Declaration calls for the pain of Christians under pressure to be understood

The Magi Initiative in Cambridge rounded off with a clear declaration of the need to share the pain of Christians under pressure in the world. 

‘We can hear their pain and their cries,’ they stated. ‘We are called to unite together and show solidarity, because when part of the body suffers the whole body suffers together.’ 

The conference theme was exile. It heard that many Christians are being driven out of the birthplace of the Bible by conflict and crisis.  

Several delegates had personal experience of what it meant to be forced from their homelands through persecution. And now pandemic has added to that sense of crisis.  

And yet, ‘in the midst or aftermath of crisis, Christians see opportunity – an opportunity to grow stronger in faith, witnessing and serving.’ 

The Magi Initiative joint statement added that the pressure on Christians has exposed our vulnerabilities, ‘yet many Christians draw their strength from the Word of God’. 

The second Magi Conference aimed to bring Christians together, through God’s Word, to support their communities during critical times.  

Among those attending were representatives from the Maronite Church; Armenian, Syriac, Coptic Orthodox and Catholic churches; Antioch and Jerusalem Greek Orthodox churches; Protestant, Episcopalian, and Evangelical churches; Chaldean Church; Roman Catholic (Latin) Church; Melkite Greek Catholic church; Church of England; Lutheran Church, and New Wine Church, along with Bible Society representatives. 

The Magi conference ended with a commitment to the importance of deepening friendships and relationships between Christians from East and West.  

‘This friendship is an expression of our faith and hope in Christ,’ the Magi Initiative joint statement declared, ‘rooted in the Bible as well us in our joint witness to the gospel.’