Editorial Notes

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

This second INSiGHT of the CWM for the year 2022 comes at a time when the world is grappling with various challenges threatening the lives of vulnerable populations across the globe.

As the General Secretary, Rev. Dr Jooseop rightly highlighted in his greetings to TIM - 40, the Covid-19 global pandemic has adversely impacted the medical, social, economic, and political structures of almost every nation in the world exposing further the already existing systemic greed and corruption, uncovering the medical and social inequalities, and further widening the gap between rich and poor. The Covid -19 further intensified the gender-based violence due to the asymmetric power structures embedded in every aspect of our society showing how vulnerable women are under the shadow of the pandemic. In addition, while not only causing a deepened digital divide, the Covid-19 also has unleashed another pandemic called, infodemic—a pandemic of misinformation—due to the never-ending stream of false, unscientific, and unproven information in this digital world.

We are also faced with ongoing armed conflicts across the nations. It is frightening to see how easily the ideological conflicts are turning out to be military operations. While the world is already struggling with the military coup in Myanmar, the Taliban’s occupation of Afghanistan, and various civil wars in several countries, we hear the news of Russia’s military occupation of Ukraine. These armed conflicts have been causing a great loss to the lives of innocent people making entire nations to be vulnerable.

In addition, further escalating climate issues, migrations, racial and caste-based oppressions, exploitation of indigenous people, and natural calamities are endangering all forms of life making the Earth vulnerable.

Not only did we become vulnerable, but the mission of the Church itself became vulnerable due to the ongoing social distancing measures that caused the cessation of missional activities that require physical or face-to-face meetings.

It is in this context, we seek to address the theme, “Vulnerability” exploring various forms of vulnerability through the articles and devotionals presented in this INSiGHT issue. In particular, ‘Vulnerability’ is also fitting for this season of Lent, during which we remember the sufferings, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lent is a time to reflect upon how Jesus Christ chose to become vulnerable to the social, political, and religious forms of oppression and overcame them through his resurrection offering us hope to overcome our own vulnerabilities.

This INSiGHT issue is divided into various sections. I would, however, like to bring your attention to the Lenten meditations and Viewpoints articles. As we enter the holy season of Lent, I believe these meditations will provide insight for your devotions, especially for the prominent days in Lent like Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. The Viewpoints articles are meant to address the theme from various perspectives and contexts. I hope these articles will enrich your knowledge in understanding our various vulnerabilities and find strength in them.

I would like to thank all the contributors including the Moderator of the CWM Rev. Lydia Neshangwe who contributed the Easter devotional, for sparing their valuable time in providing these meditations and articles. I would also like to thank General Secretary Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum for giving me this responsibility to lead our communications team who worked round the clock to get this INSiGHT ready in a very short period.

May the Lord bless all of us with insight to discern, courage to face, and spirit to overcome our vulnerabilities.

Rev. Dileep Kumar Kandula

Mission Secretary - General Secretariat & Mission Secretary - Communications (Interim) Council for World Mission (CWM)