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Re-thinking URM's Work in Asia
On the
other hand, Asia's influence in world politics is testified to by the important
role
The URM
has, since its birth, been and continues to be identified as part of the social
movement for building a humane society. Thus, URM has the responsibility to
work at overcoming the existing erosive value systems, ideologies and
practices. We should provide new alternatives for the fulfillment of
life-giving values, life-changing ideologies and theologies which are relevant
to our context. The new alternatives could be worked at
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through bringing
about peace, socio-economic justice, political and cultural well-being, and
ecological balance and harmony. Our task is to find out various possibilities
of mobilizing the people to form a non-governmental trans-boundary solidarity
networking so that the Asian peoples' basic human needs and rights may be
ensured.
The
future is likely to bring us serious challenges on the whole question of racial
and ethnic conflict, militarization and nuclear threat, ecological imbalance,
and the exploitation of natural as well as human resources. The age of
technology does not enhance a human quality of life but, in fact, drains the
people of their basic human needs, their dignity and their country's natural
resources. Therefore, URM as a social movement, has the important role of
empowering the people for the fullness of life and should remain committed to such
a task.
URM has
attempted to put faith into practice for the last thirty years. Thirty years is
a relatively short period compared to the two thousand year history of
Christianity. We have to remind ourselves of this in order to encourage us to
faithfully continue to work for the humanizadon of
the oppressed, the exploited, and the marginalized.
Masao
Takenaka, an eminent theologian and ecumenical leader, has testified to the
effective work of URM over the years in his book. Cross and Circle.
He has served before as a Moderator of the CCA-URM. During his term of service
he was able to provide the URM with theological and biblical guidelines for its
ministry. We are very proud to have produced his work which was presented at a
number of ecumenical meetings. Here again, I would like to share with you his
observations on the Asian URM:
The beginning of
the regional program of UIM in Asia goes back to the First Asian Conference on
Industrial Evangelism held in
Between 1958 and
1966 in the follow-up period, various churches in
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program among church leaders was required in order to get their support.
Then after 1968, it
was called Urban Industrial Mission and now, Urban Rural Mission since the
Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) Singapore Assembly in 1973. Is it accidental
or something more than that to enlarge the territory? This is a very important
point, since it expresses our perspective in the process.
Through our process
of actual involvement, we have come to acknowledge that the important mission
is to work with the poor and those who are exploited in Asian society. As he
did in his day, if Christ were to come to Asia today, it is certain that he
would work with the poor and suppressed people in
Thus,
URM needs to continue working on the following emphases through particular
concerns such as: personalities, localities, opportunities, solidarity and
accountability. These concepts form five major characteristics of URM'S ongoing
program.
Personalities
URM is
to promote human dignity of unknown personalities who are the victimized and
marginalized in our societies. It is a seldom acknowledged fact that our
society is sustained by the sacrifice of numerous unknown personalities who are
deeply committed individuals. They are represented by the factory workers, the
farmers, the fisherfolks, the estate workers, and
those who work to produce our daily necessities but who live in the shadowy
comers of our dwelling places. Without the labor and sacrifice of these unknown
personalities, our societies would surely collapse. Just as Jesus sought out
the lost ones and restored them to fullness of life, it is our Christian responsibility
to promote the enhancement of human dignity of these unknown personalities. On
special occasions, government officials and foreign dignitaries usually pay
their respect to the unknown soldiers who died in service for their country.
Likewise, although
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in a different
spirit, the URM tries to respect and honor these unknown personalities for
their contribution to our societies and for their achievements.
Localities
URM is
to protect humanity and Mother Earth from unjust treatment and exploitation.
The concrete locality is where the human community, in particular the
grassroots, live and work. It is also the whole environment of the global
village in which we live. As stewards of God, we have an innate responsibility
for the people and the world we live in. Thus, the URM seeks to build up a
strong solidarity network to protect especially the grassroots community
against exploitation of their human resources and their environment. The URM,
therefore, supports anti-pollution and environmental protection movements,
industrial safety campaigns and peace movements as part of their efforts to
enhance the well-being of the human community.
Opportunities
URM is
to provide every person opportunities for developing self-worth, self-esteem,
self-realization and the fulfillment of peoples' aspirations to participate for
change. Opportunities for such possibilities come through the daily practice of
basic Christian virtues of loving and caring for every person whom we encounter
because each one is made in the image of God.
Through
leadership formation and mutual exchange programs, opportunities are given to
persons for sharing their stories, ideas and experiences related to peoples'
movement in their local contexts. This is encouraged in the hope that they
might develop their full potential and in the process be transformed for the
betterment of their own lives and the lives of others, to help create a better
world.
Solidarity
URM is
to protest against existing exploitative, corrupt and oppressive systems. This
must be done in order to root out the injustices which stem from such systems
and as part of the process of building a just society. Peoples' solidarity in
efforts to empower the people from all sectoral groups within our societies is
crucial in order to bring about the realization of a just society.
