The third meeting of the Global Christian Forum, held April 24 to 27 in Bogotá, Colombia, provided an invaluable opportunity to be “salt and light” and to share key Seventh-day Adventist values with a unique audience, says Dr. Ganoune Diop, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Adventist world church. Diop, who was a plenary speaker in the closing session of the event, addressed some 400 Christian leaders from 65 countries who represented a broad range of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodox, Evangelicals, Anglicans, and many independent churches.
In his presentation, Diop spoke about the centrality of Jesus Christ in human history. “One of the most fascinating revelations of Scripture is how Jesus embraced the story of the whole human family; how He fulfils our stories,” said Diop. “He came to embrace our destiny in order to defeat death from inside. He came to deliver us from evil. And to do so, he chose to live our story, and our stories.”
The Global Christian Forum provides an informal space for Christians of many different denominations to share information about themselves and to discuss common challenges facing Christians around the world. The group, which has no constitution and makes no decisions, is focused on facilitating open dialogue about shared concerns, such as religious freedom, persecution, and other barriers to mission.
In an interview after the event, Diop said that the presence of Adventists at gatherings such as this is an important part of the work of the General Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department, which is entrusted with the task of making the Adventist Church more visible in the public realm.
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