As the second half of the “Stories from the Region” began, churches from East Asia and the Pacific took to the stage to highlight their programmes, challenges, and experiences in carrying out God’s mission in their contexts.
Regions are highlighted in the order in which they presented.
East Asia
The region’s member churches sans the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar (the delegates were unfortunately not present due to the tense local military situation) took turns to head to the stage to highlight their stories of successful programmes and projects and to solicit prayers for their future initiatives.
The common thread from the churches in East Asia was unity in diversity and the outreach of fringe and vulnerable people groups.
Gereja Presbyterian Malaysia (GPM) and the Presbyterian Church in Singapore (PCS) both highlighted their works towards vulnerable groups with the former showcasing their outreach efforts to the Malaysian Indigenous peoples and the educating them of their land rights, while the latter updated on their work in the setting up of a synod in Cambodia, bringing the Good News of Jesus to lands beyond Singapore. At home, PCS was also hard at work in attending to the rapidly aging population as well as the engagement of youths with special needs via training the youths to become eldercare aides as a possible solution to the employment challenges that peoples of special needs face in the country.
Both Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China (HKCCCC) and The Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) highlighted similar interest areas of their churches. HKCCCC sought to empower women through education and having inclusive spaces for the disabled and persons with special needs. Similarly, PCK illustrated its three-pronged approach towards fostering life-flourishing in creation, youth, and women through programmes that empower, include, and drive awareness.
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) also highlighted key issues facing the church in Taiwan, namely the prevalence of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes as well as PCT’s response towards them. PCT’s works in the engagement of Indigenous people via the Indigenous language revival programme was also showcased. The audience was also told of PCT’s efforts in being a key player amidst Taiwan’s challenging geopolitical relationship with China with the church providing civil defence training to its members amongst other related programmes.
The presentation took on a sombre tone when the audience was shown a quick video presentation on the situation in Myanmar as the Assembly sought the participants’ prayers for the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar (PCM). A second short video presentation illustrated that despite the highly traumatic situation at home, the community of PCM nevertheless continued with Christ’s work through vocational training of the youths and women and the initiatives that support displaced people due to the on-going armed conflict between the local militia and the junta government.
Pacific
The ten churches of the Pacific region took to the stage as a collective body as a show of unity and solidarity shared amongst the small but resilient island nations.
They presented a short walkthrough of the histories behind each island’s encounter with missionaries that have brought the Gospel to them.
Subsequently, they presented on the four major threats facing the region: climate change, nuclear testing, deep sea mining, and mental health issues plaguing the islander youths.
Climate change
Despite being a region that has contributed the least to the ever-worsening situation of climate change, the Pacific region has endured the worst of it with the threats of rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, soil erosion, and increasing salination of their waters. The islands have had to grapple with all four of these threats in varying degrees leading to widespread sufferings and displacement. In particular, the rising sea levels have continued to engulf parts of the Pacific, heralding the possibility of the region being the first to produce climate refugees.
Nuclear testing
The Pacific has been the site of rampant nuclear testing led by the global north. The countries responsible for the wanton testing have consistently evaded calls for reparations and for the activities to cease.
These atrocities have already taken their toll on the region’s sensitive biodiversity as well as resulting in many islanders losing their homes due to polluted food sources and unsafe living environments.
Deep sea mining
Another commercial activity that continues to plague the region is the presence of deep sea mining. While many may have read about the benefits of the resources being harvested via this maritime operation, it is nevertheless highly intrusive and destructive to the region’s ecology. Research have until now been inconclusive as to the long-term effects of deep sea mining but the Pacific islanders themselves are alone in bearing the brunt of the consequences from unsettled seabeds to the eradication of important food sources, thereby threatening local livelihoods and ways of life.
Mental and physical health challenges and crime
An oft-overlooked issue that the Pacific is facing is the declining state of mental health amongst the youths of the islands today. Youth hopelessness has been leading to increasing cases of depression and social isolation. The region’s suicide rates have, as a result, increased to worrying levels, putting the region’s youths at risk and threatening the future stability of the region.
That the Pacific being used as a common drug trafficking route has also has also led to a secondary threat of crimes and social problems such as substance abuse and addiction. The Pacific is also struggling with rising levels of obesity amongst the locals with no clear solution in sight.