The current torrent of human sorrow being inflicted in real time on real people in real places and shared as instant information for global consumption is beyond overwhelming. Israel, Gaza, Artsakh, Manipur, Yemen, Ukraine, Russia, Myanmar. The list has become so long we even forget what was on the list just a few months ago. And, we haven’t even mentioned the endless unnamed conflicts and tensions that don’t make headlines in countries, cities, small towns, neighourhoods, and households – perhaps even yours and mine.

The whole cosmos scrolls searching for good news.

The first century was chaotic and conflicted. Imperial Rome was colonizing its version of pax (Latin “peace”). Bethlehem’s babies and toddlers were perishing. Zealots and Roman collaborators clashed. So-called “Messiahs” were rising and falling. Tax collectors hid curiously in trees. Tumbling towers randomly crushed innocents raising existential questions. A Caananite woman begged a Jewish man for help looking even for crumbs of hope. All these events referenced in the Gospel accounts is only what we know in that small plot called Judea and Samaria. What was happening on British Isles, Scandinavia, on the Central Asian steppes, Southeast Asia, or among the First Peoples of the Americas or Oceania? We don’t really know from Scripture. It’s only as we read on in Acts that we see the events begin to reveal the wider script to the ends of the earth where histories were unfolding at the same pace as in the land of the Bible.

It's rather stunning, is it not, that into all that trouble in one small corner of a great big world, one man had the courage, chutzpah, and moral clarity to say, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Oh, and he also said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set a liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). And then, in a political posture that irritated his Jewish hometown, he pointed to a Sidonian widow and Syrian military general as historical examples of those who identified the movement of God when they saw it. This good news Kingdom he came revealing could not be contained or controlled by human borders.

Jesus came inviting people – beginning in Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee, and Samaria – to see, step into, and embody a different reality. In Christ God was forming a new humanity reflective of the human mosaic who were fellow citizens in the household of God as the Apostle Paul described it – himself a Jew writing to new Christians in a Gentile city (Ephesians 2:11-22). There is a kingdom of the Jews. There are kingdoms of the Gentiles. And, according to Jesus, there is the kingdom of God. Jesus confronted his first-century hearers with the invitation to acknowledge that the kingdom of Jews and the realms of the Gentiles were not the kingdom of God, but that in him God’s kingdom had indeed arrived – a third way of liberty and the Lord’s favour – and all peoples should open their eyes, humble their hearts, change their minds, do an about-face, and believe the King of Kings had arrived who would speak peace to the nations (Zechariah 9:9-11).

So, here we are, you and I and us together. The world is polarized and wars abound. And, sadly, the church that is the body of Christ and God’s missionary and community of hope is polarized and even warring with itself. Meanwhile we live in a transformational moment. The nations are crying out for a solution to a cascading calamity. Dare we say this is a good news moment? This is precisely a time when Christians, citizens of the Kingdom of God, should check their politics and passports, and return to the simplicity of the message that a marginalized, colonized, powerless first-century church declared: “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Christians are third day, third way people.

Christians are people of the resurrection. Though we live in this moment of despair and confusion we, sinners though we be, have been raised to new life in Christ, declared saints, and this is the message we proclaim, not our politics. We proclaim the Prince of Peace has arrived, it is finished, and the third day changed everything. But this also means we are third way people. We don’t just proclaim, we demonstrate the ethics, practices, and peace of the Kingdom of God. We are committed to learning his third way and living this way. This requires ongoing repentance, consecration, fellowship, prayer, and courageous joyful obedience to Jesus as Lord in the face of the darkness that is descending on our generation.

The world is groping in the dark for a way out. It always has been. The gateway into God’s Kingdom is narrow and few find it. But those who enter by God’s grace, Christ’s cross, and the Spirit’s resurrecting power, discover an expansive new and living hope and are given shoes of the gospel of peace in order to wage a battle that is not against flesh and blood. The church of Jesus wherever it finds itself is to love God and neighbour and teach their people to instinctively, generously, and impartially do to those considered the least what we would do to Jesus himself. The church is to embody the hope of reconciliation in its life together and embrace the ministry of reconciliation into our cities and communities that an overflow of the experience of the peace of our risen King among all people everywhere might be known and witnessed to.

In a world warring and taking sides there must be a third way. Citizens of the Kingdom of God whether enslaved or free, male or female, Russian, Ukrainian, American, Palestinian, Israeli, Mohawk, Iranian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Colombian, Angolan, or Korean are all one in Christ and Christ our King is all, and in all of us. This world enslaves all to fear, traumatic histories, and seems to delightfully shatter innocence and manipulate without discrimination. This world woos all to succumb to the insatiable addictions of xenophobia, sexual experimentation, material gain, and warped fear-based spiritualities. The world is under a shroud of darkness, and this is not fake news – it is true, and it is bad news. But third way people are not those who lose heart for we have heard the clarion call to good news! We have repented and believe that the Kingdom of God has come, and we are unworthy and yet beloved and honourary citizens of it. We are ambassadors of a third way, and this is good news requiring proclaiming and demonstrating within this moment we have been given.

As these days unfold before us and we who call ourselves Christians consider our responses, activate our public engagement, and discern what the Spirit requires of us, the words of Lesslie Newbigin in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society sound like a loud prophetic trumpet call,

“How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live it.”

So, where now are these congregations, these outposts of the Kingdom of God, these patches of God-light, who are still as the nations rage and know and live this way? Where are these good news communities? If this is not our good news moment, then pray tell, what do we think that moment will ever look like?

The world is crying out for good news and Christians have been called to it, entrusted with it, and are it. We are third day, third way people. We are to walk out the way of peace. This is our good news moment; let us not scroll past it.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

By Phil Wagler, PRN Global Director

With the hosts of Heaven we declare,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,

Who was and is and is to come.”