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Accountability
URM is
to practice accountability. The URM, in our concern for theological and
ideological reflection, is compelled to critically examine the issue of
accountability in the light of our responsibility to God and to the people whom
we are called to serve. URMers and all who claim to
serve God in the various ministries for the building of a just society are
accountable to one another for our words and deeds. This is necessary because
we are responsible to the people who have entrusted us with the ministry of
witnessing Christ in situations of injustice and oppression, in
We are
all, therefore, accountable first of all to God, who through Christ gave us the
command to make disciples of all nations. Secondly, we are accountable to the
grassroots whom we represent, the churches who sent us, and to the supporting
agencies whose financial commitment enables us to carry out the mission we have
been entrusted with.
Our
accountability to the above-mentioned is expressed concretely in the area of
communication and publication. We publish reports on our major programs in
order to communicate to them about the work we are doing.
We may
draw inspiration from the Bible story about David and Goliath (1 Samuel
17:48-51). In this story, a small boy is able to overpower and destroy a giant
by sheer courage and wit. We should, in that same spirit, adorn ourselves with
courage and faith to tackle this giant oppressive mechanism by dealing with
these urgent issues in order that we might share in bringing about the
URM in
According
to the Confucian Analects, every ten years signifies an important threshold for
all human beings:
age of 30 — establishment
40 —
becoming aware of what one can do
50 —
mandate to heaven
60 —
ear can be obedient
At the
age of 30 one arrives at being a householder and becomes aware of the rituals
pertaining to community life. As a
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householder taking
charge of family matters, one
becomes a more responsible person in the home and the community. This status
forms the basis of the nuclear family and extends one's involvement to the
larger extended family life and social life as well.
Let us
reflect and see the relevance of this Chinese philosophy for the work of URM in
I wish
to suggest some thoughts for our consideration:
- ideologically, URM should provide a clear
vision in building a genuine human community here and now;
- theologically, URM should focus on the issues
concerning human relationship to God in order to establish the
- socio-politically, URM should build a society
where justice and peace can flourish.
It is
in the above contexts that we URMers ought to reflect
self-critically concerning our theory and our practice. It would be good for us
to consider the whole question of establishment and the role of a householder
with responsibilities in relation to URM work in
URM Workers
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I did the planting,
Apollos the watering, but God caused the growth... We
are God's helpers (I Cor 3:6,9).
From
Paul's insight we can get an idea of the role of the URM worker in
participating in God's ministry. We URM workers should limit ourselves to
being:
- helpers (The Living
Bible);
- partners working together for God (The Good
News Bible);
- God's servants, working together (The New Revised Standard Version);
- God's fellow-workers (The English Bible);
Our
role then would be:
- to plant a seed of the Gospel by articulating
ideological and theological
visions of the
- to water properly by providing new strategies and methodologies in order to sustain
a society; and,
- to commit ourselves to being God's co-workers,
since it is God who has given the growth for the realisation
of the
Paul
has given us a concrete example of what it means to be in partnership with God
and our URM workers. He was a great missionary who was full of enthusiasm; he
crossed the frontiers of countries, culture and ideology. Paul was also a great
idealogue who was full of Christian conviction; he
preached the Gospel; he witnessed concerning the life of Jesus and proclaimed
Christ's victory over death. Paul was a great architect who was full of visions
for the ministry; he established the Christian churches. He trained workers for
mission work and travelled widely to oversee the work
in various mission fields.
The URM
workers should give serious attention to the planting work which is synonymous
to programme initiatives. When planting it is of utmost importance to consider
the right season and suitable weather conditions. Our planting in the ministry
of URM requires us to highlight the right and relevant issues of our time and
our society for the empowerment of the people.
Planting
also takes serious consideration of the land space and the soil conditions in
order to reap a good harvest. For URM work to thrive, we need to tackle the
urgent and burning issues in our workplace and deal with them sensitively in
order to create a
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healthy ground for
the further enhancement of people and their lives.
Timing
is also a crucial consideration for the task of planting as there is a time for
sowing and a time for reaping. URM workers have the responsibility to consider
the right issues and the right time to act and respond in order that people
might be truly conscientized and liberated to opt for the humanization of
society. This is the most crucial element of the URM workers' mission tasks.
URM Concerns and
Thrusts
The URM
in
Needless
to say, this mission is not easy to carry out in our local contexts because of
various constraints. Politically, most Asian countries are under dictatorial or
authoritarian regimes, thereby depriving their peoples of the right to
participate in creating
a better society for all.
Socio-economically,
Asians live within discriminatory and exploitative structures which have Western capitalistic
values intricately woven into it. Thus, there is an evil force at work which
subtly and continually nurtures a spirit of competition that ruptures the sense
of community and the wholeness of creation.
