BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL GATHERING n BWA ANNUAL New Members

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Pheiga Gangmei Kabisinpou (left) of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, with Ajoy Kumar Lama of the Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India

Commission Changes Continues

Commission on Interfaith Relations was established to replace the Commission on Baptist-Muslim Relations. The Commission on Human Rights Advocacy will focus on identifying and sharing information throughout the BWA constituency on persons who are advocating and defending human rights, providing “information on inspiring examples of human rights advocacy that should

motivate Baptists in mission faithfulness.”

The commission will no longer have responsibility to recommend recipients of the Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award and the Congress Award. This will now be done by an awards sub-committee of the Executive Committee.

F&J now has seven commissions, Religious Freedom,

Peace and Reconciliation, Human Rights Advocacy, Social and Economic Justice, Racial and Gender Justice, Creation Care and Interfaith Relations.

Annual Gathering Welcome Events our new member organizations

were accepted into membership of the BWA.

Two of these – the Baptist Community of the Faithful in Africa (BCFA) and the Baptist Evangelical Community in Central Africa (BECCA) serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which now has 13 BWA member organizations. BCFA was established in 1958. It has 30,146 members in 136 churches. BECCA was formed in 2009 and comprises 40,000 members in 150 churches. Ethiopia now has three members with the addition of the

Emmanuel Baptist Church of Ethiopia, which has 20,000 members in 49 churches. It was established in 1962. Chin Baptist Churches USA is the 19th

BWA member in

the United States. Formed in 2004, it has 8,500 members in 63 churches. It was founded by Chin refugees and immigrants from Myanmar in the United States. Among its priorities is to work among the Chins in the US, Chin Hills in Myanmar, and other countries for development ministry, education and development. The Irish Baptist Networks (IBN) was granted associate membership status. It was formed in 2009 by a group of persons from Baptist churches in Ireland to promote and encourage fellowship with the Baptist family around the world and in particular to promote engagement with the Baptist World Alliance and the European Baptist Federation. IBN adopted the BWA 2005 Centenary Congress message as a statement of faith.

A Turkish dance group performs during the BWA Annual Gathering 8 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam shakes hands with Stephen Adams of the Irish Baptist Networks, received as a new BWA associate member, while Ngun Awi and Donald Ng of Chin Baptist Churches USA, which received full BWA membership, look on.