Dr Samuel Kobia's visit
Thomas Bikash Baroi 88, Senpara Parbota Mirpur, Dhaka
My attention has been drawn to the letter of John Peter Biswas under the title "Dr Kobia's message" published in this column on April 8, 2005. The letter of Mr. Biswas did not reflect the true picture of the visit of Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, Secretary General, World Council of Churches (WCC) and Dr Matthews George Chunakara, Asia Secretary, WCC.Dr Kobia did not come to Bangladesh to hold any Sunrise Service. The purpose of his short visit was to inaugurate the newly built training centre of the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) at Baroipara, near Savar. His visit simply coincided with the Easter Sunday. This year interdenominational Sunrise Services were organised at five different places in view of the call of HARTAL on the Easter Sunday. There was no certainty that hartal would be shifted to another date in response to an appeal from the Christian community. The services were organised at five different places to allow various Church members to join the services according to their convenience. Dr Kobia chose the venue for the service at Mirpur because it is close to CCDB office. It would be unfortunate to view the matter negatively. The service at Mirpur was attended by more than a thousand devotees of Protestant (Anglican, Methodist, Salvation Army, Baptist, SDA) and Catholic Churches. The Easter message of Dr Kobia was: Do not be afraid of any evils. During his visit he addressed a big ecumenical gathering at NCCB to share his opinion on "Ecumenism in 21st Century". He conveyed the message of peace, harmony and unity of the ecumenical family to face the challenges of the present turbulent world.
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