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Annual Core Group Meeting and Leaders Forum 2009
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South Asia Christian Youth Conference
May 23-30, 2002
Wattala, Colombo
Conference Resolution
We, the participants of the South Asia Christian Youth Conference held at the Pegasus Reef Hotel, Hendala, Wattala, Colombo from the 23rd to the 30th May 2002 place on record our humble praise to Almighty God for making this great coming together possible. We thank CMS and USPG for dreaming about this meaningful event and all the partner Churches who joined hands to make this possible. We record our sincere appreciation to the hosts in Sri Lanka, the Church of Ceylon, who made this a memorable experience for us
The context:
'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' Best because transcending all human-made barriers we really could come together, worst because we meet in a context of fear and distrust. We have a shared past, colonial legacy, and a series of realities that permeate the region. These include:
Religious fundamentalism
Ethnic conflicts
Political conflicts and issues of good governance (Myanmar not able to join us)
Caste and human right violations
Gender and Inequality
Divisions within the church
Minority consciousness and fear
Terrorism and tension in the borders
Poverty
HIV/Aids
Plurality and differences
What happened here:
'We are like a nation who can sit up the whole night discussing things and finding solutions but in the morning are too tired to do anything about it' (Chekhov). Contrary to this notion, here in the conference there was genuinely:
Relationship building
Empowerment
Pessimism giving way to optimism
Confidence/Trust building
Opening of the eyes and the ears (and the senses)
Fellowship (and sharing) in Jesus Christ
Appreciation of different cultures
Encouragement
Opportunities
Understanding peace and conflict resolution
Discussion of issues
We affirm that:
We are one in Christ.
Peace is the need of the
hour and we stand for peace.
The Church should be much
more involved in struggles for justice.
Peacemaking is
challenging and costly.
We will strive hard to
resolve conflicts and not to abdicate
responsibilities.
There is power and
potential within us and within the church of
peacemaking.
We are capable of making
an impact for peace.
There must be sincere
attempts towards conflict resolution.
The peace of Christ is
both gift and something we should strive for.
Peace with God is the foundation for peacemaking.
We propose (as an action plan):
To connect. (We thank the organizers for connecting the thus far unconnected links.)
Networking (keeping in
touch, information sharing, addressing common
issues, a common website,
a newsletter).
Forming a Core Youth
Group (to monitor the possibilities of joint
initiatives).
Initiating Youth Peace
Forums.
Forming a Prayer Chain
for Peace.
Cultural exchanges and
sharing of resources.
Initiatives of peace and
struggle against all forms of injustice.
That the last week of May each year be celebrated as South Asia week and the Sunday as South Asia Youth Sunday with a common theme and liturgy (in the last week of May to remember this event).
We confess:
That Church is not as
much involved as it ought to be in struggles for
justice.
That time could not be
found at this conference to hear stories of some
of the nations and
its peoples.
That the young people are becoming more and more docile and conforming.
We call upon:
The young people to join
and strengthen this initiative of peace.
The Church leadership to encourage us, give us more opportunities and space (recognising
us as leaders of today, not just of tomorrow).
Civic society to share
the values of peace and join hands with us in this
journey.
The governments of the
region to respect the rule of law, the spirit of
democracy, space for young
people and to uphold dignity and human rights.
The partners to keep on keeping on.
We pray that the Lord would strengthen us to be truly channels of peace.
