Joel Zantingh and Saji Oommen were in Vancouver recently, meeting with fellow peacemakers.
A couple of months ago I wrote that I was looking forward to taking part in the General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) in Seoul, Korea (October 27 – 31) – and that I was particularly interested to see how much attention themes of engagement with the world and social justice received.
Speakers did address issues such as creation care and peace-making during general assemblies – and the confirmation of Botrus Mansour, a Palestinian lawyer with an Israeli passport, as secretary general underlined a general sense that the WEA is not avoiding issues of concern to the broader world community.
Peace & Reconciliation Network
But it was a couple of meetings here in Vancouver, following the assembly, that encouraged me still more. Speakers can say all the right thing during a big conference, but what really makes a difference is what is happening on the ground in various nations around the world.
Joel Zantingh and Saji Oommen spent a few days in the area meeting with various groups. Both are part of the Peace and Reconciliation Network (PRN), which is a commission of the WEA. Zantingh, from Ontario, leads the Canadian PRN network, while Oommen is PRN USA Coordinator, recently having moved to Lynden, Washington.
Zantingh emailed following his visit:
As Canadian Coordinator for PRN, I am at the development stage – getting the lay of the land. That’s where the grassroots listening is crucial, to discover what’s already happening. . . . Then we can think about what will help churches become God’s reconciling presence in Vancouver and beyond.
God’s mission is redemptive and reconciling! And we are given the ministry of reconciliation. So let’s explore what’s already in our hands, and ensure we let the journeys of reconciliation God desires for our homes, communities, nation and world flow from God’s reconciling heart formed in us.
Joel Zantingh met with members of the Global Peacebuilding Network Organization in Langley.
He met with pastors and leaders in the PRN Canada local network, and with groups at West Coast Christian Fellowship in Vancouver and New Life Church in Abbotsford. Among the highlights:
- Learning about the focus and goals of Menno Hall (to inspire ongoing connection to MCC for the next 100 years), and the PeaceBridge Institute (to offer research and church-based learning around peace and justice in the name of Jesus). We are exploring ongoing conversations together.
- Interfacing with Mennonite Central Committee BC on their church-based education goals.
- I was also invited by Apostle Rev. Mutabazi Nsenga Shadrack and Pastor Miriam and the team from the Global Peacebuilding Network Organization to participate in their conference in Langley. Such a rich, layered time of learning and processing together. Participants received affirmation and challenge to keep pursuing peace even while justice and healing are not yet achieved in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and surrounding communities.
‘A simple voice of welcome’
Saji Oommen is new to his role as PRN USA co-coordinator, but he brings a wealth of experience in peace-making. He spoke recently with Phil Wagler, Global Director of PRN for an All Things Reconciled podcast. (Wagler knows the local scene well, having been a pastor in this area before moving to Kelowna.)
Oommen is now settled in Lynden with his wife and four children, but he has made peace all over the world. Born in Dallas to an Indian family, he has, for example:
- lived in Turkey, working on a reconciliation process between Armenians and Turks which has become the Armenian Turkish Peace Initiative;
- led a peace camp in 2016 with Syrian and Turkish Muslims and Western Christians, focusing particularly on forgiveness and reconciliation;
- led peace camps in Northern Iraq and Colombia;
- helped lead the Multicultural Peace Collaboration, a joint effort of MCC/US, West Coast MCC and Fresno Pacific University’s Center for Anabaptist Studies.
Asked “what he would say to Christians . . . who are skeptical or afraid or unsure about creating third spaces or entering into third spaces like this,” Oommen responded:
This is what God talks about in 2 Corinthians 5. He says he has given us the message of reconciliation so that we can be ambassadors. All of us, as Christians, we have this ministry of reconciliation. He wants to use us to create these spaces. They don’t have to happen at a peace camp though.
They happen in our back yards, they happen in our work spaces, they happen when we meet somebody at school. We all have the opportunity to be people of welcome and hospitality.
It’s a simple message, but in this time, in this season, in this day and age of polarization and conflicts and misunderstandings, we need to be a simple voice of welcome and hospitality to the refugee, to the stranger, to the orphan, to the widow, to the immigrant, to people who are not like us.
There’s something to be said about ‘contact theory,’ which was developed by [Gordon] Allport in the 1950s. He said, when you come into contact with people who are different than you, the more interactions, the more connections you have, they cease to be other. they actually become people that you know. They can become friends. . . . This idea of just entering into space with others, or welcoming them into our space, is a powerful thing that we all, as Christians, are called to do.
