jailed in some countries by not issuing a sales receipt which contains a tax of some very little sums. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the injustice in the world in unprecedented measure. In some countries, lock-downs were possible, because the governments in those countries had resources and systems to support people’s sustenance even if they stayed indoors for months. But for Africa, there was not even an attempt to enforce lock-downs, because that would not work. Majority of the people have no bank accounts, and there are no social security systems to ensure sustenance in such cases. People must literally go to work every day to earn the living for the day, otherwise life is not possible. In the rich countries, people got vaccines almost immediately after the extraordinary, unprecedented speed of discovery of the vaccines. The countries even stored more vaccines than they needed, and donated just a few, which were occasionally almost reaching expiry dates) to poor countries through the COVAX program. We started talking about vaccine discrimination, as every country took measures to lock itself in, and vaccines for Africa and other poor countries were not available in the beginning. Now they are available, but people have discovered that they can survive without them, therefore they are not taking them. Millions of doses are being destroyed now. We must continue to fight for the new international economic order. We must fight for economic justice at national levels by effective advocacy, which includes fighting against corruption and unethical, predatory lending to the poor countries and individuals. Every church is called to see and act in its own context. It is a matter of our discipleship.
5. SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT (1 PET 3:11)
Our world is wounded severely by war and conflicts. In Africa, in 2013 the African Union’s “Agenda 2063: The Africa we Want,” set a target of silencing the guns by 2018! Africa is plagued by civil wars in many parts of the continent. The young people of AACC member churches gathered signatures from across the continent and lodged the lament to the African Union commission for failure to silence the guns. That the African Union extended the deadline for ten more years, it was the clearest sign of failure. There are now more armed conflicts in Africa than they were in 2013. And in every armed conflict, most people wounded, are displaced
and live in deplorable conditions. We have seen new conflicts arise in Ethiopia, Mozambique, in addition to never ending ones in Democratic Republic of Congo and many countries (especially former French colonies) in Central and West Africa. The Sahel region is infected with armed, Islamic fundamentalist insurgency, which makes life of most people simply full of pain and despair. The shame and menace of intra country insurgency and terrorism are spreading not only in Africa. We had thought that armed conflicts and wars are things of the past in Europe. Alas, then this year Russia has started a war in Europe. Refugees from Ukraine are all over Europe. Looking at the images and listening to the stories of those who have been forced to flee the war, we are pained and reminded that the evil of violence has once again raised its horns in Europe. Looking at the devastation of cities and villages caused by this war, one thinks about those people who have lost their homes and livelihoods for good. What did they do to face this suffering? The impact of this war has been felt worldwide, with rising fuel and food prices across the world, again showing how interconnected the world is. We share the pain and the wounds of those in Ukraine and beyond. It would be oblivious not to notice how the war in Ukraine has been linked to the fears in East Asia. The rhetoric about Taiwan, China and North Korea, growing tensions in the South China Sea, and the emergence of the Quad and other groupings, sound to many as drumbeats of war. Commitment to pacifism and anti-war sentiments are steadily giving way to fear. This fear is leading to accelerated militarization and modernization of increasingly devastating weapons systems the world has not seen before. The new armed race of unprecedented proportion is already on course. It seems that the threat of obliteration of the world, once seen as a fading possibility, is now emerging as a real probability with intense nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, with accelerated technology of fast, undetectable devastating weapons. At this time, we hear not so much talk about peace and de-escalation of war and conflict. We are called in our discipleship, to provide these voices of peace. We need to work for peace. And the Bible says, we must not only seek peace, but pursue it. We must pursue it because it is not an easy task with obviously quick results. Let us not give up working for peace. What we normally proclaim in Africa as AACC is a call for peace because, we realize, once peace is lost, it takes many years, many tears, and many resources to get it back. It will take many years for Ukraine to return to normal, if at all. One of the catalysts of conflict is interreligious animosity, particularly among Christians and Moslems. We are called, as disciples of Christ, to consistently fight for dignity and image of God in every human being. It is very sad to see that even some Christians, in the name of faith in Christ, advocate for or tolerate violence
