We give thanks for the life of Dr. J. Samuel Escobar Aguirre, who passed away on April 29th, 2025. He become a life-long mentor to me—as to hundreds of younger scholar practitioners—an encourager, a scholarly coach, and a colleague in the Latin American Theological Fellowship, in the movement of misión integral and in the weaving together of theology, mission, and education.
On 7 February 2025, the President of the United States of America issued an executive order withdrawing all U.S. government aid to South Africa… The stated reasons for these actions are claims of victimisation, violence and hateful rhetoric against white people in South Africa along with legislation providing for the expropriation of land without compensation. As white South Africans in active leadership within the Christian community, representing diverse political and theological perspectives, we unanimously reject these claims.
INFEMIT joins Kairos Palestine in categorically condemning and rejecting President Trump’s proposal for Gaza, which amount to the forced displacement and erasure of the Palestinian nation. We call upon him, his government and allies, to respect the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, uphold their right to self-determination, and cease all efforts to undermine their existence in their homeland. Any so-called peace initiative that disregards justice and human dignity is nothing but an extension of oppression.
Shadia Qubti shares her experience and perspective as a Palestinian woman and theologian grappling with lament and hope around the time of the ceasefire between Palestine and Israel. “Today, as I navigate this uncertain and fragile ceasefire, I’m learning to practice joy as an act of faith and resistance. I choose to see what remains standing: 30% of Gaza’s structures still rise from the earth – each building a testament to resilience, each remaining hospital a monument to healthcare workers who refused to abandon their posts. Among the rubble, I find signs of life refusing to be erased: families returning to tend what’s left of their homes, medical staff continuing to heal in makeshift clinics, children finding spaces to play between the broken walls…”
The International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT) just concluded its Stott-Bediako Forum on Transformation Revisited: Mission and Gospel Imagination. Here, we share some brief highlights from our reflections and responses to the main topics presented.
Shadia Qubti shares her experience and perspective as a Palestinian woman and theologian living abroad during the war:
“Like travelers caught between time zones, I’m simultaneously living in Pacific time and Gaza time, my body and mind never quite synchronized. I wake up to morning here while following night raids there, eat lunch while tracking dawn evacuations, try to sleep while monitoring real-time bombardments. This isn’t just about different time zones – it’s about living in multiple states of being: attempting normalcy in one reality while carrying intergenerational trauma triggered anew in another…”
As a Palestinian and participant of the Lausanne Fourth Congress, Tony Deik offers his perspective on the event.
On September 23, Ruth Padilla DeBorst offered a 15 minute plenary speech at the Lausanne 4 Congress in Incheon, South Korea. In spite of the push-back expressed by the conference organizers, we fully endorse Ruth’s talk and we publish it here with hope and prayer that the Church will stand up for justice and peace, both in Palestine-Israel and the world round, even in the face of power, wealth and indifference.
On the first anniversary of Hamas’ atrocious action against the Jewish civilian population and Israel’s retaliation—which has already resulted in nearly 42,000 reported deaths (about 18,000 of them children) and thousands more under the rubble, along with more than 2,000 dead in Lebanon—we, as followers of Jesus Christ in Latin America, join thousands of voices around the world in solidarity and in search of justice that leads to peace.
This letter was written by the Christian-Muslim Relations Team of Eastern Mennonite Missions in response to the 25 Gaps identified by the Lausanne Movement in preparation for the Fourth Lausanne Congress.