Madang - Day One (October 30)

Madang is a large space set up with booths for various agencies and areas of WCC’s work. The madang serves as a space for encounter and sharing, celebration and fellowship. There are booths and exhibits, a performance space, and opportunities for workshops and other side events. I was fortunate to see the last part of a performance by some of the Pacific young people with traditional dance and music. I so love the enthusiasm of the dancing in cultures like Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa etc. The small group of dancers - Pasifika Oikoumene - have been preparing for the performance for the last two weeks under the mentoring of Rev James Bhagwan from Fiji and Apisaloma Toleafo from American Samoa. The group was formed by the WCC in collaboration with the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) – a fellowship of churches that began in 1961. Young people were nominated to attend the Assembly by their churches, with one male and female chosen from each of the 10 islands to take part. Over the last two weeks, the group has spent time together in Fiji, Seoul and Busan as part of an ecumenical formation group – exchanging ideas, forming relationships, learning about each other’s churches and learning dances from each other’s islands to perform at the Assembly. It’s been quite a hard slog for the young people, some of whom had never danced in public before. They would get up at 5am (that’s early for Pacific folk!) and practice in every spare moment they had.

Rev James Bhagwan (Fiji) said: ‘we may be small in terms of number, but we make up for that in heart. The ocean doesn’t separate us; it joins us together. It’s important for us to be here because we feel we have to have a presence, to get our voice heard. There are so many issues that might get forgotten in a large setting like this Assembly. There are issues such as the very real impact of climate change. When we talk about climate change, we’re talking about some of our people who are literally losing everything, including their identity. We have tried to create a situation where these young people can bring the attention of the Assembly to the Pacific; to move the spotlight. And when the spotlight is on them, they are able to relay the message of the Pacific islands’.