Letter from CCA

(“A Letter from CCA” is a sharing message of the CCA General Secretary to update member churches and ecumenical friends about the life and works of CCA. It is electronically published every Wednesday.)

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ!

Despite several months being passed after the devastating Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar on 2nd May, there are still many survivors struggling to go back to normal life. Following up on CCA's initiative of disaster management in the country Rev. Freddy De Alwis, Joint Executive Secretary for JID visited Yangon from 12 - 14 August 2008.

On his return to Chiang Mai Rev. Freddy De Alwis shared, "The visit was made to Myanmar in view of the proposed "Disaster Relief, Training and Rehabilitation Programme" planned with the cooperation of the Asian ecumenical constituency."

JID will be coordinating the initiative as part of the above mentioned project in terms of humanitarian assistance, capacity building, trauma counselling and sustainable development in collaboration with Myanmar Council of Churches.

WSCF New Vice-chairperson

Janejinda Pawadee, Project Coordinator for Mekong Ecumenical Partnership Programme was elected as Vice-chairperson of World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). The elections were held in WSCF 34th General Assembly that took place in Montreal, Canada from 1-9 August 2008. The theme of General Assembly was "Your Daughters and Sons Shall Prophesy" (Joel 2:28). Janejinda will be serving as Vice-chairperson from 2008-2012 together with Mr. Horacio Mesones from Uruguay elected as Chairperson and Mr. Youhanna Kamal from Egypt elected as the Honorary Treasurer.

Human Rights Training

JID will be organising CCA's 12th Annual Human Rights Training from 23-28 August in Bangkok Christian Guest House in Thailand. The event will bring in participants of church constituency from all over Asia. The training is held in the context of human rights movement and will be addressing subjects such as, theological reflections on human rights, UN mechanisms and structures, historical background of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and advocacy in Asia. The training will be an opportunity for pastors, church workers and lay leaders to study human rights concepts from Christian perspective and analyze the emerging trends in Asia. Tony Waworuntu, Joint Executive Secretary for JID is coordinating the event.

Theological Education

CCA along with the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) is supporting a joint initiative for theological studies in Korea. Through this program scholarships will be provided to the students at postgraduate and doctorate studies in Yonsei University, Hanil Theological University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Korea. The deadline to apply for the next academic year is 30 November 2008. More information can be obtained by contacting cca@cca.org.hk.

CCA Assembly Logo

As we are moving towards CCA 13th General Assembly 2010 in Malaysia, we invite Christian artists, song writers, and musicians from CCA member churches and councils to design the Assembly logo, Assembly poster and compose a song on Assembly theme "Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal".

Amidst socio-economic, political and natural crises today, God call the Church to prophesy, reconcile and be a healing community. CCA Assembly theme reminds Asian churches about the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ who broke all barriers and walls of hostility. We therefore invite and encourage artists in churches to present an artistic view of the theme in the forms
of a logo, poster and a theme song for CCA Assembly.

Closing date of the competition is 26 October 2008. The winner of each category will be awarded an honorarium of 300.00 US dollars. For further information and sending your entries and submission contact:

General Secretariat
Christian Conference of Asia
C/O: Payap University, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Tel: (66) 53-243-906/7
E-mail: ccagensec@cca.org.hk

Prawate Khid-arn
General Secretary

No. 34/20 August 2008