campaign: Seven Weeks for Water 2017 of the Word Council of Churches’ (WCC) Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) is by Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC’s Central Committee. 

Dr Abuom is the first woman and first African to hold this important position. She is also the Executive Director of TAABCO Research and Development Consultants, based in Nairobi, Kenya. In her reflection, being an African woman on the eve of International Women’s Day, she explores the linkages between poverty, water scarcity and its impact on women.  It is also contextual in that today Kenya is reeling under a serious drought which is deteriorating the situation for women as they are mostly responsible for fetching water for their families.

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Asian Forum on Theological Education (AFTE) Guidelines

With the sprouting of many theological institutions and Bible schools in Asia, there is a need for these theological education networks to come together, learn from each other and work together and come up with a mutual support mechanism to strengthen leadership formation program of the churches. Participants of the workshop affirmed the need of bringing together different theological education networks in Asia under the umbrella “Asian Forum on Theological Education.”

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