Wir wünschen allen Mitgliedern, Partner*innen, Mitarbeitenden sowie Freund*innen der Vereinten Evangelischen Mission ein gesegnetes Weihnachtsfest und ein hoffnungsvolles neues Jahr. Weihnachten 2025 feiern wir die Geburt Jesu Christi in einer Welt, die von vielfältigen Herausforderungen geprägt ist.
In seiner Weihnachtsbotschaft spricht Pfarrer Dr. Robinson Butarbutar, Ephorus em. der indonesischen HKBP Kirche und Vize-Moderator der VEM, von Hoffnung, Gerechtigkeit, Frieden und unserer gemeinsamen Verantwortung, als gleichberechtigte Partner in Gottes Mission zu handeln.
Die vollständige Videoansprache ist auf YouTube zu sehen.
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Honorable members, church workers, staff, and leaders as well as supporters of the life and work of the United Evangelical Mission.
Dear missionaries, Staff and coworkers of United Evangelical Mission in the three offices in Dar es Salaam – Tanzania, Pematangsiantar – Indonesia, and Wuppertal – Germany, and your beloved family members, friends and supporters.
Dear people of goodwill everywhere in the one mother earth, eager to see the presence of peace, justice and well-being of the creation in our mother earth is made visible upon by each one of us anywhere we live and work.
As we celebrate Christmas 2025, we rejoice in the birth of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yet we also know this joy is lived out in a world that still suffers deeply, even more today, in a way that shocks us all.
Across Asia and around the globe, people face heavy burdens—rising inflation, economic hardship, and the negative effects of climate change. Wars in Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza and anywhere else continue to destroy lives and sadden us all. Tensions in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and the ongoing conflict in West Papua remind us of how fragile peace can be, and how unjust the enforced peace has been, continuing to abandon the weak, the voiceless, neglecting our common responsibility to care for each one of us, children of humanity and creation. We observe that the unsatisfied youth have in some countries expressed their feelings, views and expectations through demonstrations, asking the authorities, the haves and dominant powers to change for a better condition of life of and for all.
In Asia, home to half of the world’s population, economic discrimination and injustice are growing. Many of our indigenous and local communities watch their natural resources taken away, while they themselves remain in poverty—never enjoying the fruits of their own land.
But Christmas is God’s message of hope in the midst of pain and despair. Jesus came into our world not to stand apart from our struggles, but to walk with us—bringing justice, peace, and life, as well as raising hope, comforting and shepherding us.
As UEM, the United Evangelical Mission, we therefore strive to live out that same calling and commission. We work together across continents to support churches in mission, to respond to disasters, to strengthen education, to empower women and youth, and to stand for justice, peace, and the care of God’s creation.
In this calling and commission, there is no “giver” and “receiver.” In Christ, we stand eye to eye—equal partners in God’s mission. Each church, each community, each believer has something to offer: ideas, energy, prayers, resources in accordance with our ability and capacity wholeheartedly. Together, we can be a sign of hope in a broken world.
So, this Christmas, I invite you—let us commit ourselves through word and action to peace where there is war, to justice where there is exploitation, and to care for creation where it is threatened, and to life in its fullness wherever it is absent. Let us use all that God has given us to make Christ’s love visible in our time, beginning from our home and beyond.
On behalf of the United Evangelical Mission in Asia, I wish you and your families a blessed and meaningful Christmas. May the joy of Christ’s birth renew our hope, strengthen our unity, our commitment, and action, and inspire us to continue the mission—together.
Merry Christmas and a Hopeful New Year!
spenden@vemission.org
0202-89004-195