Asian Women’s Role In Christian Unity

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30768, 4 June 1965, Page 2

Asian Women’s Role In Christian Unity

The awakening conception of unity among Christians all over the world was very evident at a recent meeting in Manila to plan the second Asian Church Women’s Conference to be held in Tokyo next year, said Mrs R. H. T. Hamilton yesterday.

Mrs Hamilton, who returned from the planning committee’s meeting recently, said this group of committed Christians represented their countries’ national councils of churches rather than their own denominations. Their aim was to understand each other better, to accept one another as Christians.

Representatives attended the meeting from Ceylon, West Pakistan, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan and New Zealand. Mrs Hamilton, who represents the women of the National Council of Churches in New Zealand, was appointed assistant secretary for the conference in Japan. She was New Zealand’s delegate at the first conference in Thailand in 1962, when it was agreed to convene every four years. Deep Concern The planning committee was made up of a group of women with a deep concern for their own countries and their people, she said. “As Christians they have a longing to make the Lord known to their people so that His will for them may be carried out,” she added. The purpose of the conference was to further fellowship and understanding as Christinas. The planning committee hoped to include in its programme Bible studies, discussions on the basic Christian belief and the position of the church in a nonChristian country. They also hope to have lectures on the basic principles of nonChristian faiths to be better prepared to reach out in understanding to their nonChristian neighbours. The theme of the 10-day conference will be “Abide In Me—Bear Rich Fruit.” There will be daily fellowship and cultural sessions and vespers, which will be taken in turn by the various delegations.

“I found at the first conference I learnt a great deal about the women taking part in it and their countries at occasions such as these,” Kitty Hamilton said. Consultation Later some delegates will attend a consultation to be held by the committee on cooperation of men and women in the home, church and society of the East Asian Christian Conference. Heading the Japanese hostess committee of 12 women for the A.C.W.C. con-

ference will be Miss Hanna Kawai, vice-president and headmistress of the elementary department of a Christian girls’ school. She is also consultant to the planning committee. It was more than two years since Mrs Hamilton had seen fellow members of the planning committee. Life-long Friends “But it was like meeting friends 1 had known all my life again. Our relationships were as close as they had been in 1962 in spite of the lapse of time," she said. Mrs Hamilton said she had been greatly impressed by the ability of these Asian women to face their new situations in a rapidly changing world and to see the relevance of the Gospel message to the world of today.