As saints from every tribe, people, and language, reconciled to God and one another, by the cross of Jesus Christ, we declare,

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

As the body of Christ, fellow citizens, and members of the household of God, we cry by the Spirit of God,

“Abba! Father! Hallowed be your name!”

With the church through the ages, we cry out,

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We rejoice that the earth and all who dwell therein belong to you!

We rejoice in You, Creator God, giver of breath, beauty, and every good and perfect gift.

We receive with awe Your love, kindness, compassion, friendship, and leading.

We receive with wonder that you have entrusted to us the stewardship of Your world.

We receive with thanksgiving Your promised blessing of the nations that comes to us through the faith of Abraham.

We receive with humility the mandate to carry forward that blessing as we disciple all peoples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We recommit ourselves, in a world overcome with hate, to love You with all our heart, mind, body, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
 

With the church through the ages, we kneel and confess,

“Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

Though Your great command is to love, Your world and we Your household have been selfish, divided, warring, sexually perverse, greedy, proud, unjust, and all too often loved only those who love us.

We, who are to eagerly maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, have not walked with humility or patience, and all too often sought the methods and things of this world.

We, who are the dwelling place of Your Spirit who gives true sight and judges rightly, have covered our eyes, hardened our hearts, and all too often have been silent about righteousness and justice.

We, who are to put on Your full armour recognizing our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the ruler of darkness, have demonized others, forgotten to pray, and all too often sought favour and wisdom that does not come from above.

We pray for forgiveness. We call upon your mercy.

We thank you for the blood of Christ that takes away our sins and the sins of the world.
 

With the church through the ages, we see troubles and evil and cry,

“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?”

With lament we look upon the bloodshed, terrorizing, and willful and systemic destruction caused by those made in your image. This is not your will.

With mourning we look upon the anguish of children, women, and men surrounded by war and violence. This is not your will.

With frustration we look upon the destruction of the beauty of earth, groaning as it longs to offer its bounty for the good of all. This is not your will.

With obedience, we intercede for those in positions of power who have been placed by You to bring order and goodness. What we see now is agreement with warring and terrorism, death and chaos, and this King of Glory, is not your will.

With hope we look upon you, Lord God Almighty, Prince of Peace, and ask you to come quickly, judge righteously, break the rod of iron, call rulers to wisdom, teach us to beat swords into plowshares, and give all a space to rest and not be afraid. This is your will.

With the church through the ages, we look upon the Holy Land and pray for the peace of Jerusalem and salvation on the road to Gaza.

With thanksgiving we recognize that the Good News of Jesus Christ for all came first to the Jews, chosen from all the peoples of world to reveal Your will and ways.

We pray now, as a global household of faith, for Your ways to be revealed in the land yet again.

We ask for forgiveness for the ways the Jewish people have been hated and dehumanized in the land and worldwide.

We ask for forgiveness for the ways other peoples in the land have been hated and likewise dehumanized.

We pray now, as those who declare that in Christ there is neither Jew or Gentile, for an end to hostility, freedom for the captives, judgment upon evil and those who do evil, the crumbling of ideologies founded in trauma and hatred, a new mind to discern a way for the peoples of the land to live securely together, and for all to come to repentance and a knowledge of the grace and truth for all in Jesus the Messiah, our risen Lord.
 

With the church through the ages, we rejoice that Your eye is on the sparrow, Your concern extends to even the most wayward, and You identify with the suffering to the extent that what we do to the least, we do unto You.

We beseech you, O Merciful God, that you comfort and intervene for the children, the mothers and fathers, the disabled, the captives, the grieving, the starving, the terrorized, the displaced, and those with none to speak on their behalf.

We beseech you, O Mighty God to whom alone belongs vengeance, bring peace and restoration to the land upon which you look for justice but now see bloodshed and hear outcry.

We intercede, O Strong Shepherd, for Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Muslims and Christians, that your rod and staff would protect and comfort in the valley of the shadow of death, and that your glory in Jesus Christ would fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.

With the church through the ages, we believe Your promise,

“Behold, I am making all things new.”

We yearn for the day when You will wipe away tears, death and pain will be no more, spears will be pruning hooks, the lion will lay with the lamb, and the old order of things will pass away.

Despite what we see with our eyes in this unreconciled world, we ask You to keep us in step with the Spirit that we may walk by faith as peacemakers, acting now as Your children.

Despite what we hear with our ears in this unreconciled world, we ask You to give us beautiful feet, shod with the gospel of peace, with boldness to declare the good news that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

We confess, Jesus, that Yours is the name above every other name.

You are the resurrection and the life.

You are the way, the truth, and the life.

In you there is hope for Jerusalem, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, India, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and all the places we call home, for before you every knee will bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, we will not lose hope.

Therefore, we will persevere.

Therefore, the Spirit and the Bride say,

“Amen. Come Lord Jesus.”

To download this prayer go here

A Note of Introduction

The Peace and Reconciliation Network believes that addressing the issues related to peacebuilding anywhere requires listening carefully to the variety of voices in each context, particularly our sisters and brothers in Christ. The escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza on October 7, 2023, has produced devastating suffering, shook a world already reeling by escalating conflicts, and is another call to Christians to pray, speak, and act for our Father’s Kingdom to come on earth, just as it is in heaven as peacemakers and ministers of reconciliation.

This reflection is sourced in the contextual experience of the Middle East North Africa Peace and Reconciliation Network (MENA PRN) team to further understanding and remove barriers to peace and reconciliation. The perspective here is not the official position of the World Evangelical Alliance but is a voice from part of the World Evangelical Alliance family that we need to hear in these very troubled times. The WEA’s official statement on the Holy Land conflict can be found here.

