BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL Msiza of South Africa to Become BWA President in 2015 N

gwedla Paul Msiza of South Africa has been voted president

elect of the Baptist World Alliance. Msiza and 12 vice presidents were elected by the BWA General Council, which convened during the Annual Gathering in Izmir, Turkey, from July 6-12.

Msiza, 53, will take office at the conclusion of the 21st Baptist

World Congress in Durban in July next year, succeeding John Upton of the United States. He is the second African elected to the BWA presidency. William Tolbert of Liberia was BWA president from 1965-1970. Tolbert served as president of his country from 1971 until his assassination during a military coup in 1980. A current BWA vice president, Msiza has been actively

involved in the BWA since 2000. He sits on the General Council, the Executive Committee, the Nominations Committee, the Congress Committee, the Mission, Evangelism and Theological Reflection Advisory Committee and the Promotion and Development Advisory Committee. Previously, he served on the BWA Membership Committee, the Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation and the Academic and Theological Education Workgroup. Msiza was president of the All Africa Baptist Fellowship, one of six regional fellowships of the BWA, from 2006-2011 and general secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa (BCSA) from 2001-2010.

BWA DAY BWA DAY Continued

world who don’t let political barriers separate us from one another. We see ourselves as brothers and sisters, regardless of our ethnic or racial differences or political philosophies. We are joined together in a common faith and I am proud to be a part of it.” On BWA Day, many churches celebrate the love and concern Baptists worldwide Baptists have shared. Former BWA Vice President Gregory Komendant of Ukraine called the BWA the place where all Baptists “around the world can be heard and supported. The BWA will never leave you on your own! If you suffer or are in need, the BWA will always be your shelter, protecting your human rights.”

Whether Baptists worship on Sunday or Saturday, they are

all urged to set aside one day each year when, recognizing and affirming Baptist identity within the worldwide Christian family,

If you suffer or are in need, the BWA will always be your shelter, protecting your human rights.

— BWA Vice President Gregory Komendant of Ukraine

6 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE He is chair of the Local Arrangements Committee for the

next Baptist World Congress in Durban. The congress, the first of which was held in 1905, is normally held every five years and is the largest international gathering for Baptists. It marks the transition of the BWA presidency. The 21st congress in Durban will be the first in Africa. Msiza was trained at the Hebron Teacher Training College and worked bi-vocationally as a pastor and school teacher from 1988 until he became founding principal of the Baptist Convention College in 1995, from where he left to become BCSA general secretary.

He holds diplomas and degrees from the University of

Witwatersrand, the University of South Africa, the Baptist Theological Seminary of Southern Africa and the Baptist Bible Institute.

Since 2011, he has been serving as senior pastor of the Peniel- Salem Baptist Church in Pretoria. He has been married to Sanna Mapula since 1986 and they have three sons.

The twelve vice presidents-elect are Michael Okwakol,

Uganda, Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Ghana, Tapan Chowdhury, Bangladesh, Miyon Chung, South Korea, Anslem Warrick, Trinidad and Tobago, Jules Casseus, Haiti, Dimitrina Oprenova, Bulgaria, Jan Saethre, Norway, Naomi Tyler-Lloyd and Jerry Carlisle of the United States, Jorge Quinteros, Chile, and Luiz Roberto Silvado, Brazil.

Saethre of Norway will serve as first vice president. n BWA DAY n BWA DAY n BWA DAY n BWA DAY n BWA DAY n BWA DAY n BWA DAY n BWA

Each year, they affirm their belonging in the worldwide Baptist family and celebrate this privilege.

Baptists unite to celebrate partnership in the worldwide Baptist family, pray for each other and renew commitment to cooperate with Baptists

globally through the

February 7 and 8, 2015. Baptist churches are encouraged to include BWA Day in their calendar. Let fellow- ship remain a central concern of all in the worldwide movement.

Baptist BWA Day

materials from previous years

Baptist

World Alliance. BWA Day will be celebrated