This assembly has seen the introduction of a new statement concerning mission and evangelism. There seems to be something of a struggle within the Christian world, at least as it is presented here in Busan, between interpretations of mission and evangelism. There is a powerful interpretation that seems more focused on the idea of taking God to those who do not yet know Christ, while the other talks more overtly about uncovering where God is already at work and joining in. 

The conversations are more complex than I have presented here and it is exciting, although sometimes difficult, to be part of the struggle to uncover the meaning in what others say, the values they hold and the spaces where there are intersections. Seems to me that as difficult as this can be it is
the only way to community and shared witness.

I have been in Korea for 10 days now, gathered with students and young pastors from 60 different countries. We have spent much of the first half of this gathering listening to the stories of this country. We are in a beautiful and complex land, one that has over the last
century been colonized by outside forces and whose people have been under the power of external and internal oppressors. Yet those we have met remain a beautiful and generous people - eager to share their stories and find peace.

I want to thank all of you who responded in some way to the space for reflection and response in worship on October 20th. For those of you who were not there, we were reflecting on the invitation of the parable of the persistent widow at the beginning of Luke 18. 

We encountered the gospel’s invitation to a kind of hope that keeps us engaged in the life of the world, even when our contribution seems to make little difference. We encountered in the text a God of justice, peace, and love, who, like the persistent widow, keeps knocking at the doors of our hearts, so that we might be the change we wish to see in the world.