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The MENA PRN team, comprised of members from various countries and peoples in the region, joins with the voice of the Psalmist who cried out in Psalm 13:1-2, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”

For too long, the people who call Palestine and Israel home have suffered under violence, occupation, and threat of war – whether Palestinian or Israeli. In recent days, the violent status quo has broken loose and moved from the simmering violence of occupation and uncertain futures to violence that sweeps up innocent children, women, and men with death and destruction.

We grieve the profound suffering and loss of life on all sides of this conflict. We condemn killing and violence in all its forms, including kidnapping, invasion of homes, and bombing of civilians. We condemn Hamas in perpetrating violence in the name of the Palestinian people. Their violence harms not only Israelis, but Palestinians as well. Likewise, we condemn the violence of the occupation and oppression over generations that harms not only Palestinians, but Israelis as well.

As Christians, we call on our brothers and sisters in Christ to hear and remember the decades-long cry of Palestinians for the end of the occupation and for peace and justice. We also call on our brothers and sisters to hear and remember the Israeli cry for safety. We plead with Christians to advocate with their governments to work for a lasting peace – a lasting Shalom– for Israelis, Palestinians, and all people that would call Israel-Palestine home. We remind our global Christian family that Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9) even as he said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4) and “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

As citizens of the world, we lament the inaction of leaders who have disregarded the plea for a sustainable resolution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. We lament the global community’s tendency to take sides based on ethnic and political affiliations, often overlooking the imperative issues of mercy, justice and reconciliation. We lament how the media focuses on one side of the story, while silencing and demonizing the other. We lament that we find ourselves entering yet another cycle of violence when our collective focus should be on pursuing a path for long lasting peace.

Therefore, we express utter and unequivocal condemnation against those who choose words and acts of violence, particularly against the vulnerable and innocent. We urge all with the power to do so, to choose peace. We plead with you to roll back vengeance, seek restoration and not retribution, and not rest until “Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken” (Micah 4:4).

Jesus taught us to pray “O Lord, forgive us our sins, even as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and glory forever, Amen” (Matthew 6:12-13).

Our prayer is for all to have a future in the land that they call home.

Middle East North Africa PRN Team – October 12,2023

The PRN Global Team believes addressing the complex issues related to peacebuilding anywhere requires truth-telling and listening carefully to the variety of voices in each context, particularly our sisters and brothers in Christ who are facing trials of many kinds and with whom we all share, as disciples of Jesus, the everyday call to be peacemakers and ministers of reconciliation. Beyond reading this update you can listen to PRN’s All Things Reconciled podcast: Crisis in the Caucasus: Armenians Under Pressure. 

On September 19, 2023 after blockading the independent Republic of Artsakh¹ for 281 days, starving its population of 120,000 Christian Armenians including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly, Azerbaijan launched a bombardment of missile-fire against every part of the region. The aim was simple: to rid Artsakh of its Armenian population once and for all, a people who have lived in this land for millennia.  

Over the past weeks, leaders from around the world have entreated Azerbaijan to end what the founding prosecutor of the International Court of Justice, Luis Moreno Ocampo, described as the “Armenian genocide of 2023”. United States Senator Chris Smith of New Jersey, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, addressed the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh calling for the US and the international community to hold President Aliyev of Azerbaijan, who had previously declared his intention to drive out Armenians from Artsakh “like dogs,” accountable. 

Following September 19, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said “the European Union condemns the military operation by Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and deplores the casualties and loss of life caused by this escalation.” And yet, with the apparent approval of Russia who is unfavourable toward Armenia building deeper ties to the West, Aliyev launched his attack. 

Through the barrage of rockets, the Armenians in Artsakh were terrorized and taken from their villages and towns to Stepanakert, the capital, where tens of thousands remain, some living on the streets, waiting to see what will become of them. They have not had food, water, medicine or electricity for two days. A wall of silence surrounds Artsakh as there is no way for them to communicate with the outside world. At the same time, Azerbaijan has been careful to remove any foreign press and international observers, allowing Aliyev to act without accountability. And so, the residents of Artsakh live in darkness, unsure if the world even knows what is happening to them.  

Within these few days, over four hundred are confirmed dead and there are hundreds more missing, many presumed killed. There is also significant anecdotal evidence that women and children are being trafficked as families are separated and men older than fourteen are being held on suspicion of terrorism against the Azeri State. During the 2020 war, Azeris posted and even live-streamed brutalities, including the beheading of Armenian soldiers and the raping, killing and dismembering of a female soldier. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights was clear that, by any measure, Azerbaijan was guilty of war crimes. Obviously, the brutality of what had happened before raises the fears in Artsakh to new heights now. 

Before the communication blackout, there were constant reports of mass murder, which seems to continue despite an Azeri-announced ceasefire on September 20.² In fact, while Russian “peacekeepers” have been complicit in much of this, six Russian servicemen dispatched to investigate news of mass civilian executions, rape, and abuse of corpses in five Armenian villages were ambushed and killed at point-blank range. The reason? They witnessed war crimes when they found Armenians hiding in the forests, begging them to help their families, while Azeris went from house to house “finishing off the surviving Armenians.”  

Though the people of Artsakh are ready to defend their homeland, which their ancestors have occupied since at least 189 BC, there was no way for them to stand against the Azeri onslaught particularly because Turkiye, NATO’s fourth largest army, is working directly with them. Consequently, a white flag was raised. With Artsakh resting within Azeri borders, President Aliyev began a campaign to depopulate, through any means, the Armenians of Artsakh. Yet another genocide against Armenians is occurring and soon there will be a corresponding cultural genocide aimed at erasing Armenia’s extraordinary history in the region. Yet another generation is today at risk of the same fate their grandparents and great-grandparents experienced in the Armenian genocide of 1915 as well as the Azeri massacres of Christian Armenians in 1920 when forty thousand men, women and children were massacred in just a few weeks. 

