wfn.org | New Year Message from Dr. Ishmael Noko

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

LWI Daily News Service, 1/99, No.2
Date: 21 January 1999

New Year Message from  Dr. Ishmael Noko, the general
secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)

As we commence the new year, we enter upon a special season of reflection.
The year 2000 - the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ - and the
commencement of the third millennium of Christianity in the year 2001, are
suddenly no longer distant points in time, but will very soon be upon us.
These occasions are more than just historical markers. They provide the
opportunity for, and indeed the duty of, self-examination and assessment,
confession and re-dedication. Accordingly, 1999 should be a year for
remembrance, thanksgiving, planning and prayer.

The past and future of the worldwide ecumenical movement must be the
fundamental background to this process. The Eighth Assembly of the World
Council of Churches in Harare in December 1998, and the 50th Anniversary
of the WCC celebrated during 1998, have provided rich opportunities for
surveying the ecumenical harvest, and preparing to sow the next crop of
ecumenism. The unity of the worldwide church of Christ is necessarily a
unity in diversity, where differences on various levels are reconciled in
the atonement of Christ. The fellowship within the confessional traditions
is not as such an obstacle to Christian unity, as it was once seen.
Indeed, the Christian world communions, bringing together churches from
very different national and cultural contexts and providing the framework
for deepening the self-understanding of churches which share a common
theological heritage, have been essential participants in the growth of
ecumenism. The widening network of bilateral agreements and dialogues is
eloquent testimony of the commitment and contribution of the Christian
world communions to ecumenism. It is precisely for this reason that we
must continue to emphasize and work for unity and mutual understanding
within our communion.

In this year of reflection, let us also particularly attend to the
question of international debt. The unbearable burden of unpayable debt
has fallen on the poor in many developing countries for decades now,
causing untold human suffering and deprivation. It is one of the main root
causes of human poverty in the world's poorest countries. The approaching
turn of the millennium, given its spiritual and psychological
significance, provides us with an opportunity that cannot be repeated in
our lifetimes to lift this burden and to start the search for sustainable
and just alternatives to current international financial structures. This
year must therefore be, as well as a year of reflection, a year of
concerted action if the objective of the cancellation by the year 2000 of
the backlog of unpayable debt owed by the world's poorest countries is to
be achieved.

Whilst the cancellation of unpayable debt will not automatically solve the
problem of poverty, it is becoming ever more tragically clear that poverty
cannot be eradicated without debt cancellation. This objective must be
achieved, in order to provide a more hopeful future for millions of the
world's children, who currently lack the most basic health, education and
other social services, due in substantial part to the debt burden. We
cannot countenance a system that effectively imposes a debt obligation on
children yet unborn. We have a responsibility instead to build hope and to
promote justice, for the sake of those same unborn children.

Whilst children represent the future of the world and of the Church, we
must also, in this year of reflection, remember our older people. Our
elders are the custodians and resource of our spirituality and our
traditions, and they have the role of nurturing the future. As our
children move into an uncertain future, they are carrying with them a
spiritual gift and inheritance from the elders. This essential role must
be protected and preserved, and we must ensure that our church and
societal organization does not exclude or impede it.

I pray that we may all be strengthened and heartened for this new year,
for the work that we will be called upon to undertake in Christ's mission,
for the challenges of a new phase of worldwide ecumenism, and as we
prepare for the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth and the dawn of the
third millennium. May God's love and peace be with us all.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/