wfn.org | ABCUSA: BWA Revises Youth Conference, General Council Schedules

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 4/22/03)--In response to
increasing concerns regarding SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in
several parts of Asia, the Baptist World Alliance has postponed the 14th
Baptist Youth World Conference until next year and rescheduled its 2003
General Council venue from Seoul, South Korea, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The youth gathering, originally planned for this July 16-20 in Hong Kong,
will be held there instead Aug. 4-8, 2004.  Emmett Dunn, director of the BWA
Youth Department, expressed regret at the postponement but maintained that
the decision was necessary "to protect the thousands of young people we
expected in Hong Kong and....allay the fears of many people who were
concerned that the disease would not be under control by July."  The World
Health Organization has issued travel warnings for several Asian countries;
SARS has spread rapidly throughout South East Asia, and Hong Kong has been
particularly hard hit.

Dunn said that hotels, travel agents and the convention center in Hong Kong
all have promised to hold rates at their present levels.  Those already
registered are being encouraged by BWA to leave their deposits to guarantee
their place for the 2004 gathering.

The BWA's 2003 General Council sessions, scheduled for July 7-12 in Seoul to
coincide with the Hong Kong youth event, have been rescheduled for Rio de
Janeiro (originally the location for the 2004 sessions).  The General
Council will hold its 2004 meeting in Seoul.

Additional information on the rescheduling is available by contacting Judy
Campbell at the BWA: judy@bwanet.org; phone (703)790-8980; fax
(703)893-5160.

The Baptist World Alliance, which will celebrate its centennial in 2005,
includes 206 member bodies, including American Baptist Churches USA.

K/2003ABNS/03ABN59 

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org