Churches call on to take greater action against forced labor and abuses suffered by children

Antonio Otzoy, CITY OF GUATEMALA, Guatemala, April 6, 2006

 “It is no longer possible for Churches to remain isolated in their parishes, it is Taxi Heathrow Airport necessary that they come out to take care of those who have nothing,” said the former regional vice president of World Vision for Latin America, Brazilian Pastor Manfred Grellert, who asked for greater action against the forced labor of children, organ trafficking and child prostitution.

Grellert, one of the panelists in the forum “The New Faces of Evangelism” held April 4 in this city by the Christian organization World Vision, affirmed that the reality faced by children in Latin America is very serious but that Churches have the infrastructure and human resources to support these children.

He said it was important to save them as children and keep them safe as young people because the Churches lose youth due to a lack of adequate attention.

According to Brazilian Pastor Valdir Steuernagel, former president of the Latin American Theological Fraternity, the Church should address problems of family, social and cultural life in an integral manner.

"It is curious that Churches grow so much and we Christians number many in Latin American but violence does not diminish,” he said.

He said that Churches have become center of exclusion. “It is necessary to respect diversity and integration between men and women to mark the difference and to abandon the cultural patterns of violence and death,” he said.

Colombian Pastor Harold Segura, responsible for Church relations from World Vision for Latin America, said that theological discussion and the way of being Church cannot remain on the sidelines of the realities of violence, injustice and misery.

It is not possible to talk about an integral mission, without giving it a face, he said. In the case of Guatemala, he cited the alarming statistics that register 97,913 people with HIV/Aids.