[UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 339-Student federation combines faith, action

[NewsDesk]

Student federation combines faith, action 

Aug. 12, 2008    

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org. 

A UMNS Report 
By Linda Bloom* 

When a presidential runoff election was scheduled for the end of June in
Zimbabwe, the Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe was among those
informing youth about their voting rights and responsibilities.

On June 10, police raided the movement's offices at the Ecumenical
Centre in Harare, confiscating computers, laptops, digital cameras and a
minibus. They also arrested five staff people, including a woman who had
her 7-month-old baby with her.

The five were soon released without charge, but the movement said it
considered the arrests and detentions "part of the broader campaign of
intimidation orchestrated against defenseless citizens."

Since then, the Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe has continued to
speak out. And it has been backed by more than 100 similar movements
around the globe that together form the World Student Christian
Federation. Most participants are 18 to 35 years old.

Federation representatives, meeting Aug. 1-9 in Montreal for their
general assembly, squarely aligned themselves with the Student Christian
Movement of Zimbabwe and expressed "deep concern" about continuing human
rights abuses there, especially as directed against women and youth.

"In this regard, we condemn the closure of the Student Christian
Movement offices," they said in an assembly resolution. "We urge the
global community (to work) for an end to violence and a return of
democracy and restorative justice. We seek to support any student
activities that would contribute to the promotion of peace and justice
in Zimbabwe."

Bible and newspaper 

Ken Guest, a United Methodist from New York who has served as the
federation's chairperson for the past four years, noted that such action
is part of the group's tradition of holding "the Bible in one hand and
the newspaper in the other."

Christian students are encouraged not only to focus on personal piety
and salvation but to learn "to understand the message of Jesus for us in
our contemporary world," he said.

After his detention, Prosper Munatsi, who leads the Student Christian
Movement of Zimbabwe, urged the international community to intervene in
Zimbabwe's crisis. He called for peace monitors when opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai decided to withdraw from the runoff election.

The World Student Christian Federation then issued a June 24 letter with
the World Council of Churches, asking the United Nations, the South
African Development Community and the African Union to increase efforts
to address the "rapidly deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe." It has
continued to speak out on the situation as President Robert Mugabe and
Tsvangirai try to negotiate a power-sharing agreement.

"One of the fundamental characteristics of the WSCF is supporting
students who are exploring the combination of their faith and social
action," Guest explained. "It was really wonderful, at the general
assembly, for the students from Africa who are concerned about the
situation in Zimbabwe to be able to meet with students from Asia-Pacific
and, specifically, the Philippines, to discuss their concerns for
democracy and human rights."

Delegates at the assembly said they "strongly condemn the killings of
members of the clergy, church workers, activists, journalists and
ordinary citizens coming from the ranks of the workers, peasants,
professionals and youth in the Philippines."

Since 2001, when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency, there
have been 903 victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines,
including 20 during the first quarter of 2008, the federation's
resolution stated. "We affirm that no person should be subjected to
repression because of political beliefs. Those who are active in social,
human rights issues and concerns including being critical of the Arroyo
government should not be victimized."

Play an active role 

The United Methodist Church is among the denominations pursuing the
issue of human rights abuses in the Philippines. The federation asked
churches around the world to sustain the pressure on the Philippine
government and churches within the country "to lead and sustain the
investigation of the killings and other human rights violations. We ask
you to play an active role in the pursuit for justice to the victims and
their families."

Other resolutions adopted by the assembly condemned the Aug. 8 military
invasion by Russia into parts of Georgia and touched on human rights
issues in Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories,
and Lebanon.

The World Student Christian Federation and the allied student movements
"have always provided an opportunity for United Methodist students to
begin their ecumenical journey and to move beyond their own denomination
and their own country in understanding how God is at work in the world,"
according to Guest.

During the past four years, the federation has stabilized both
financially and programmatically, reclaiming its identity as a trainer
of ecumenical leaders on an international level, he said.

In a message to the 34th General Assembly, His All Holiness the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew noted that nearly a century ago, the
1911 World Student Christian Federation Conference in Constantinople
"was an event of major ecumenical significance," enabling leading
Protestants to become acquainted with Orthodox leaders of the East.

Despite periods of difficulty over the years, "the federation continued
serving Christian youth with coherence and perseverance, by encouraging
them to draw from the unfailing source of their faith inspiration and
strength, in order to fulfill their tasks as agents for reconciliation
and renewal in our world," the patriarch said.

More information about the assembly can be found at
http://ga.wscfglobal.org/ online. 

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.


News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk at umcom.org. 

******************** 

United Methodist News Service 
Photos and stories also available at: 
http://umns.umc.org 




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