Callam visit with Peru political leadership

While in Peru attending the sixth congress and assembly of UBLA, BWA General Secretary Neville Callam visited the National Congress of Peru while it was in session.

The congress halted its meeting to acknowledge the presence of the BWA leader and the delegation that accompanied him, including outgoing UBLA president Raquel Contreras, new UBLA president Ivan Martinez, and Pepe Flores, president of the Baptist Convention of Peru.

Luis Giampietri Rojas, vice president of Peru, then met with Callam briefly, as also did Alde Lazo, an evangelical Christian and a member of the Peruvian congress, who had brought greetings at the opening night of the assembly on Wednesday, April 22, 2009.

New UBLA executive elected

The UBLA congress and assembly ended with the presentation and dedication of the new executive that will lead the BWA regional fellowship over the next three to five years.

Elected to serve are Ivan Martinez Mejia of Venezuela as president; Jacome Parrish from Ecuador, vice president; recording secretary Andres Gonzalez from Argentina; and member at large, Pepe Flores from Peru.

Division leaders are Osvaldo Simari of Paraguay for evangelism; mission director Elvio Marquez also from Paraguay; and Fanny Merchan of Ecuador for communications.

Alberto Prokopchuk of Argentina will continue as UBLA General Secretary and BWA Regional Secretary for Latin America.

New president Martinez thanked outgoing president Raquel Contreras for her leadership over the past two years, having taken over the leadership of the organization following the resignation of the previous president for UBLA. She had declined many requests for her to continue to lead the regional body.

Contreras is president for the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Chile. She is also a BWA vice president.

Several speakers addressed the morning session, including Elizabeth Prokopchuk, who led the Bible study, Xavier Alvarado, and Nestor Golluscio.

A tour of historical sites and other areas of attraction in Lima followed the conclusion of the meetings.

Days of rich fellowship

Both Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam and Director of Evangelism & Education and Study & Research, Fausto Vasconcelos, played meaningful roles on the third day of the sixth UBLA congress and assembly in Lima, Peru, on Friday, April 24.

Callam gave the keynote address during the morning session, during which he spoke about the ministry of the BWA and its significance for Latin American Baptists. He urged Latin Americans to become more intentionally involved in the life of the global family of Baptists through the ministry of the BWA.

The scores of delegates and other participants were appreciative that Callam, as he did the previous night, gave part of his address in Spanish, which, along with Portuguese, is the dominant language in the region.

Vasconcelos led the morning’s Bible Study, speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life and witness of the believer. Vasconcelos, a Brazilian, though highly fluent in Spanish, as he is in English, conducted most of the study in Portuguese while being assisted with a translator into Spanish. He is a former president of UBLA.

Rich fellowship has been expressed and experienced at the meetings, as well as meaningful worship. Latin American leaders have used the opportunity provided by the congress to establish new contacts with each other, rekindle old ties, and to strengthen existing ones.

The meetings conclude tomorrow.

Callam urges Baptists to work together

“Churches have an obligation to share with one another. It is God’s will that churches work together.”

Neville Callam, Baptist World Alliance General Secretary, who preached at the Thursday night worship service of the sixth assembly and congress of the Union of Baptists in Latin America (UBLA) in Lima, Peru, urged Baptists to develop a spirit of community-mindedness and mission-mindedness.

In addressing the hundreds of worshippers gathered on the night of Thursday, April 23, Callam warned that “churches that do not share with others run the risk of being filled with false pride” and becoming self-centered.

“No church exists for itself,” the BWA leader said. “No congregation or convention is self-sufficient. All Baptists across the world need each other.”

During the morning session of the assembly and congress on Thursday, Callam presented a check for just under $4,900 to Pepe Luis Flores, president of the Baptist Convention of Peru. The funds, donated by Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the BWA, will be used to construct a small poultry farm at a rehabilitation clinic for recovering drug addicts in Arequipa, Peru.

The aim of the project is to enable the clinic to become economically self-supporting, and to assist residents of the clinic who do not have the economic resources for their treatment. About 30 persons are expected to benefit by working on the farm.

The UBLA congress and assembly is being held from April 22-25 in Lima. Those attending on the behalf of the BWA are President David Coffey, Callam, as well as Fausto Vasconcelos and Eron Henry.

Hundreds attend opening UBLA service

Several hundred worshippers packed the sanctuary during the opening worship service for the sixth assembly and congress of the Union of Baptists in Latin America in Lima, Peru.

Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey, keynote speaker, encouraged the hundreds of Latin American Baptists to be “salt and Light.” Speaking to the assembly theme, “Complete Transformation” from Matthew 5:13-16, Coffey declared that “the world needs the salt and light of the gospel,” as the “salt and light of the gospel makes a difference.”

“Everyone can be salt and light for the gospel,” the BWA leader said. “God intends to transform the world by people like us…. Be different and make a difference. This is how complete transformation takes place.”

The opening service, held on the night of Wednesday, April 22, included the participation of a one hundred-voice choir from several Baptist churches in Lima, Peru’s capital city, as well as a hand bell choir.

UBLA receives new members, debate constitutional change

The sixth assembly and congress of the Union of Baptists in Latin America (UBLA) opened in Lima, Peru, on the morning of Wednesday, April 22, with the attendance of 64 voting delegates and scores of other Baptists from more than 15 countries.

Led by Raquel Contreras of Chile, UBLA president and a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), a first order of business was the acceptance of three new members into UBLA, which is one of six regional fellowships of the BWA. Those voted as new members were the Association of Baptists of Argentina, the Eastern Baptist Convention of Cuba, and the Baptists United in Christ in Paraguay.

Attending the UBLA assembly and congress are BWA president David Coffey, General Secretary Neville Callam, and Fausto Vasconcelos , BWA director of Evangelism & Education and Study & Research, who is Brazilian.

Among the major decisions expected during the meetings, held April 22-25, is a vote on a revised constitution, including broadening UBLA membership to other countries outside of Central and South America, based on cultural and language affinity, rather than only on geographical location.

The UBLA assembly and congress is normally held once every three years, but the last was held in Cali, Columbia, in 2004.