Speeches

Speech by Dr. Prawate Khid-arn,
General Secretary of Christian Conference of Asia
at the Mission Consultation of the 140th PCT Anniversary in Taiwan.
1-6 June 2005

It is indeed my great privilege and honor for being given the opportunity to address this significant Mission Consultation organized to celebrate God’s grace and blessing in the life and works of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) over the past 140 years. Together here and today, we give thanks to God for the contributions made by Rev. James L. Maxwell (1865), the first Presbyterian missionary to Taiwan, Dr. George Lesley Mackay (1872), a pioneer church leader and many others of the churches in Taiwan. We also thank God for the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan for its pro-active ministries, changing from a receiving church to a giving, caring and supporting church. With more than 1,215 local congregations, more than 1,230 ordained ministers and 4 theological schools, the PCT continues to play a significant role in God mission not only in Taiwan but also in Asia and around the world.

I have been asked to focus my speech on “justice and peace” which, for me, is very important as it reflects the theme and mandate of the Christian Conference of Asia in the next five years. No one would deny that justice and peace” is the central concern of people around the world at this moment. Furthermore, it has influenced the way the churches understood themselves and related to one another. And in the meantime, the Mission of Taiwan and the Global Community in a New Era has a profound ecclesiological significance encouraging us to rethink the real meaning of being church in a divided and conflict-ridden world.

Acts of injustice has been existed in our society. Injustice demonstrates in many forms, including poverty, migration, human trafficking, human rights abuses, gender inequality, conflicts, violence and many kinds of socio-cultural, economic and political unrests. Today, while one third of the world’s population enjoys two-third of the world’s natural resources and wealth, the remaining two thirds languish in abject poverty and discrimination.

Let us look into some examples.

First, about HIV and AIDS, about 38 million people worldwide, among them more than 7 million people are living in Asia. The causes of HIV and AIDS are rooted not merely in health, sanitation and physical sphere. Despite encouraging developments, people living with HIV and AIDS still face significant discrimination and stigmatization and are denied the opportunity to fully participate in their communities. People living with HIV/AIDS are isolated, discriminated against, stigmatized and demoralized. Their basic rights and opportunities are ignored and lost when their infection is known.

On issue of migration and human trafficking; Hoping for better jobs and opportunities, many Asian people leave their villages to cities, from home countries to other countries in Asia, Middle East and Europe. But many cases, their dreams have turned into nightmare under the 3-D working conditions- dirty, dangerous and demeaning. It is estimated that about 300,000 foreign migrant workers are working in Taiwan and about 25 per cent of them are undocumented. Among the migrant population, it is generally observed that women and children are most vulnerable to exploitation.

Another great challenge in the new global contexts is for democracy and freedom. People in many countries are crying out for democracy -- a democracy that recognizes human dignity, guarantees basic human rights, freedom and responsibility for each and every member of the society. People all over the world are crying out to stop conflicts and violence. But they are increasing every day. People are crying out for peace. But the more they cry out for peace the more it is running away from them. The peace that people yearn for seems to be far away to be reach.

With these backgrounds, we need to ask the question, do our neighbours have peace? Do we have peace in our hearts? How do we cultivate the culture of peace? Therefore, it is important to look at the different role that churches play to build communities of peace.

Peace and stability in Asia is being increasingly endangered by the spiral conflict in the region. The challenge for Christian in a divided society is to articulate a vision of justice and building communities of peace.

“Justice and peace”, many times, has been misunderstood, misinterpreted, misused and become personal. One example is about war. To justify the war on terrorism, leaders of powerful nations have easily linked their causes to existing conflict like what are happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and many other parts of the world. This way of self-centred interpretation is always against basic human dignity and human rights that leads to confrontation and violence among and between people in societies. As a result, fear, insecurity and hatred characterize the lives of people in many parts of the world, including Asia.

