EXPRESSES concern the effects of drought and patterns of international trade and aid have exacerbated conditions of famine, poverty and disease amongst the many poor and disadvantaged peoples of the nations of the South, not least in the continent of Africa.
The Sanctity of Human Life
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
AFFIRMS that because all life is the gift of God and that every person is created in the image of God, human life is sacred;
The Continuing AIDS Crisis
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
NOTES with alarm that since its last resolution on AIDS in 1988 the number of those infected has reached epidemic proportions in many countries;
Bosnia
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
CONDEMNS the deliberate use within the former Republic of Yugoslavia of “ethnic cleansing” and the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war and extends its heart-felt sympathy to the hundreds of thousands of victims;
South Africa (1993)
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe August 6-9, 1993,
SENDS greetings to our sisters and brothers in the Baptist and wider Christian community in South Africa;
APPLAUDS the decision to hold multi-racial elections with universal adult suffrage in 1994;
Appreciation
COMMENDS with appreciation the Baptist Heads of Denominations and its secretary, the Rev. Noah Pashapa, for the invaluable and gracious assistance given to the BWA staff in planning and organizing this first-ever BWA gathering in Southern Africa;
Rwanda and Burundi
COMMENDS with appreciation the Baptist Heads of Denominations and its secretary, the Rev. Noah Pashapa, for the invaluable and gracious assistance given to the BWA staff in planning and organizing this first-ever BWA gathering in Southern Africa;
1994 International Year of the Family
ACKNOWLEDGES the actions of Baptists in our own generation in championing religious freedom for all people, especially those who find themselves in a minority situation;
VIEWS WITH ALARM the denial of the right of religious liberty to minority groups such as evangelicals in Bulgaria, Albania, Iran, Ethiopia and the republics of Central Asia, Christians in China, Indonesia and East Timor; and to the Coptic Orthodox and other Christians in Egypt;
Witness in a Secular Europe
CELEBRATES the widespread presence of Baptists through the nations of Eurasia;
RECOGNIZES that member bodies, such as the Baptist Union of Sweden, in their commitment to partnership with other Christians, without compromising their distinctive Baptist identity, provide a model of the sharing of work and witness called for by the Seoul Covenant;
The Ministry of Reconciliation
REJOICES with the world community at recent political developments where negotiation has opened the way to peaceful resolution of long-term hostility or oppression, in particular:
• the September 1993 accords between the Israelis and Palestinians
• the birth of a non-racial and truly democratic society through the April 1994 elections in South Africa
• the peaceful transition to democracy in Malawi in 1994 where Baptists and other Christian leaders played a crucial and courageous role;