2020: Churches must serve as beacons of hope"

Christian Conference of Asia (CCA)
Asia Sunday 2020  -  24. Mai 2020

Churches must serve as beacons of hope and compassion amidst COVID-19 crisis,
urge Asian church leaders


Participants of the CCA virtual conference on 'Churches in Asia Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis'

CHIANG MAI, 7 MAY 2020:
The Church lives, thrives, and plays a crucial role in accompanying the suffering people and communities while serving as a beacon of hope and compassion amidst the COVID-19 crisis. It is time for the Church in Asia to redefine what the Church is and reposition its role in a changing context. Though we are challenged by sufferings and miseries of innumerable people who are affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus, our fortitude, faith, and hope in God's unwavering assurance give us the inspiration to find a cause for glorifying God in our troubles. God of all creation feels our pain, sees our tears, and cares about our challenges,n stated the Asian ecclesiastical and ecumenical leaders who were panellists of the Christian Conference of Asia's (CCA) virtual conference on 'Churches in Asia Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis.

As the COVID-19 pandemic grips the world, the CCA has proposed and initiated a series of virtual conferences to serve as a platform to discuss relevant issues and challenges caused by the global crisis.

The second of the CCA Webinar series was held on 7 May 2020. The virtual conference saw engagement from 100 registered participants and also had an audience of over 4,000 viewers who observed the proceedings via live-streaming on the CCAs social media platforms.

In his opening remarks, the CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara, who moderated and facilitated the online conference, said that the COVID-19 crisis was a loud wake-up call for the world'. He remarked that the proliferation of the virus had shattered myths about global levels of development, which were, in fact, quite unsustainable. The spread of
COVID-19 has exposed our inadequacies in catering to the most vulnerable in our midst, and it is vital to re-examine the role of our churches in this new world," he said. ...

Download pdf