Without a doubt the volatility of the messaging and headlines emerging from the Caucasus will remain over the next days and weeks. But, as US Senator Gary Peters who is leading a congressional delegation to the region has said, “I think the world needs to know exactly what’s happening in there.”³ It is with this desire to raise the voice of the oppressed that we share this perspective and call upon Christians everywhere to pray earnestly, speak to government to raise awareness, and not forget that those suffering in Artsakh are in the vast majority Christian sisters and brothers who steward the faithful witness of Jesus as one of the oldest Christian people groups on earth. 

Craig Simonian, PRN Caucasus Regional Director 

Phil Wagler, PRN Global Director 
 

1 Artsakh, inhabited by ethnic Armenians for centuries, is the preferred Armenian name for the enclave of just over 3,000 square kilometers within Azerbaijan that is also known as Nagorno-Karabakh. 

2 The ceasefire was brokered by Russian troops who are allies to both counties. “What to know about the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire.” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/20/whats-happening-in-nagorno-karabakh-between-azerbaijan-and-armenia. Accessed September 24, 2023. 

3 “Karabakh humanitarian fears grow with thousands sleeping on Stepanakert streets.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66901759. Accessed September 24, 2023. 

We believe peace is God’s will and the essence of God’s Kingdom.

God created Shalom where wholeness and harmony between God and His creation, humanity with one another and oneself, and humanity with the created world was a purposed reality. Humanity was uniquely created in the divine image to steward God’s Shalom. This Shalom, however, has been shrouded and broken by sin, which humanity chose. This bad news, however, is overcome in the Good News that through Jesus Christ God has reconciled the world to Himself and is forming a reconciling community, the Church, who are redeemed, called and sent to the world as a Shalom-shaped, Kingdom-oriented, peace-building force in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Peace, therefore, does not imply the absence of conflicts. The peace of God is a dynamic, positive process that directs us toward reconciliation and to embody it as a witness to a world in conflict. Peacebuilding implies a union of various gifts and peoples surrendered to Jesus Christ as Lord, and mutually submitted in a spirit of understanding and partnership with God, one another in the church, and with the world God so loves.

We are convinced that every person, regardless of age, ethnicity, religion, language and sex has the inherent right to life within God’s Shalom. As part of God’s ordained ordering of creation, therefore, ecclesiastical and social structures must take responsibility for promoting the concept of peace to and for all nations.

We believe reconciliation is central to God’s mission in a world ruined by sin.

The ministry of reconciliation, as an integral part of the Gospel and God’s mission revealed within the Holy Scriptures, is aimed at justice. Reconciliation and the restoration of a just world for all requires God’s people becoming active participants and agents in compassion, forgiveness, courage, systemic integrity, and patient endurance.

We are convinced the Church, the Body of Christ, represents God wherever a society suffers from conflicts, injustice, divisions, and brokenness.

Reconciliation cannot be reduced to only the individual or as an instrument used by the strong to maintain the status quo. On the contrary, reconciliation is a journey towards the new creation shaped by a reconciled friendship with God and neighbour. Reconciliation is the actualizing of a holistic vision of life rooted in a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ, embodied in the Christ-centered community, and put into practice in the wholeness of what it means to be human as spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, intellectual, and social beings.

Social wholeness requires reconciliation. Where peace is merely the lack of hostility and violence there will always be divisive, cold conflicts that fracture society and the Church. Reconciliation, centered in Christ, leads to true peace, forming a culture shaped by the reign of God where people think and act in the spirit of God's love.

We are convinced the Church is called by God to be the agent of reconciliation in the world.

The Church carries and embodies the message of Shalom, restoration and renewal (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). Christians work with God and are commissioned as peacemakers and ambassadors of reconciliation.

Christian communities, temples of the Holy Spirit, engage this ministry of reconciliation and peace. In this fractured world, where hidden and visible conflict and injustice occurs, the church must realize its purpose and cannot remain indifferent. The Church must hear the world’s pain and the voice of God to understand what is broken and participate in God’s mission of reconciliation.

The Church, ultimately, is sent as Jesus was sent and is His ambassador of reconciliation. Jesus sets the methodology of mission and peacebuilding and is the measure of the Church’s activity.

What, then, is Jesus’ way of mission?

Jesus joined people. The Word became flesh. Incarnation initiates reconciliation.

Jesus earned trust. He cared for outcasts and the oppressed. Trust was built through loving relationships and service.

Jesus talked about life.  His serving produced fellowship. Reconciliation presupposes relationship and authentic, honest conversation.

Jesus confronted sinful living. Jesus’s life of truth revealed the brokenness in which people lived. Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation revealed sin to bring freedom and peace.

Jesus made people whole. Jesus forgave, healed and freed from sin’s bondage returning peace and Shalom.

Jesus called people to follow him. Jesus reconciled people with purpose. Reconciliation leads to discipleship and mission.

