Prayers for Aasia Bibi, Pakistan

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

First Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
Second Preference:
Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)
30 October 2014
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

In Solidarity with Churches in Pakistan Prayers for Aasia Bibi 

The Christian Conference of Asia is shocked and dismayed at the Lahore High Court's rejection of  the appeal against the death sentence imposed on Aasia Bibi, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a Muslim woman.

In a solidarity letter addressed to the leadership of the churches in Pakistan,  Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang, General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia wrote:

"In such a time as this, we remember you in our thoughts and prayers. We earnestly pray that God’s comforting love and healing power will embrace Aasia Bibi and her family during this agonizing period, when they walk through the dark valley of fear and persecution.

The judgment passed on 16th October 2014 has shocked Christians and others in Pakistan and abroad. It is equally shocking to note that this case originated from an argument Aasia Bibi had with a Muslim woman over a pot of water. A lower court had sentenced her to death by hanging, in November 2010. It is indeed a great relief to hear that her lawyer is determined to take her case to the Supreme Court within the allotted 30 days.

We pray that the judiciary of Pakistan will not fail the hopes for justice of a poor woman and her family who are threatened and have been on the run since the incident in 2010. We pray and appeal that the case will be examined in accordance to the highest standards of justice, objectivity and integrity.

The CCA appreciates and congratulates the inter-denominational organization “Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS)” that works for persecuted Christians in Pakistan, for  assisting  Aasia Bibi‘s legal defense team, and pray that God will give the Centre, courage, wisdom and the means to continue its good work. We, along with the international community, appeal to the authorities to repeal or reform such severe laws and the cruel punishments that form part of it.

'Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ...neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rules, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8:35, 38-39)"

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