One of the poorest countries in the world, landlocked Burkina Faso has a high population density, few natural resources, and a fragile soil. About 90% of the population is engaged in agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to variations in rainfall. Several hundred thousand farm workers migrate south every year to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana for seasonal labour.

Communal conflict led many of these Burkinabe to flee Côte d'Ivoire in 2002. The Association of Reformed Evangelical Churches of Burkina Faso tried to help these refugees. With the aid of the emergency subfund of the Reformed churches partnership fund, the AEERB distributed 100 sacks of rice, clothes and blankets to about 1,000 people.

Germany

The newly elected leadership of the Church of Lippe paid a three-day visit to the Alliance secretariat at the end of January. It was a chance for both parties to get to know each other better and to exchange views on the work of the Alliance and its member church.

This church is one of the two Reformed regional churches (Landeskirchen) in Germany (although it also includes a Lutheran minority) and, like the Evangelical Reformed Church in Bavaria and Northwest Germany, it is also one of the strongest financial supporters of the Alliance.

Topics of particular interest were the growing relationship between the Alliance and the Lutheran World Federation, the anomalous position of the united churches in Germany (which belong to neither Christian world communion), the work of the Reformed churches partnership fund, the precarious financial position of the Alliance, and expectations for the 24th general council (Accra 2004).

The church delegation was led by Gerrit Noltensmeier, president of the synod council, who was accompanied by his wife Anne Lise. Other participants included Martin Böttcher, Gerhard-Wilhelm Brand, Kerstin Koch (who is also the treasurer of the WARC European area committee), Ingrid and Dieter Machentanz, Arno Schilberg, and Andreas-Christian and Kerstin Tübler.

Hong Kong

The theme of Asia Sunday 2003, celebrated at the beginning of June, is "For We Are Neighbours". The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) says that it is "an appropriate affirmation of our hope and prayer to live together in peace with justice".

Asia is "a most plural region", the CCA explains. "While this plurality can be a source of pride, it can also be a source of pain. The many conflicts going on in various parts of the region are very often caused by our inability to deal with plurality and diversity creatively."

Differences between ourselves and others in faith, race, class, caste, gender, sexuality, health status, disability, age, regional background, educational background, employment status, or political views can easily become walls of division, the CCA says.

Thus, during Asia Sunday 2003, the CCA would like to invite its member churches and councils, ecumenical partners and friends to think of ways of fostering inclusiveness, reaching out, breaking down barriers, crossing borders, building bridges, and closing the gaps - for we are neighbours entrusted with God's own creation and called by God to live together in the "whole household of God".

Introducing the theme, CCA general secretary, Ahn Jae-woong, says that it "carries our continuing concern for interfaith cooperation... in our quest for fullness of life and in our commitment towards living and serving as neighbours who are concerned about each other and of God's world."

Morocco

Islamic terrorists killed 41 people in Casablanca and injured 100 more in coordinated attacks on May 16. Ten of the dead were the suicide bombers themselves.

The terrorists, Moroccan like most of their victims, targeted civilians in bars, hotels and restaurants across the city centre.

Among their targets were the Jewish Alliance centre, a luxury hotel frequent by Israeli holiday-makers, a Jewish-owned Italian restaurant, and an old Jewish cemetery at the heart of Casablanca's ancient medina. The Spanish social club Casa de España was also attacked, possibly because of Spain's strong support for the war in Iraq.

Morocco has a Jewish population of 6,000 or 7,000, mainly based in Casablanca, and many Jewish Israelis spend their holidays there.

On May 21, the Christian-Muslim Research Group and the Society for Christian-Muslim Friendship, both based in Rabat, issued a communiqué denouncing the terrorist attacks.

They presented their condolences to the families of the victims, assuring them of their sympathy and solidarity. They committed themselves to work with all democrats to preserve Morocco's traditional values of coexistence. In a multifaith and multicultural Morocco, God should not be used to justify intolerance, exclusion and violence: differences should be respected. Finally, they expressed the hope that "these painful events" might awaken Moroccans to the major causes underlying them and help to build a society more conscious of its interdependence.

The communiqué was signed by a mixture of academics, senior civil servants, writers, librarians, teachers, scientists, Protestant pastors, and Catholic priests, Update was told by Jean-Luc Blanc, general secretary of the Evangelical Church in Morocco.

Switzerland

The need to link the secular world and churches has never been greater than in these conflict-ridden times, says Robin Gurney, president of Ecumenical News International.

"There is nothing like Ecumenical News International anywhere, and no one organization in the ecumenical movement or out of it could match what ENI is doing so well," said Gurney in a late-May statement from Geneva, where the news agency has its office.

ENI was launched in 1994 as a global news service reporting independently on ecumenical developments and other news of churches and of humanitarian affairs, and giving religious perspectives on news developments worldwide. The Alliance is one of its four founders, along with the Conference of European Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Council of Churches, and has been an enthusiastic supporter of its work.

The sponsorship of the four organization is both a good example of partnership and a witness to their commitment to ecumenism, Gurney said.

"In a world where regional tensions are often interpreted as stemming from differences between different religions, it is critical for all of us to know what Christian churches are doing," Gurney emphasized. "ENI links the world of the haves to the have-nots and relates what the churches of the world are doing in under-reported areas."

Sara Speicher, WCC coordinator of public information, said, "At times like these, we need ENI as an independent and professional news service to help us broaden our vision and knowledge beyond our own church and country situations."

ENI distributes religious news in English and French on a daily basis electronically to international and religious media, church leaders and organizations and to others who are interested. It also publishes a fortnightly news bulletin.