Sent as Jesus was sent, the Church lives the ministry of reconciliation through:

The Church carries the ministry of reconciliation in their context through:

Johannes Reimer (Director, WEA Public Engagement)

Phil Wagler (Director, WEA Peace and Reconciliation Network)

Biblical Foundations: Genesis 1:1-28; Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Psalm 24; Isaiah 1:10-20; Isaiah 2:1-5; Isaiah 58:6-12; Isaiah 61; Isaiah 65:17-25; Jonah 4:10-11; Micah 4:1-5; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 5:1-20; Matthew 5:43-6:15; Matthew 11:25-30; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 1:46-55; Luke 2:8-14; Luke 4:16-21; Luke 19:1-10; John 1:1-18; John 4:1-38; John 13:1-35; John 15:18-16:15; John 20:19-23; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:24-47; Acts 10; Acts 17:22-31; Acts 26:1-23; Romans 5:1-11; Romans 12; 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:10; Galatians 3:23-29; Ephesians 3:7-10; Ephesians 4:4-16; Philippians 2:1-11; Colossians 1:15-29; Colossians 3:1-17; Hebrews 13:1-16; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 2:4-12; Revelation 7:9-12; Revelation 19:6-8; Revelation 21:1-8; Revelation 21:22-22:5

References:

Image by Unsplash

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spawned a catastrophe with wide-reaching consequences, and many Canadians responded generously to the resulting migration, these Christian leaders sensed a nudge to expand the circle.

Good work had already been undertaken in prayer and humanitarian response. But as the total of Ukrainians approved for emergency travel to Canada since March 2022 has now surpassed 800,000¹ and continues to rise, it has also become clear more is needed to equip the Church to respond.

Through canvassing what had been done, this group discerned a significant need for more purposeful and discerning conversations, which could lead to shared understanding and perhaps to action. Canadian Christians need to address a series of questions together, in all their complexity.

These first small steps of curiosity led to a significant breakthrough. A series of Ukraine, Canada and the Church sessions has brought Canadian Christian denomination and organization leaders together with Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant leaders to listen, lament, learn and discern.

What follows here is a first-hand reflection on the first session of June 21, 2023, focused on the historical and religious context of the war that continues to escalate.

Download this reflection by Bobette Emilienne Jansen of Saint Paul University

As you read this five-page PDF, ask how God might be opening your perspective a little wider, inviting you to pray with fresh faith and encouraging you to take additional steps to support spiritual and diplomatic efforts to speak hopefully and act discerningly as outsiders to a conflict that is more complex than many of us understand.

“Ukraine, Canada and the Church” reconvened on July 25.

Joel Zantingh                                             Phil Wagler
PRN Canadian Coordinator.                     PRN Global Director

¹www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/ukraine-measures/key-figures.html

² Image by Freepik

The PRN Global Team believes that addressing the complex issues related to peacebuilding anywhere requires listening carefully to the variety of voices in each context, particularly our sisters and brothers in Christ. As such, we welcome and value the voice of our colleagues from around the world in this document as a necessary part of the process of seeking peace and reconciliation. Ignoring or dismissing the insights, experiences, and calls for dialogue from our brothers and sisters in Christ robs us of crucial global perspectives on issues relating to the global church. 

Do you know what is happening right now in Armenia? Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh are enduring great suffering¹. The World Evangelical Alliance’s Peace & Reconciliation Network (PRN) invites your awareness of the current reality² and consider how you might respond in prayer, friendship with those who are part of the vast Armenian diaspora around the world, and action (which could include financially supporting the work of PRN in our vision to begin a Peace Center in the region or other organizations positioned to help).  

To understand the backdrop of the situation we invite you on a historical journey with our PRN Caucasus Network Coordinator, Craig Simonian. You can listen to more from Craig here. 

On December 12th, 2022, a group of Azerbaijani agents donned in civilian clothes, began a total blockade of the only road connecting Artsakh from neighboring Armenia. Artsakh (known through the Soviet years as Nagorno-Karabakh) is an independent Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan comprising 120,000 Armenians. Historically, Artsakh was one of Armenia’s fifteen provinces, referred to as such by ancient authors as Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, and Plutarch. Though history’s many epochs, Artsakh had fell under the rule of Persian and Arab invaders. And, most recently, in the early 19th century, it was annexed to the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, through all of this, Artsakh continued to be populated and led by Armenians, a people whose history dates back to the mid-bronze age. 

By the time the Bolshevik Revolution had reached the caucuses in 1920, Artsakh had already convened its first congress, becoming an independent Armenian state. But, in spite of the fact that ninety-five percent of Artsakh was Armenian, Azerbaijan (supported by Turkish military units) sought to prevent their statehood, launching a series of massacres against Artsakh’s Armenian population, killing over 40,000 men, women, and children in March of 1920 alone. At this time, the Armenian Genocide was in full motion, where 1.5 million Armenians were being killed by the same Ottoman Turks. As a result of their actions against the Armenians in Artsakh, the international community rejected Azerbaijan’s request for membership in the League of Nations.  

With the tight grip of the Soviet Union now encircling the region, it was agreed by the Supreme Soviet that the predominately Armenian provinces of Artsakh and Nakhijevan would remain under the authority of the Armenian Soviet Socialist State. However, just after this was confirmed and documented, Joseph Stalin, embracing his typical “divide and conquer” strategy of destabilizing non-Russian states, dictated that Artsakh and Nakhijevan (another historic province of Armenia) would now come under the authority of the Azerbaijan SSR as autonomous oblasts. Though Armenians comprised 95% of Artsakh at that time, by the 1980s, that number was reduced to 75%. Most were either killed or forcibly migrated. And, along with its ethnic cleansing of Armenians, they similarly destroyed countless Armenian monuments, cemeteries, and churches. 

This program of ethnic cleansing of Armenians by Azerbaijan was even more pronounced in Nakhijevan, which sits directly on Armenia’s southwestern border. While under Armenian rule for centuries before Christ, through a series of Muslim invasions, the Armenian population sat at around 45% when it became an autonomous oblast under Azeri control. Not only were 10,000 Armenians killed in a single massacre there, but within a few decades, the Armenian population was completely eradicated. And, again, it was not only the Armenian people that had been erased from the land, but their history.   

