Be vigilant, WCC head cautions Indian believers

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia has urged young people assembled at Asia's largest Christian gathering to remain on their guard against threats such as the use of religion to justify the propagation of hatred.

"Those who create poverty in the name of investment, those who destroy the environment, those who preach hatred in the name of religion, those who traffic in children and women, they are all trying to punch holes in the boat we are sailing," Dr. Kobia addressed an estimated gathering of 150,000 people gathered at the Annual Maramon Convention in Kerala, India.

"You must stop them and remain vigilant," Kobia said, February 17, at the convention, which is organized each year by the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association. The association is the mission and evangelism wing of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, one of the WCC's member churches in India.

The WCC general secretary was inaugurating the year–long celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Mar Thoma Youth Association, which has more than 900 branches in India, the Middle East, Africa, North America and Europe.

The week–long convention, which saw over tens of thousands of Christians from India and other places in the world attending everyday, took place on the dry bed of the river Pampa between the villages of Maramon and Kozhencherry, in south central Kerala.

"This is an experience of a life–time and it will remain in memory for ever," Dr. Kobia told a massive crowd, squatting on the sandy river bed within a vast temporary shed covered with the leaves of the coconut trees which give Kerala its name, which means "land of coconuts."

"I travel all over the world as WCC general secretary. But, in all my travels, I never had an experience like this – a Christian convention with thousands upon thousands in attendance," he acknowledged.

The week–long gathering started as a Bible convention and is now seen as demonstrating the unity of the Mar Thoma church. Thousands of church members from as far away as the United States plan their visits to India every year to be able to attend the annual convention.

The Mar Thoma church was formed in the 19th century, influenced by Anglican missionaries, but traces its roots to the Apostle Thomas, who is believed to have brought Christianity to India in the year AD 52.