Taiwan Church News
3535 Edition
November 25 – December 1, 2019
Church Ministry
Arise! Be Awake to Reconcile, Renew and Restore the Creation
Reported by Lin Jin-chia
From November 22 to 27, the first ever Asian Women’s Ecumenical Assembly(AWEA) was launched at the Presbyterian Bible College in Hsinchu City. Entitled with a slogan, “Arise! Be Awake to Reconcile, Renew and Restore the Creation”, AWEA attracted over 250 female participants from across 24 countries around the world.
Dr Mathews George Chunakara, the General Secretary of Christian Conference of Asia(CCA), reminded the audience in the opening service: Though the status and treatment of women in modern era got improved through various administrative, legal or demographic reforms, the future of women are still challenged by a world heading toward more and more deteriorating intolerance and inequality.
As the Asian women have to face complex situations in their day-to-day lives, “…the women in church cannot be mere spectators, but have to be engaged in more meaningful dialogue, learning from and sharing experience that would be helpful for demonstrating their commitments to reconciliation, renewal and restoration”, Dr Chunakara once addressed in an invitation letter for AWEA to all CCA’s member churches and councils.
Evangelist Vavauni Ljaljegean was also invited to share the sad stories of teen-aged aboriginal girls, who were sexually exploited across Taiwan urban cities in the 1980s – an authoritarian-military period in Taiwan.
“Reconciliation is necessary between those innocent aboriginal girls and Taiwan society, but the historical truth has to be disclosed to expel all those social stigma stuck to the girls sold to the brothel”, said Evangelist Ljaljegan.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
