Rev Dr Kim Kwan-Suk of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK), a former general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea, died on Monday, February 4. He was 80 years old.

A former president of the Christian Broadcasting System in Korea, Kim served as moderator of the communication committee of the Christian Conference of Asia (1981-85). He also taught at Hanshin University in Seoul. During the military dictatorship in South Korea, he was a strong democratic leader.

In a statement issued later in the same month, the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea strongly denounced President George W Bush's "axis of evil" speech to the US congress as "reckless remarks" which "threaten the peace".

PROK said that it had never stopped praying for reconciliation and the peaceful reunification of Korea "since the division of the Korean peninsula by the great powers" and professed itself, "together with all Koreans", astonished by the "supremacy ideology" of President Bush's state of the union address, "which ignores the peace of the Korean peninsula and the well-being of Korean citizens".

A "peace policy" based on military power, in which a country effectively declares war upon nations "which it arbitrarily judges to be a threat, however small, and says that it will eliminate them through force", is - PROK said - clearly "an anti-peace policy which threatens world peace... [and] a revival of the spirit of the imperialism which drove the world into an abyss of death and destruction during two world wars".

Bush's speech demonstrated "extreme selfishness", ignoring "the ardent wish of the Korean nation for the peaceful reunification of South and North Korea through dialogue," PROK added. "We... respect the spirit of the June 15 South-North Korea joint declaration... and pray for the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula through mutual exchanges based on reconciliation and cooperation."

Lebanon

Dr Paul Haidostian has been appointed as the next President of Haigazian University in Beirut, with effect from September this year.

Dr Haidostian is no stranger to Beirut. His BA is from Haigazian University, and his M Div from the Near East School of Theology (NEST), also in Beirut. In addition, he has a Master of Theology degree and a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey (USA). Since 1993 he has been on the faculty of NEST, teaching courses in pastoral theology and Christian ethics. He has assumed many leadership positions in the Armenian Evangelical community in the Middle East, and played a significant role in academic and ecumenical organizations locally and worldwide. He has served on the WARC executive committee since 1997.

The University was founded in 1955 by the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (a WARC member church) and the Armenian Missionary Association of America as a liberal arts college to assist in the preparation of teachers and pastors. Originally called Haigazian College, it changed its name in 1992 to Haigazian University College, and in 1996 to Haigazian University.

Haigazian takes its name from Dr Armenag Haigazian, a highly respected educator and former headmaster of the Jenanian Apostolic Institute in Konya, Turkey. Dr Haigazian received his PhD from Yale University, but returned to Turkey to serve his Armenian compatriots. When the ethnic cleansing of Armenians began, he had an opportunity to escape, but chose to stay and continue his work. Later, along with other Armenian intellectuals, he was rounded up to be driven into the Syrian desert, but died on the way in Kharpert prison in 1921. Eight Armenian colleges in Turkey were destroyed at the same time, but the vision of education and service reflected in Haigazian's work did not perish with him. Today, Haigazian University still focuses on academic and professional excellence, leadership training, and positive response to community concerns.

Haidostian says he wants to work on a number of areas of university life: creating scholarships for deserving students who have no other source of support; further deepening the historical partnership with NEST; developing the human rights courses and programmes; encouraging research; and creating further links with the international academic community, especially with church-related liberal arts colleges and universities.

"It was not an easy choice for me to leave NEST and full-time theological teaching, every bit of which I have enjoyed," Haidostian told Update. "But I felt that the presidency of Haigazian is a particular challenge and a dynamic form of ministry. There I hope to help shape the future generation of Lebanon, in a small-sized university that attracts young people from all religious backgrounds."

Madagascar

At the end of February, Alliance general secretary Setri Nyomi wrote to President Didier Ratsiraka, urging him to listen to the voice of the people of Madagascar.

"The presidential election in December 2001 gave the Malagasy people the opportunity to express their political opinions clearly," Nyomi said. "We understand there have been reports of electoral abuse which disfranchised some voters, that some voters were confronted with voting cards with massive errors and with physical intimidation, and that there has been extensive fraud and vote-rigging on the part of the local, provincial and central government officials. In some places the result of votes were falsified before the very eyes of the voters. The expression of discontent about this situation through numerous demonstrations cannot be ignored. People have a right to claim their political rights and to call for justice - not to be subjected to brutal suppression."

Madagascar was split in two following the December presidential election. The official results put opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana ahead, but with less than the 50 per cent of the vote required for a first-round victory (Madagascar, formerly a French colony, uses the French two-round system).

Ravalomanana cried foul, pointing out that the High Constitutional Court had been packed with Ratsiraka appointees just before the election, and claiming to have won outright, with no need for a second round. On February 22, after weeks of rising tension, mass protests, and a general strike, he declared himself president.

Nyomi wrote simultaneously to the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar to applaud it, together with the Christian Council of Madagascar, for "raising a prophetic voice against the systematic injustice which has been occurring since the last election".

"It is," he said, "a theological imperative for the church to stand for justice at a time when injustice reigns. Therefore, the Alliance is fully with you in your support for people's search for the truth and their right to free expression."

"Your church is one of many member churches in the Alliance who have stood firm in their faith as they were confronted with the power of the state because of their struggle for political freedom and social justice."

In April, the Supreme Court purged the High Constitutional Court of its eve-of-poll Ratsiraka appointees, annulled the results of the first round election, and called for a recount. At a meeting in Dakar hosted by the Senegalese president, Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka agreed to recount; but when the newly purged High Constitutional Court named Ravalomanana the winner in the December vote, it was Ratsiraka's turn to cry foul and to say that he would ignore the verdict.

Uganda

During its second mission in unity conference (February 25-28), the Reformed family in Uganda committed itself to joint action in four priority areas:

An annual summer school in theological and leadership development
Community conscientization in two key areas: HIV/Aids and sexual abuse
Development work
Evangelism, church planting and renewal