INDIA - REGIONAL BAPTIST GROUP HOLDS 60TH ANNUAL MEETING continued
who is a retired government bureaucrat, was installed to serve the next two years. Jolly Rimai from Manipur state was appointed as
mission director.
CBCNEI has begun explorations to open a Baptist university. The council currently owns a theological college and six hospitals.
Bonny Resu, BWA regional secretary for Asia and general secretary for the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, was a special guest and
speaker at the meetings.
PHOTOS: A choir sings during the 60th annual meeting of Baptists in North East India in April;
A.K. Lama, the General Secretary of the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India, addresses the gathering, assisted by an
interpreter;
Special guest and speaker Bonny Resu
India photos courtesy of Asia Pacific Baptist Federation
SCOTLAND - BAPTISTS SHARE IN EDINBURGH MISSION CONFERENCE
Approximately 300 delegates from 60 countries, including 17 Baptists from 13 countries, attended the centenary of the World
Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, from June 2-6. The first conference, held in Edinburgh in June 1910, is regarded as the
event that sparked the modern Protestant ecumenical movement and that which gave impetus to international Christian mission.
“Prominent among the 2010 participants was the significant contribution of the many women working in mission agencies, missiological
faculties, various mission networks, and church departments of mission,” wrote Darrell Jackson, director of the Nova Research Centre
at Redcliffe College in the United Kingdom, and convener of one of the study groups at the conference.
Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, and one of four official BWA representatives at the event stated that
“one can clearly see the global expansion of the faith since 1910 in the makeup of those attending.” The latest statistics, Medley said,
“are that 60 percent of all Christians now live in the Southern hemisphere. The foremost mother tongue in the church today is Spanish.
Religious pluralism due to migration and other factors has increased throughout the world except in predominantly Muslim countries.
Asia is the most religiously diverse region in the world.”
Malkhaz Songulashvili, archbishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia and another BWA representative, declared that
“Edinburgh 2010 should be considered a huge success not only because of all the sessions and documents that were discussed and
approved, but also because it was a fascinating encounter of God's people from all sorts of traditions, cultures and countries.”
Songulashvili noted that “Protestants, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Roman Cath-olics, Anglicans, Oriental and Eastern Orthodox came
together to discuss matters of common interests on an equal footing.” Jackson observed that many “plenary presentations and small
group discussions were led by a variety of individuals from around the world.”
The major focus of the conference was on nine themes, including foundations for mission, other faiths, mission spirituality, mission and
unity, and theological education for mission.
COMMON CALL, a declaration released during the five days of meeting, asserted that “the church, as a sign and symbol of the reign of
God, is called to witness to Christ today by sharing in God’s mission of love through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.”
COMMON CALL implored the church to trust in the Triune God with a renewed sense of urgency, to remember Christ’s sacrifice on the
Cross and his resurrection for the world’s salvation, to know the Holy Spirit, and to affirm the importance of the biblical foundations of
missional engagement.
The declaration affirmed that Christians should incarnate and proclaim the good news of salvation; enter into authentic dialogue,
respectful engagement and humble witness among people of other faiths – and no faith – to the uniqueness of Christ; celebrate the
renewal experienced through movements of migration and mission in all directions; become communities of compassion and healing;
and to have a new zeal for justice, peace and the protection of the environment.
Medley indicated that “questions as to the nature of the relationship of the Christian faith to other faiths and to culture” will continue to
be of great interest to those who are engaged “in missiological circles.”
The four BWA representatives at the mission conference were Medley from the United States; Songulashvili from the Caucasus country
of Georgia; Marvia Lawes, a Jamaican missioner in Panama; and Noah Moses. 11

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