Researchers at the US-based Caucuses Heritage Watch confirm that a full 98% of all Armenian religious and cultural sites in Nakhijevan had been destroyed by Azerbaijan, including the largest Armenian cemetery in the world, located in Djulfa. 108 medieval and early Armenian monasteries, churches, and cemeteries in Nakhijevan were completely destroyed from 1997-2005 alone. In 2000, UNESCO called on Azerbaijan to end their destruction of Armenian “Khachkars,” which are beautifully carved crosses in stone. Nevertheless, they continued to destroy a full 12,000 khachkars, dumping the ruble into the adjacent Araxes River. It was an act that some had called “the greatest cultural genocide of the 21st century.” And yet, in spite of countless historical documents to the contrary, including decades of satellite imagery showing the presence of ancient and early-modern Armenian churches, Azerbaijan not only denies their complicity but denies any claim that Armenians even inhabited Nakhijevan. 

By the late 1980s, the Armenians of Artsakh claimed the right of self-determination, not willing to simply “disappear” as was the case in Nakhijevan. As a result the Azeri authorities organized massacres and ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population across all of Azerbaijan’s territories, particularly in the cities of Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad. Several years later, in 1991, following the fall of the Soviet Union, the Armenian provincial government of Artsakh declared its independence from Azerbaijan as per the Supreme Soviet’s ruling regarding autonomous oblasts. This Article, number III, followed the directives of Article II outlining the process by which Soviet states would declare independence. Ignoring the appeals made by the international community, particularly the UN Security Council calling Azerbaijan to cease military actions, Azerbaijan immediately launched a large-scale Azeri military incursion against the newly formed Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). 

This fighting further erupted as Artsakh demanded to be reunified with Armenia, as it had been for millennia.  And so, from February of 1988 the fighting grew more and more intense as Azerbaijan fought to destroy any semblance of succession. By early 1992, the flighting escalated to a fever pitch leaving huge numbers of Armenians and Azeris dead. However, in May of 1994, after six years of fighting, a Russian-brokered ceasefire was signed with Artsakh now in control of its main cities as well as a broader enclave surrounding them. This cease-fire required that Artsakh not unite with Armenia but, instead, form a de facto state called the Republic of Artsakh. In addition, they secured a clear passageway between themselves and Armenia, a mountain pass known as the Lachin Corridor.   

Following the Nagorno Karabakh War the OSCE Minsk Group sought to develop a bona-fide peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but suitable agreements could never be reached, leaving the situation vulnerable at best. Over the following years, there had been many incursions against Armenia, which violated the terms of the 1994 peace treaty. But, on September 27th, 2020, Azeri and Turkish forces ended the thirty years of relative peace bombing nearly every part of Artsakh with weaponry that far surpassed what was owned by the Republic of Artsakh and Armenia. For forty-four days, Armenians were being driven out of seven regions within Artsakh, including its spiritual capital of Shushi. 

Once again, Armenians were being purged from their historic lands. In 1921, for example, in order to appease the newly formed Turkish government, not only was the city of Ani (known as the “land of a thousand churches”) taken by the Soviets and given to the Turks, but the heart of Armenia, Mount Ararat, was simply taken from them and given away in the Treaty of Kars. And all this, while Armenians and Armenian history were being erased throughout Eastern Turkey. And now, a hundred years later, five thousand young Armenian lie dead with ten thousand wounded. Thousands of hectres of Armenians forests were burnt to the ground by illegal Azeri phosphorus bombs; Armenian grandmothers and grandfathers, who have already suffered so much, were forced into basement bunkers listening to Azeris chanting, “death to the Armenians” week after week. Sixty-one schools and ten kindergartens were destroyed and hundreds of thousands without homes. Even their main maternity hospital was destroyed by Azeri shelling. 

The UN Commissioner for Human Rights declared that, by any measure, these attacks could be seen as war crimes. And, while Azerbaijan claims that Armenia was guilty of the same, the Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Defender both verified that they could only verify Azeri abuse. In fact, captured mercenaries who had been hired by Turkey verified that they were offered an extra $100 for each Armenian head they would cut off. And sadly, both the Azeris and the mercenaries from Syria would take the Armenian soldier’s phones and record their torture live on their Facebook pages for their Armenian families to see. The executions, beheadings (of women as well as men), the torture of both soldiers and civilians (including women and elderly), the forced displacement of thousands and thousands, all speak to the gross violation of international law perpetrated by the Azeris.  And, as a result, the organization, “Genocide Watch” issued a genocide emergency for Armenians in Artsakh. And the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies expressed dire concern regarding the “increasing risk of genocide” against the Armenians. And yet, the attacks continued, even within the borders of Armenia proper.  

And, if all that wasn’t enough, on September 13, 2022, Azerbaijan again launched an attack on the sovereign territory of Armenia, using multiple rocket launchers and attack drones. The cities of Vardenis, Goris, Kapan, and Jermuk, for example, were all shelled, leading to the deaths of 210 Armenian soldiers as well as numerous deaths of civilians. The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) published a statement strongly condemning “Azerbaijan’s invasion of the Republic of Armenia and the ongoing aggression against the Armenian people in the Republic and in Artsakh and expresses concern about the risk of genocide against the Armenian population.” The concerns were heightened as a number of Armenian prisoners of war were executed. Over the course of just four days, 7000 civilians were displaced. According to the IAGS, “civilian homes and local infrastructure (was) destroyed in an attempt to ethnically cleanse Armenians from a large portion of the Republic of Armenia.”  

