by Xia Maria Mackay, Christian Today
The World Evangelical Alliance general assembly concluded in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday evening after four days of discussion and deliberation about key issues affecting evangelicalism and the task of fulfilling the Great Commission.
During the gathering, Rev Botrus Mansour was installed as the new Secretary General of the WEA, ending a year and a half vacancy in the top position. Hailing from Nazareth, Rev Mansour brings a wealth of experience to the role as a former lawyer who has held various leadership positions across church and educational bodies in the Holy Land, including Co-Chairman of the Lausanne Initiative for Reconciliation Israel-Palestine.
Speaking to reporters, he said he was filling “large shoes” and that while his new appointment was “overwhelming”, he was “here to serve”.
In his first address as Secretary General of the WEA on Thursday night, he said it was “special” to be appointed Secretary General as a Palestinian Christian from Israel, and coming so soon after the ceasefire agreement reached with Hamas.
“I give tribute to my people and my country,” he said, adding that it was his prayer that the ceasefire will last.
He said he was “really humbled” to be elected as Secretary General and felt a “big responsibility” for the organisation which has 161 national alliances around the world, representing over 650 million evangelicals.
“I’m here to serve,” he repeated, as he spoke of his desire to see a WEA marked by “teamwork” and “unity”, and the strengthening of regional alliances.
“We are different people but we have one spirit, we have one mission, one core of beliefs. Can we rise up to the level of Jesus’s prayer – ‘Let them be one as we are one’?” he said.
Later on in his address, Rev Mansour said he wanted to “reclaim” the word ‘evangelical’ and bring it back to its original meaning as ‘bearers of good news’.