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A CALL TO ASSEMBLY
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE
We understand the struggle for self-reliance in
that rejects all forms of domination by exploitative groups
and individuals within and without the various countries of
that proclaims in practice a genuine faith in the people's
innate ability to decide and strive for themselves without interference from
others;
that critically considers all non-indigenous inputs in the
context of integration and continued growth towards self-reliance; and
that posits the clear objective of striving for
self-sufficiency in economics,
politics and culture, while achieving a more intense spirit of sharing with others.
This Assembly seeks: to gather Christian students and others
who in varying degrees are
participating with peasants and workers in the struggle for liberation;
to promote mutual sharing of experiences in the struggle
with the view of learning from mistakes committed and intensifying factors that
have universal applicability;
to identify more clearly the manifold issues involved in the
struggle and to come to grips more solidly with Asian realities;
to foster and hasten the process of critical reflection and
more intense participation in the struggle seeking to achieve justice and
self-reliance;
to evaluate and synthesise
projects on self-reliance, providing the basis for planning the thrust and
programmes for the future;
to build solidarity links more firmly in terms of more effective communications networks
and more responsive organisational structures; and
to focus on the nature of the Christian witness to
the basic and more urgent challenges of the struggle in
One fact not to be overlooked is that the Assembly will be a
breakthrough regionally as it will be the first time that WSCF and IMCS
will hold a function together of this nature.
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WAJONG
This Assembly is one more step in our decision and option as
members of the Christian community ... In this Assembly we shall be sharing the
experience lived by many Christian students and others from all over Asia and
the Pacific Islands ... We want to bridge the gap between faith and life. We
know that God talks to us through concrete reality and through history.
This Assembly then must grow in a common effort to see the
Asian Reality. As far as we are able to see the reality, we shall be able to
hear the Spirit of God talking through this reality, as Moses did in
WSCF and IMCS in Asia have come together not so much to
establish unity among ourselves, but an alliance with all people who would
identify and work with the dispossessed, the poor, the oppressed and the
exploited millions of