The IAGS also notes Turkish President Erdogan’s reference to Armenians as “occupiers” in the land despite centuries of history in that region. According to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, such language represents a serious risk factor leading toward genocide. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has made statements that add to these risks when he said that “Armenia as a country is of no value... a territory artificially created on Azerbaijani lands.” And so, as Aliyev boasted after the 2020 four-day war, “we chased them out of our lands like dogs.” All of this, the IAGS insists, represents the systematic attempt to end the presence of Armenians from their homelands, demonstrating the very real risk of genocide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has also recognized the seriousness of this profound hate speech as well as Azerbaijan’s “cultural destruction” of Armenian culture. 

As was mentioned at the beginning of this article, this attack against Armenians in Artsakh continues. As stated by the International  Association of Genocide Scholars, “On December 12th, 2022, the government of Azerbaijan imposed a blockade on the enclave of Artsakh creating an ongoing humanitarian crisis for its 120,000 remaining Armenian inhabitants.” This blockade is a direct violation of the 2020 Trilateral Ceasefire Statement signed by Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia. During this blockade, Azerbaijan has deliberately cut off the gas supply for a full seven days and has offered just a few hours of gas during the other days, preventing schools and hospitals from functioning because of the intense cold. In March of 2020, Azerbaijan similarly detonated a critical portion of Artsakh’s natural gas pipeline from Armenia and left its population without gas for 20 days. According to the Human Rights Defender, Azerbaijan had also damaged the sole high-voltage electric line to Artsakh from Armenia in January, leaving Artsakh with just a few hours of electricity per day. And so, the Armenians find themselves without any real access to heat and hot water.  

Unable to cross the blockade of Artsakh’s Lachin Corridor, a great number of families living in Armenia and Artsakh remain separated from each other, including 250 children. It is through this 5-kilometer corridor that Artsakh had received, each and every day, over 400 tons of essential goods from Armenia. Since this blockade began, however, almost all of these goods, which includes food, fuel, hygiene products and vital medical supplies, has been prevented from reaching the 120,000 Armenians there, including 30,000 children, 20,000 elderly, and 9000 disabled. This has already led to a significant humanitarian crisis. At this time, no Armenians are allowed to pass the Azeri blockade, leaving one critical patient in Artsakh dead because of the impossibility of being transferred to a proper medical facility in Armenia. Over 570 people have had vital surgeries canceled because of lack of necessary surgical supplies not to mention the lack of heat and hot water as a result of the massive shortage of gas, electricity, and diesel fuel. The blockade continues to keep all those who are regularly traveling to Armenia for their cancer treatments from getting the vital care they need. Syringes, diabetic medications, and other drugs are all at critical levels. 

To add further distress, they have also cut the sole fiber optic cable supply to Artsakh, leaving the Armenians there without internet for several days. Currently, ongoing disruptions of Artsakh’s internet and communication persists. All these things are in direct violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Culture Rights. But in addition to all of that, the blockade has created severe economic damage as many businesses, which have had to shut down. At least 5100 people have lost their jobs and sources of income. Agricultural work is shut down because there isn’t fuel to power their equipment. Forty-one kindergartens (affecting 5528 children) and twenty schools can no longer serve Artsakh’s children due to lack of heating and food. The banks are nearly out of cash money and the government has lost the revenues it needs to fulfill social obligations such as welfare payments. 

In a recent declaration of the IAGS Executive and Advisory boards, they call upon “the international community to hold the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accountable for the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law (including blockades and embargoes that cause starvation) perpetrated against Armenia and Armenians since September 2020.” This blockade of Artsakh’s 120,000 Armenians is simply an ongoing attempt on the part of Azerbaijan to rid “their land” of Armenians. In fact, the 120,000 Armenians have been instructed to leave Artsakh, but only with the understanding that they will never return. Each day, Armenians are threatened with violence if they don’t abandon their homes. Residents are regularly reminded of what non-compliance looks like as there are daily shootings from various caliber weapons into various Armenian villages, stopping any agricultural efforts, making the food crisis even more dire.  

If the ongoing historic actions of Azerbaijan to eliminate the Armenians of Artsakh isn’t addressed by the international community, then the concern of many organizations regarding the very real possibility of genocide will certainly prove true. At present, the European Parliament has condemned Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh and have called President Aliyev to immediately reopen the Lachin Corridor pursuant to the provisions of the 2020 Trilateral Statement. Numbers of US Congressmen and Senators are urging the Biden Administration to use “maximum pressure on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to end his blockade of the 120,000 people in Artsakh. The Lachin Corridor should be opened for unimpeded movement before the current humanitarian crisis becomes catastrophic. If the United States and our international partners fail to act immediately, there is no doubt that President Aliyev will continue to escalate his deadly aggressions against the Armenian people in Artsakh.” 

It is time, if you haven’t already, to add the ongoing suffering of Armenians to your prayer and action list. 

Craig Simonian
Caucuses Network Coordinator
WEA’s Peace and Reconciliation Network 

­

¹ www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/24/explainer-what-is-nagorno-karabakh-why-are-tensions-rising

² https://en.armradio.am/2023/07/14/artsakh-issues-urgent-appeal-for-international-intervention-to-prevent-humanitarian-catastrophe/

References:

Now they stand on supposedly safe territory, reach for their mobile phones, and a few moments later, in tears, tell their family members who have stayed behind that they have managed to cross the border into the foreign country.  

But the border to where? To Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Germany? All these are just names on the European map. The vast majority of them have neither acquaintances nor relatives here. All they have is a small suitcase with a few belongings and crying children by the hand or in their arms.

Once again, it is women and mothers who are worst affected by war and displacement. Everywhere in the world where men in power have their grand ambitions tested, this picture is repeated - women bear the greatest burden of war. They seek to protect their children, take all the trouble to escape the turmoil of war. Even at the risk of more suffering in the fear-inducing foreign land. 

