21st Baptist World Alliance Congress

21st Baptist World Alliance Congress

Durban, South Africa 

Dr. Michael Okwakol of the All Africa Baptist Fellowship (AABF) chaired the African regional meeting during the BWA Congress. The gathering followed an afternoon session on the impact and responses of Baptist Churches to the Ebola epidemic that brought such devastation to West Africa. As Okwakol shared: "Ebola struck our countries in West Africa, but the good Lord stopped the ravages of the virus and healed our land." During the presentation of the Liberian Baptist Church, we saw first hand how the local church participated in the great effort to halt the spread of the virus and provide compassionate care for the people who lost so much through this great crisis.

In the words of Okwakol "Through this congress we are celebrating God's unconditional love for humanity. He loves the world and does not want any nation to perish, including Africans."

During our time together, we received a heart wrenching report from our Baptist brothers and sisters in Nigeria who implore the wider Church to join them in prayer for the families of the martyrs, the persecuted and the hostages, who have and continue to be victims of Boka Haram. "We pray with confidence," one pastor shared. "Confidence that God will have victory over Boka Haram! For persecution that has been felt in places like Nigeria and Kenya, we pray for God's intervention and for His Church!"

The importance of God using the Church as an instrument of building peace, fostering forgiveness and healing among victims of civil conflict and unrest was also celebrated in the BWA General Meetings. On Thursday evening, we had the great joy of being present for the BWA Human Rights Award, which was bestowed to Rev. Gato Munyamasoko.

Rev. Gato, and his wife Anne-Marie, received the BWA Human Rights Award from David Maddox (above). Rev. Gato is the legal representative of the Association of Rwandan Baptist Churches (AEBR) and a long time friend and colleague with Canadian Baptist Ministries. You can Read More Here about the work of Gato and impact of the AEBR in peace and reconciliation ministries in Rwanda. 

Gato sharing during a reception hosted by Canadian Baptist Ministries after the award ceremony

Terry Smith praying for Gato and Anne Marie

Erica and our colleague Alia from the Lebanese Baptist Churches

Over the past year, Canadian Baptist Ministries, in cooperation with our international partners, has been a part of coordinating and delivering vital relief and local church-based care for hundreds of thousands of people in places like Nepal, South Sudan, Lebanon, and the Philippines. 

One of the great encouragements of the BWA Congress has been the opportunity to be with other leaders in our Baptist network who are committed to excellence and compassionate responses for both crisis intervention and long term poverty reduction in the world's most vulnerable places.

Aaron with our friend Suraj, CBM Team Leader for India

Our friends the Josephine and Saphano Riaks, from South Sudan

Sam Chaise at a CBM luncheon and meeting on the formation of
the Baptist Relief and Development Network

Working together

One of the exciting developments of the past few years has been the movement toward more intentional cooperation and exchange between Baptist relief and development organizations, and the formation of a global network to facilitate rapid response and deepening partnerships. The fruit of these collaborative efforts has been seen in incredible response to the Vanuatu Cyclone and Nepal Earthquake disasters by a number of international Baptist bodies.

On Saturday, Erica and I participated in a wonderful gathering of Baptist leaders focused on the formation of the Baptist Relief and Development Network. It was encouraging to see fellow Christian leaders pulling together to leverage our global resources and capacity for the good of communities that experience tragedy and brokenness. 

Terry Smith presenting a map of Baptist global relief and development response in 2014
in a plea for deeper and more intentional cooperation and interdependence as a global network

Please continue to pray for our global Baptist network. There are approximately 100 million Baptists throughout the world. It is our prayer that God might continue to draw us together as instruments  in bringing hope and healing into the world.