May 14-20, 2012
General Assembly News
CWM East Asia Region Roundtable highlights sharing of knowledge and resources
Reported by Fang Lan-ting and Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma
The Council for World Mission (CWM) is an organization that serves as a bridge facilitating partnership and dialogue between churches from around the world. CWM’s East Asia Region held a roundtable meeting on May 6-9, 2012 in Singapore, which was attended by PCT delegates Rev. Lyim Hong-tiong (Associate General Secretary of the PCT) and Rev. Fang Lan-ting (Taiwan Church News General Editor).
Lyim shared with the other CWM delegates about some of the unique ministries of the PCT, such as the New Doubling Movement, the New Eyes Bible Reading Movement, the Women’s ministries, the Life Education curriculum, and more. These ministries were lauded by CWM delegates from various countries and received financial support from the CWM. Delegates present at the meeting also expressed interest in collaborating with the PCT in various ministries in the future.
During a portion of the meeting, all the delegates were invited to tour the new CWM office in Singapore that will soon commence operations. They also met with CWM General Secretary Collin Cowan, who discussed CWM’s plans for the future as well as issues arising from its constitution.
With the help and meticulous planning of CWM EAR Secretary Hong Chung-chih, a PCT representative, the roundtable meeting and discussions went smoothly and delegates learned a lot about the current state of affairs in various countries as well as the mission strategies of various churches. Among the topics discussed were North Korea’s threat to South Korea, China’s threat to Taiwan, ethnic diversity in Singapore, the predominance of Muslims in Malaysia, the struggle for freedom in Myanmar, and rising unemployment in Hong Kong. Delegates said that these phenomena had great effects on the outcome and the planning of mission strategies.
CWM is a vital organization in the ecumenical church today and serves as a great platform for churches to share their resources, said Lyim. He added that PCT’s participation in CWM was a great means for the PCT to share with others what Taiwanese churches had, as well as a means to seek assistance. Faced with the inability to participate in international organizations as a sovereign and independent country, Taiwan must depend on ecumenical church partnerships to offer and receive assistance for the benefit of all.