After all, it is men again who lust to seize their bodies, sexually exploit and enslave them. Now, in the Ukraine war, perverts are again loitering at the borders, loading the long-suffering women and children into their cars to supposedly transport them to safe regions. But then hell soon follows. Often enough they are brutally abused and forced to be at the disposal of other perverted clients. And the children? They too are prone to be offered for sale. One can hardly imagine the overwhelming pain of such a mother: She has just lost her house and farm or even her home, just said goodbye to her husband and family, and already the death noose is tightening around her neck!

Women are constantly in danger of their lives due to wars and flight. And it is our duty as Christians to put an end to this madness. We should do everything to accompany them on their escape routes, to pick them up safely at the borders and to offer them shelter once they have decided to stay. 

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is working to assist them in this situation. The Peace and Reconciliation Network is setting up welcome centres and so-called shelters in Ukraine and at the borders of the EU. Here the women are received, given pastoral and social care and then safely escorted to their next destination. The Global Anti-Trafficking Network also prepares them to avoid unscrupulous, vile traffickers and teaches them to recognise them right away. 

You can read the relief on the women's faces when, after days on the run, they have finally arrived in the safe space of a Christian family here in the West. As in the case of Ina from Kiev who, after almost a week on the run, finally attended a church service here in Germany. She and her son have made it. Of course, thousands of questions still need to be clarified for her, but she has sought and found the way to her spiritual family. Brothers and sisters in the faith have helped her again and again. So, despite bombs and hail of bullets, despite human traffickers lurking at the border, she has arrived in her new home. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless her with brothers and sisters who will support her as she makes her walk through the German offices, learns the language and finds work, and that one day she will be reunited with her Ukrainian family.

If you too want to help women like Ina, join us in the Network for Peace and Reconciliation: help us bring the refugees from war and fear safely to your area, and welcome them warmly into your community. The Ukrainian women and children are absolutely worth it!

Dr. Johannes Reimer is Head of the Department of Public Engagement of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and Global Director of the Network for Peace and Reconciliation based in Augsburg, Germany.

If diversity is strength, then Sri Lanka must be desirably strong, with Muslims, Tamils, Sinhalese, Burghers, Chetties, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists giving it it’s ethno-religious flavour. However, it is not, as experienced over the years. Instead, it is a fragile nation that is seemingly ever poised to fracture down a multitude of fault lines.

As scholars, pundits, journalists, historians and other well-meaning folk wrap their heads around identifying root causes in explaining this conundrum, how should the Christian message of hope, love and forgiveness speak into this in all of the confusion?

Do the words of Jesus have relevance and meaning in coping with and responding to the culture of violence that besets this island?

What role does the church play in being the herald of good news and comfort in a climate of violence and fear?

These are questions that should be wrestled with and that the body of Christ engage with as we try and journey with a nation wounded, tired and hurting to a place of healing.

There have been useful reflections offered by some theologians and scholars in response to the Easter bombings that dig deeper into these questions. See Dr Ajith Fernando’s article here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/april-web-only/sri-lanka-easter-church-bombings-biblical-response.html

In the pursuit if that elusive state of peace, many are renewing the call to reconciliation efforts and intentionality in promoting ethno-religious harmony. These are all noble and much needed conversations. My particular focus however in this article is nuanced differently. Christians, especially those who practice and follow the way of Christ, have at their disposal one of the most potent and powerful antidotes to break the cycle of violence and put themselves and others on the path to healing. It has not been adequately tapped into as a source by the church and at best is given “sermon topic” status as an inspiring concept. If only Christians would practice and appropriate this idea, it could be a life changer and alter the trajectory of the world. Forgiveness; the kind the Jesus taught and modeled.

Jesus who knew both the significance of forgiveness in its capacity to bring healing juxtaposed with human frailty, singled forgiveness as the one statement he chose to explain further after teaching his disciples the “Lord’s prayer” as recorded in Matthew 6.

Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself and is fundamental to healthy living. Because our lives are wrapped in a web of relationships, it is not uncommon that some of these relationships produce friction, break and fracture, especially with those who are close to us. On the other hand, we get hurt by total strangers as well.  But we can always choose how we respond to the grief it produces. Chronic anger and vengeance can lead us to a lifetime of bitterness and life altering consequences. Trying to suppress the pain and hurt produces other consequences.

Reconciliation is not always possible but forgiveness is. Reconciliation needs at least two people while forgiveness is yours alone to give.  And it’s not easy, especially when one has been violated physically and emotionally or where trust has broken down.  A typical human response demands revenge and justice: a tooth for a tooth response. And yet, those who have experienced forgiveness by Jesus Christ know that God, who is just, met the need for justice through his own sacrifice and in his mercy, offers us grace instead.

He expects no less of us as his offspring. Hard? Yes but not impossible. This is what should differentiate Christians from the rest of the world. The ability to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, bless our enemies and forgive those who hurt us. And yet, the church itself is often unable to model the kind of forgiveness that we have received and consequently has lost its moral authority and public witness in calling others to forgive. Time and time again those who carry the name “Christian” are seen to take matters into their own hands and mar the testimony of Christ and his people.

Thank God for those who have forgiven and keep on forgiving. The 2019 Easter bombings gave witness to the power of forgiveness. Is this a time then for the church to rise? To live God’s love and forgiveness in a world that knows only revenge and violence? Is this Gods appointed time for healing to begin and the blood spilling to stop? Forgiving can create a future that does not look like the past. A culture of forgiveness can replace that of hatred and revenge.

Chris Pullenayegem

Note: This article was written in the context of the Easter (2019) bombings that happened in Sri Lanka.