31.01.2023

"Our Christian Faith Calls Us"

Jane Ewoule (left) and Lintje Pellu (right), two of the Delegates at the workshop. Foto by: Elke Patalla, UEM

At the end of October, 22 delegates from church partnerships in all three regions of the UEM came together. In Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, they talked about racism. Not in its obvious, aggressive form, but about subtle racism. "In church and social contexts, racism often takes the form of 'wanting to help' or 'knowing what the other needs'. In doing so, Black people are often not perceived as acting on their own, instead white people decide in their place, because after all it is 'only for their good'," is how Emmanuel Kileo formulates the problem on which he wrote his dissertation in 2014. The discussions in the workshop were not always easy - but they brought the participants closer together.

The results of the workshop include an open letter and recommendations to church-based South-North partnerships. "The time has come to give farewell to innocence," the letter says. There is a need to confront the injustice of racism, even in its subtle form: "Our Christian faith calls us to prophetic and pastoral attention to the victims of racism." Working together on this, and thus contributing to a more just society that is freer for all, is the aim of this Open Letter and the recommendations it makes.

Here you can find the Open Letter of the workshop participants in German and in English, and

here the recommendations for the work in church South-North partnerships in German and in English.