United Methodist Mission Head Makes Appeal to G8
The top mission leader of the United Methodist Church has called on the heads of the world’s eight richest nations to expand their efforts to assist the poorest countries.
The top mission leader of the United Methodist Church has called on the heads of the world’s eight richest nations to expand their efforts to assist the poorest countries.
The Rev. R. Randy Day, the General Secretary for the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), made the appeal on the eve of the 2005 meeting of the G-8 nations in Gleneagles, Scotland on July 6-8.
“The richest nations stand under the judgment of history and, some of us believe, under the judgment of God, to find hearts of compassion in response to global poverty,” he said in a statement released by GBGM.
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Day expressed the hope that the G-8 meeting in Scotland would build on an early June action that cancels $40 billion in debt owed by 18 poor countries.
The general secretary noted that his mission agency and many other religious organizations and ordinary citizens around the world have worked hard to focus the attention of the G-8 on global poverty. He praised the efforts of the churches in the United Kingdom to dramatize the needs of much of the world as the G-8 convenes in Gleneagles.
“Is it not unconscionable for a few to have so much while the many have so little?” he asked. “Is it not in the self interest of the powerful countries to assist the weaker, increasing markets and economic incentives, increasing prospects of peace, and increasing the pool of well-educated young people?”
“We urge the richest nations to heed our call of justice and fairness and echo it from the high places of Scotland,” Day said. According to the General Board of Global Ministries, the alleviation of human suffering and the advocacy for justice and peace are among the goals of the organization.
The top leaders of most of the G-8 nations who will gather beginning tomorrow are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States. They collectively control most of the world’s economy.
