April 6, 2003
by Fernando Oshige

SAN SALVADOR - We live in a world where the signs of death, such as war, violence, corruption and exclusion are constantly present, but none of these problems represent God's will, said Pastor Angel Furlan this Sunday at the opening worship service for the Lutheran World Federation's Latin American and Caribbean Pre-Assembly.

"God is the God of life and limitless love and his will for humanity is life and not suffering," said Furlan, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELU) and moderator of the Latin American Lutheran Conference of Bishops and Presidents.

The evils that wrack humanity are not related to God but to human sin, he said. Death, violence, war, the exploitation of the weak, corruption, hunger and misery are not God's will. These evils are expressions of the anti-God, the anti-Christ, he said.

However, we know that God, on the Cross, has overcome the power of death and comes to those who suffer, who are alone, who are desperate. Life and resurrection for all humanity comes from the cross, said Furlan.

This is the faith that encourages our struggle, he said. The struggle of Christians will continue in the world and while at times it seems that the powers of death are winning, we Christians know that evil will not prevail.

Furlan called on Churches to follow Jesus Christ and to ask where and with whom He is in these times. Jesus is with those who are marginalized, displaced, the poor, those who are excluded by society, he said.

This is the place where the Church of today should be, to "subvert the established disorder." We are called to demonstrate, as the Port Alegre World Social Forum sustained, that another world is possible, he said.

The worship service marked the opening of the Pre-assembly of Latin American and Caribbean Lutheran Churches, members of the Lutheran World Federation.

Fifty representatives are attending the meeting, which will end Wednesday, from 14 Latin American and two Caribbean Churches.

This is the final regional pre-assembly before the Lutheran World Assembly to be held in Winnipeg, Canada next July. The theme is "For the Healing of the World."

During the opening worship service, held in the "La Resurreccisn" Lutheran Church in this capital, Bishop Medardo Gomez said that it was a privilege for the Salvadoran Church to be the host of the pre-assembly.

He gave a wooden cross to each of the foreign participants. "This is a symbol for the healing of our nations and the world," he said.

In the same celebration, co-presided by Bishop Gomez and Dr. Ishmael Noko, secretary general of the LWF, the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica was incorporated as a full member of the world Lutheran community. Costa Rica's incorporation brings the number of Latin American Lutheran LWF members to 14. The LWF represents more than 61 million faithful around the world.

Agencia Latinoamericana y Caribeqa de Comunicacisn (ALC)