Prophet Micah stated three pre-conditions for the church: to do what is just; to show constant love; and to live in humble fellowship with God (Micah 6:6-8). The Hebrew scripture is clear in its understanding that peace is lost when illness, injustice, poverty, conflict, violence and wars inflict wounds on the bodies and souls of human beings of society, of nation and of the world. Peace is not just the absence of war or conflict. It has to be rooted in social, economic and political justice. Building justice has to do with commitment for removal of poverty, unemployment, social inequality and all forms of discrimination. Rev. Rachel Kronberger, in her Biblical reflection on peace, said “seeking peace is to seek a world where everyone has enough, where communities are safe and secure, where people are nurtured to full their highest potential. It connects the individual person’s health, well being and good life to the economic prosperity and political security of the family and the nation, where everyone is treated with respect”.

Building communities of peace is a critical test of our Christian faith and ethical commitment to sustainable community and the fullness of life of all people. At the first place, Building peace first must begins with a spiritual hunger. My vision of peace focus at the first place is that of an ‘inner peace’. Peace must come from within each one of us. Prophet Micah depicted very clear that an inner spiritual hunger shows itself in three desires: a desire to worship, to learn and to change, ......many nations shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his path” (Micah 4:2a). We have to learn how to share resources and privileges furthermore in our time. Peace and peace building is not somewhere; but it within every one of us, within our home, our church and our community.

One of my favorite stories comes to mind. It is about Mahatma Gandhi. “One day, as Gandhi stepped aboard a train, one of his shoes slipped off and landed on the track. He was unable to retrieve it as the train was moving. To amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off other shoe and threw it back along the track so that it landed close to the first one. A fellow passenger asked him why he did that.

Gandhi smiled and said, “The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track, will now have a pair he can use.”

Secondly, Peace is a freed gift. In the beatitude, Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo, put it: “peace is a gift and a grace of God”. Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (Jn. 14:27a). Humans cannot create peace. But however to realize this divine peace, we, human beings, communities and churches are called to be God’s instrument and peace must be made through us (Matt. 5:9). Peace is the fruit of righteousness and practice of justice. Peace can only be achieved in opening one’s self to God who is just, merciful and righteous.

Thirdly, Peace and injustice are two opposite sides of one coin. When one drops the other rises, when one rises the other drops. They never been risen together. All of us must understand that peace is not possible without justice. So, how painful it may be, conflict is an invitation to peace building. Peace is not just the absence of war or conflict. It has to be rooted in social, economic and political justice. Building justice has to do with commitment for removal of poverty, unemployment, social inequality and all forms of discrimination. To be able to build peace, our efforts must be directed to dismantling the presence of injustice.

Finally, I believe that building communities of justice and peace requires mutual understanding and cooperation. Whether we like it or not, building peace needs comprehensive principles, values and harmonious cooperation, like clapping with two hands make louder noise. Definitely, one country, one church alone can not solve all problems, but with the cooperation of other people, we can bring mutual understanding, unity, and harmony for building communities of peace. We need to have more dialogue in the years to come.

In his welcome speech to the 12th General Assembly of the CCA, His Excellency Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra, the Prime Minister of Thailand, said that “peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but it is a positive, dynamic, participatory process, where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation”. Our individual rights must now be balance with the principle of individual responsibility and we also need an affirmation of inter-dependence.

In the midst of rapid changes in the world, the church can play a significant role in bridging people from apart, to discuss their differences as well as similarities to bring peaceful solution and harmonious society. To live together does not mean we all have to be the same. Everyone has his/her own identity and rights. The church is meant to be a ‘laboratory’ of peace, a community of praise, a place of welcome, as we struggle to live with our differences.

Churches are called to stand up together in the struggle for justice and peace in Asia as peacemakers for God’s mission in the world. The church as God’s instrument for peace has a special role to play to pursue human dignity, to protect the basic human rights, and to bring fullness of life to the people, who are exploited, denied and rejected. In the midst of crises, Christians and churches are being challenged by our divine faith and teachings to become the salt and light of this world.

God is at work for peace everywhere. Let us put in our bit with God to create a world filled with justice and peace everywhere.

Prawate Khid-arn
General Secretary
Christian Conference of Asia
1-6 June 2005, Taiwan