Go here for the full interview.
Canadian connections
PRN has introduced a new initiative called Disagreeing Well.
Oommen is also director for global engagement with the Five & Two Network, which is based in BC, but is very focused on avoiding one-way, sometimes toxic, approaches to helping:
At Five & Two, relationship is at the core. We begin with local leadership, vision and initiative. We seek to empower leadership teams who are working with a particular community, and walk with them through the ups and downs of the development journey. In so doing, we recognize our own need for restoration and walk alongside the poor in a spirit of humility and mutuality.
Phil Wagler introduced a podcast with Joel Zantingh from last fall by saying:
The Peace and Reconciliation Network (PRN) is a commission of the world Evangelical Alliance and our goal is to see every disciple every church every Alliance of churches know that they are a centre of reconciliation, and to live and operate in that way for the sake of the glory of God in the world.
A recent article on the Faith Today site by Zantingh and regional coordinator for PRN in Europe Bethany Serengheu described a new initiative:
This year, generous PRN supporters enabled the launch of a new consulting process for groups wanting to engage with the dynamics of conflict, disagreement and relational distancing.
It’s called Foundations of Disagreeing Well: Exploring Self, God and Others. After testing with five groups of 10 to 15 participants in locations across Europe and Canada, it now has opened a website for questions and expressions of interest at disagreeingwell.co. (We also welcome email inquiries.)
Lausanne plans
Joel Zantingh led a brainstorming session for local Lausanne Movement supporters at North Langley Community Church.
Apart from his work as PRN Canadian Coordinator, Zantingh is director of engagement with Lausanne Canada and is working on a doctorate. He met with Lausanne supporters as well while in Metro Vancouver, including a meeting at North Langley Community Church.
Rick Franklin, global director of strategy & operations for the Lausanne Movement worldwide, happens to live in the Fraser Valley and addressed the gathering.
Zantingh emailed, “I facilitated some exploration into the issues and opportunities that the broader church in the Lower Mainland is thinking about, to give clarity from the region for a planned Lausanne Regional Gathering on February 11, 2026 somewhere in or near Vancouver.”
The Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization (Lausanne Movement) is another worldwide network attempting a fruitful and faithful balance between personal and social transformation.
(I attended their fourth major congress (since the first in 1974) last fall and wrote several articles about it. I have also posted a couple of articles about the World Evangelical Alliance General Assembly in Seoul earlier this fall.)
Botrus Mansour at the 1,700th anniversary commemoration of the Council of Nicaea, onsite in Turkiye November 28 with other world Christian leaders, including Pope Leo XIV. Image: https://milhilard.org (Salt of the Earth)
Justice, engagement
Issues related to peace, justice and engagement with major world issues were addressed many times during the WEA General Assembly in Seoul – though possibly not as consistently as during the previous assembly in Jakarta in 2019, when Indian Bible teacher / justice advocate C.B. Samuel spoke passionately about their gospel significance during three keynote addresses.
He said, for example, that “the church of Jesus Christ and the evangelical community are a disgrace” in many parts of the world, more interested in entertainment than in being faithful. “I wish the kingdom would come by singing about it,” he said, “but it won’t.” He added that we need to rely on the word of God as we engage with issues in the world and model the kingdom.
However, in the interim, and in Seoul, I have seen many signs of hope, along with the Peace & Reconciliation Network. Here are a few:
- All of the six WEA Global Ministries suggest a wide vision, particularly ‘Public Engagement’ (“work toward strengthening evangelical alliances to collaborate with governments, intergovernmental and non-profit organizations and various other stakeholders to address issues of public concern for the common good”) and ‘Global Advocacy’ (“primarily the voice of national alliances at various UN agencies”).
- Plenary panels at the Seoul assembly discussed topics such as ‘Representing the Gospel in Global Advocacy / Technology and Ethics / Mental Wellness’ and ‘Living the Gospel in Culture and Cities.’
- Workshops included ‘Caring for Creation: Whole Discipleship in Action,’ ‘Launching Youth for Creation Care’ and ‘The Urgency of Evangelicals Becoming God’s Reconciling Presence in a Fractured World.’
- The WEA Sustainability Centre has been very active at recent COP events (UN Climate Change Conferences).
- Kentro Christian Network, which links more than 70 Canadian Christian relief and development organizations, follows the WEA Statement of Faith.
Botrus Mansour, following his induction as secretary general of the WEA, said that evangelicals are bearers of good news: “We want to reclaim that name.”