One of the most enjoyable experiences of the year for this writer is the annual meeting of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) (see stories, page 3). Perhaps it is because no other meeting brings together so many Baptist leaders from around the world. Listening to them and learning from them is a humbling experience.
This year’s annual meeting, on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, was no exception. More than 500 Baptist leaders from 48 countries shared, prayed, worshiped and conducted business. The number would have been higher except for travel problems. For example, the delegate from the new Baptist community in Nepal was stranded in Vancouver, British Columbia. His travel agent routed him there saying Charlottetown was nearby. The agent was only off by 4,462.1 miles. The Baptist delegate had no money to complete the trip. Other Baptists were stranded in various European cities awaiting visas that never came.
It is hard for Baptists in North America to understand these situations, but people from Third World countries often face problems and restrictions that Americans never consider.
The BWA provides the only venue of which we are aware where Baptists come together as equals. Sometimes the size difference between Baptist bodies makes it difficult for the groups to meet as equals. Sometimes one group is looked to for financial contributions. That, too, makes meeting as equals difficult. But in the BWA there are no over-under relationships.
The BWA shares many goals with national Baptist groups. For example, evangelism is at the heart of Baptist efforts worldwide. When that is true, the BWA works hand in hand with member unions and conventions. Sometimes the BWA is able to do things others cannot. When the Goa region of southern India was devastated by an earthquake, BWAid was able to get Baptist rescue teams from Hungary into the area almost immediately. One of the pictures celebrated at this year’s meeting in Charlottetown was of the Hungarian Baptists pulling an Indian woman from a pile of concrete debris. A few hours later, she would have died.
No Southern Baptist rescue group was allowed into India. Only later did Southern Baptists representatives get to explore ways to help with recovery efforts.
Defending and promoting religious liberty is one of the most valuable contributions made by the BWA. For a convention of Baptists from the United States to be concerned about religious liberty in another country might be interpreted as butting into another country’s business. But when the worldwide body of Baptists expresses concern for the treatment of its members in a country, the communication has impact.
BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz has met with numerous heads of state to express concern for religious freedom. Last year during the General Council meeting in Havana, Lotz and BWA president Billy Kim of Korea met with Fidel Castro to advocate religious liberty for Baptists in Cuba.
Educational interchange
The interchange among the leaders is always educational. Few would be surprised that Baptists from different parts of the world sometimes disagree. During this five-year period, we have the privilege of serving on the BWA’s resolutions committee. Among the other Southern Baptists on the committee are New Orleans Seminary president Charles Kelley and the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Richard Land.
Serving as chairman of the committee is Keith Jones, an Englishman who heads the International Baptist Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic. Nigel Wright, principal of Spurgeon’s College in London, and Ian Chapman, recently retired president of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, are also on the committee.
Listening to insights from these and other committee members about such topics as religious persecution, the value of inter-communion discussions, debt relief, HIV/AIDS and other topics was an educational experience.
At one meeting we sat next to the new general secretary for Nigerian Baptists, Solomon Ademola Ishola. He gave us a copy of the Baptist publication of Nigeria. He said he wanted us to have it because so many Baptists from Alabama had served as missionaries in his country. “We are grateful to the Baptists of Alabama,” Ishola declared.
This year’s meeting was scheduled for Beirut but was moved to Charlottetown because of violence in Lebanon. The move allowed many to learn more about Canadian Baptists. Canadian Baptist Ministries, the host group, is composed of three Baptist bodies in Canada. We were able to visit one of the two Baptist-related universities in the maritime provinces. Acadia University is located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, on the Bay of Fundy.
We also preached in one of the 15 Baptist churches on Prince Edward Island. Central Kings Baptist Church is a small-membership church in the eastern part of the island. It is led by Pastor and Mrs. Jim Diamond. He is a retired Air Force officer whose military pension makes it possible for him to serve full time in the church. The white frame building with a steeple on top would be right at home in hundreds of places in Alabama.
Come to think of it, the people we met at the General Council meeting would be right at home in Alabama as well. They are Bible-believing folk who believe Jesus died on the cross for their sins. They believe like traditional Baptists and act like traditional Baptists. It might just be that some of these leaders know more about being Baptists than some of us in Alabama. Many of these men and women are persecuted minorities who must know what they believe and in whom they believe in order to endure the persecution they face at home.
Please remember to pray for Baptist brothers and sisters around the world and pray for the Baptist World Alliance.
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