UEM becomes a Blessing for the World

The 12^th LWF General Assembly is currently hold in Windhoek, in which many delegates from the UEM member churches took actively part. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) is one of the hosting churches for this assembly. United Evangelical Mission (UEM) as the partner of the LWF is invited through the attendance of the UEM Moderator Willem Simarmata, the Vice Moderator Rev. Rosmalia Barus and the Vice Moderator Dr. Abednego Keshomshahara. In an evening on May 12, 2017 among the delegates from the UEM member churches and the ELCRN partnership groups, Moderator Willem Simarmata memorized the death of the former UEM Director Rev. Peter Sandner, who has died and is buried during the LWF GA. Rev. Sandner was born in Windhoek and had prepared the internationalization of UEM. After extending the warm greetings from the UEM General Secretary, Rev. Volker Dally, the Moderator gave a statement on the mission pillars of UEM, which ask all the member churches and von Bodelschwingh institutions Bethel to be the blessing for the world. Simarmata called for solidarity where the world is threatened by terrorism, poverty, injustice and nature catastrophe. He said: “In order to find solutions for our global challenges, the member churches should strengthen their solidarities with one another and have to seek reconciliation among us.” For the Christians in Namibia, Simarmata emphasized that healing for those who were affected by colonialism and violence must be conducted seriously and continuously: “It is our Mission now”. Together with the two Vice Moderators, Simarmata shared the thankfulness of UEM to the ELCRN Bishop E. Gamxamub by putting on the Batak traditional shawl, Ulos. The evening was organized by the ELCRN and attended by the delegates from Asia, Africa and Germany including the former UEM Moderator Bishop Z. Kameeta, who is currently the Namibian Minister for Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.