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The Seventh General Assembly:
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Theme: Troubled, But Not Destroyed
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 1-10
October, 1997
Speakers and
Presentations
• Theresa Silla: For the first time in
Assembly history, young people were allowed an official forum
to address the delegates. Ms. Silla led the speakers with a
discussion of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a
document listing 54 innate rights of children including the
right to survive, to develop, to be protected and to
participate.
• Elizao Asmekasg: Continuing in the “Let
the Children Speak” forum, the next topic was Plight of the
Girl Child. Many challenges face young girls including lack of
education, pressure to get married and malnutrition. Human
rights, therefore, must start early with children.
•
Ilda Kuleba: The statistics from Angola show that 66% of
children have seen someone die or undergo torture, while fully
91% have seen dead bodies. This The 20th century saw the end
of colonialism and the formation of new nations in Africa. Men
landed on the moon, yet not one single sustainable society was
established on our own planet. Entering the new millennium,
Christianity’s center is in the developing world. Therefore it
must carefully consider the following problems: General
Secretary Rev. José Chipenda 27 presentation also drew
attention to the fact that children are often exploited for
farm labor, and are therefore extremely vulnerable to the
dangers of landmines.
• Daniel Tamire: The last
speaker at “Let the Children Speak,” Mr. Tamire brought
awareness of the effect of war on children. Access to supplies
and education is often cut off in times of conflict, doubly
impacting young people. Mr. Tamire called for one day of peace
amid conflict so that children might get access to these vital
supplies.
• Joint Report of Pre-Assemblies for Church
Leaders, Women and Youth: The Addis Ababa Assembly brought
representatives together for discussion before the official
deliberations began. They recommended:
• Christian
practices should be encouraged in the government
•
Churches should be prepared to sacrifice for peace
• The
use of child soldiers should cease
• The Church needs to
get creative about investing and wealth education
•
Churches should become economically self-reliant
• Member
churches have more interaction between Assemblies
•
Incorporate aspects of African culture into Christianity –
like ubuntu
• Ecumenism needs to be more than a theory,
must be part of daily life
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