| For Freedom Three times per year the United Nation's Human Rights Council has regularly scheduled sessions. During these sessions, the focus is on the human rights situations in a selected group of countries along with a special focus on certain countries where there is cause for serious concern. During the current, 47th session, special focus is being given to, among other countries, Ukraine/Crimea, Myanmar, and Syria.
As Baptist World Alliance (BWA) representative to the UN's Geneva campus, Shane has focused on three of these countries/situations for the 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The screenshots above are from the three oral statements Shane prepared.
The conflict in Ukraine/Crimea began in 2014 and the impact on freedom of religion or belief for religious minorities, including Baptists, living in the impacted regions has been dramatic. Churches have been closed. Clergy have been arrested and/or fined. Religious literature, including Bibles that are the same translations used by the Russian Orthodox church, have been confiscated and destroyed for being "extremist."
In Myanmar, the military junta has been increasingly violent in their crackdown, even targeting medical workers and first responders. The BWA statement called for a complete arms embargo and to call for access for aid providers for people who are suffering during the humanitarian crisis. (As an aside, for every preacher who has braved a litany of names from a genealogy in Scripture while preaching, "...ethnic and religious minorities including the Rohingya, Kachin, Shan, Chin, Karen and Ta'ang..." was a challenging list to work through--particularly when pressed to say everything in a 90 second video!)
In Syria, the conflict has gone on for more than a decade. The use of sanctions to limit the power of those who are responsible for many atrocities in the country have had little impact on resolving the conflict. Instead, the biggest impact of most of the sanctions are being borne by ordinary Syrians. Combined with the closure of humanitarian border crossings in some parts of the country not under government control, the result has been more and more aid is now under government control with innocent civilians bearing the brunt of the impact.
Freedom to have, practice, or change one's religion is promised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As people of faith, as baptists, we speak clearly that the right of all people to have and practice a religion is not a matter for the state to decide. This declaration of freedom is our baptist birthright going back to the very beginnings of the baptist movement. Declaring this right, in harmony with other human rights, is the goal of Shane's involvement at the United Nations. | 
A pile of brightly colored tissue paper or shiny ribbons; homemade cake or cookies from a package; a cup of coffee or tea; add some ladies around a table and you have a recipe for a great afternoon of fun and fellowship.