Religio-culturally, we are diverse in our thinking
and lifestyle. As such, antagonistic sentiments can be easily aroused to cause
division so that the ruling governments may more easily take the peoples'
attention away from more important issues. This will enable them to carry out
their exploitative policies in collaboration with the West without much
opposition, however, the URM in
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According
to the Marxist view, the social system is divided into three spheres. The first
is the family where love and care is the basic relationship between people. The
second is the civil society wherein exists individualism and competition
amongst people. The third is the state which tries to combine the two spheres
into a unity.
It is
needful that URM thrusts should focus on these three primary groups in its endeavour to help the people achieve the totality of their
ideals and aspirations for bringing about a just society. The ultimate
achievement of this is when we witness a real degree of human liberation in the
family, the civil society and the state.
URM
ideology is
action-oriented. URMers hold the belief that people
have the potential power within themselves to work for the betterment of their
life through social changes. As such, the people demand and expect constant
changes to happen within their respective situations. The rise of the masses of
people/minjung to political consciousness and their direct participation
in political changes is a good example of social transformation happening in
the midst of modem historical developments of our time.
Authoritarians
practise the way of 'initiative from above'. In other
words, changes can only be brought about from top-down by bureaucratic reform.
URM ideology, however, giving utmost respect to peoples' power, believes and
practices the way of 'revolution from below', that is, from the grassroots
upwards. We have sufficient examples of the success of peoples' movements in
various parts of
I
cannot over-emphasize the fact that URM thrusts should focus on the
people—those who are oppressed, exploited and marginalised
in Asian society. They are the ones capable of bringing about structural
changes from the grassroots itself.
According
to Mao Ze-dong, the term 'the people' holds different
meanings in different countries and in different historical periods within each
country. He further expounds that there is a four-class bloc, viz:
- the
proletariat,
- the peasantry,
- the
petite bourgeoisie, and
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- the national
bourgeoisie.
These
four classes are struggling and competing with each other for greater
participation in the leadership of the society. For Mao, revolution can only
succeed when the poor peasantry are allowed to participate in the leadership
roles in
Herbert
Marcuse, however, has a different opinion as to where
lies the locus of people power. He holds that in advanced industrialized
societies the working class is no longer a revolutionary force and that the
revolutionary future resides among students, women, blacks and other alienated
groups. These groups of people form the real power base. The growing
consciousness of their own enslavement make them candidates of revolutionary
action for social change.
The
alienated groups in the urban and rural areas are the major thrusts of URM for
their empowerment as subjects of their own history. Although Mao and Marcuse might be considered as old schools of thought in
social studies, we URMers still need to study and
know their theories in order to derive a better understanding for our ministry
in the area of urban and rural concerns.
According
to Mao, everything in the universe contains contradictions. These range from
ideas to matters and to social relationships. Contradiction is the nature of
reality. This means that certain contradictions will continue to exist in any
social system. Furthermore, not all contradictions are the same. This is
because there are antagonistic and non-antagonistic contradictions which
constitute a special denial of certain elements, m classical Marxism, the major
source of conflict in the world was the struggle that was constantly occurring
between classes. The antagonistic nature of class conflicts or antagonistic
contradictions can be resolved through complete victory of the proletariat. It
is becoming clearer for us that the real power base is founded on people who
are alienated and who no longer remain under a contradictory state but rather
who want to be agents in bringing about social change.
We URMers claim to be 'the people of God', a term which goes
back to the Old Testament, 'the people of Yahweh', those who
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were liberated from slavery in
URM'S
theology is a theology of the workplace where God's salvation and liberation is
taking place through the peoples' struggle for self-realization. Therefore,
URM'S theology should begin with the people—the grassroots—and reflect a
biblical liberation story of the people of God, sharing the common vision of
the people, and following the life of Jesus who liberates us from sin and frees
us from all bondages of human enslavement. We are proud of the new developments
of contextual theologies in our region, particularly in
Consideration
needs to be given also to URM'S place in the social movement, in other words, within
the peoples' movement. The classical school of thought regarding social
movements categorizes five dominant groups as leading forces in modern history.
They are the labour movement, the students' movement,
women's movement, the peace movement and environmental movements. The URM is
related to all these important movements for the purpose of carrying out its
ministry. The problem is that these social movements or peoples' movements have
gradually developed into movement organisations, a
result of institutionalization.
Of
course, we recognise that every movement requires
some sort of organisational structure in order to fulfil its aim and purpose and to ensure the smooth running
of its day to day work. However, our weakness is that now we have lost the
movement character of the past, which is actual action-oriented movement work.
Whereas in the past the spirit of the movement was in the actual involvement in
the lives of the people, now the institution has quenched the spirit of the
movement.
Now is
the time, therefore, to remember the past character of the movement and with a new
spirit develop a radical movement through fresh and creative initiatives for
URM work in
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concerns of URM but
we must avoid the tendency to repeat old strategies and methods year after
year. Instead, let us work towards developing new and radical paradigms to
achieve the aspiration of the people for a just and peaceful society.
In
conclusion, I urge everyone of us to work together in search of a new
ecumenical vision in the spirit of unity, solidarity and sharing as we seek to
strengthen the ministry of URM in