“Our light will shine forever, even for those who are in darkness without hope.” With these words, Dr Pascal Bataringaya, President of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda (EPR), opened an international mission consultation. This showed, Bataringaya said, that mission remains possible. Yet today’s challenges require new strategies and approaches. Especially now, it is essential to learn from our shared past and experiences and to work together to the future.
Bataringaya’s words thereby reflected the central concern of the international mission consultation held in late November in Bethany, Rwanda: to ask anew, in the midst of global crises, how mission can be understood and lived today. At the invitation of the Council for World Mission (CWM), the Communauté d’Églises en Mission (CEVAA) and the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), representatives of churches, theological institutions, Christian mission agencies and ecumenical organisations from 36 countries gathered for this consultation. Under the biblical motto “Let your light shine” (Matthew 5:16), participants discussed how Christian witness, common mission, theology, and new needs can be strengthened in the future in a time of global crises, for example in the face of increasing digitalization and artificial intelligence.
A shared look at a world undergoing major change
The consultation responds to the growing intensification of ecological, economic, political, and social challenges. Climate change, economic injustice, social division, migration, geopolitical conflicts, and growing authoritarian forces shape the everyday lives of many people, especially in the Global South. Mission is therefore understood as a prophetic, just, and healing practice that is guided by the experiences of marginalized communities.
Impulses for a new mission and a new ecumenism
The core concerns of the consultation include a theologically grounded redefinition of mission, questions of global justice, and the further development of partnership models beyond colonial structures. Other topics include the training of a new generation of mission theologians and contributions to the next World Mission Conference of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
"We, participants from 36 countries, are deeply concerned about the challenges of our time. The role of God's mission and the churches is more important than ever, especially in times of disasters, polarized societies, environmental destruction, discrimination, and racism. We need more courage, patience, and love to live out God's mission across all boundaries. God's mission needs all of us!" appealed Rev Dr Andar Parlindungan, General Secretary of the UEM.
The consultation aims to provide tangible impetus for a transformative ecumenism that stands in solidarity with the wounds of the world and makes hope visible through the Gospel.
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