Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado told evangelical leaders from 22 countries on Monday that she would not be ashamed to speak about the gospel while in office, as the Latin Evangelical Alliance opened its 13th General Assembly in San José.
Fernández attended the opening session with members of her cabinet and lawmakers from the Legislative Assembly. Also present were members of the alliance’s regional board, presidents of national alliances, representatives of associated entities and leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).
The Latin Evangelical Alliance, known by its Spanish acronym AEL, brings together national evangelical alliances and fellowships from 22 countries. According to official reports presented at the opening, its full members and associated entities represent millions believers and hundreds of thousands of congregations across the Ibero-American region.
The assembly continues through the week with plenary sessions, morning devotionals, working panels and meetings of the AEL’s 16 technical commissions. The commissions cover areas including religious freedom, humanitarian affairs, children, education, communications and government relations.
President speaks on faith, crime and religious freedom
Fernández was introduced by Jorge Gómez Varela, vice president of the AEL, secretary of the International Council of the World Evangelical Alliance and a former president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation.
“It falls to me to introduce a person whom I appreciate and whom I have known for more than two decades. A person who has been not only consistent with her values, but also persistent. She has been a person who has fought for those values that we as believers, evangelical believers, also fight for and defend,” Gómez said.
In her speech to the delegates, Fernández spoke about her faith and her role in public office.
“How am I going to feel ashamed to speak about the gospel, or how am I going to feel ashamed to say that I am a person of Christian principles and values, if it is Jesus Christ who has me here?” she said.
She also pointed to security as a priority of her administration.
“God brought me here to fight to banish narco-terrorism from Costa Rica, to banish organized crime, so that Costa Rica does not become a paradise for organized crime,” she said.
Fernández closed her remarks by addressing religious freedom in the country.
“The doors of Costa Rica are wide open to support the various missions of the Church,” she said. “This is a country where we have absolute freedom of worship, absolute respect for freedom of worship, where there is no persecution on account of religious creeds.”
‘We do not seek privileges, we seek to serve’
Pastor Juan Cruz Cellamare, president of the AEL, addressed Fernández directly as he described the reach of the alliance’s network.
“Tonight, in this hall, Madam President, a family of faith is represented that brings together 24 evangelical alliances and fellowships from 22 countries — perhaps one cannot have the exact figures, but [a family] that gathers more than 160 million evangelicals across the continent and more than 400,000 evangelical churches, there could be more,” Cellamare said.
He also described the social and community work that member churches carry out across the region.
“We support schools, high schools and institutes that train thousands of young people; we accompany the sick in clinics, hospitals and homes; we work in the prevention of addictions, violence and family breakdown; we are the first to arrive with every form of humanitarian aid when disasters strike; and we go into prisons to bring hope and restoration to those whom society often gives up for lost,” he said.
Cellamare said the alliances are open to working with governments.
“We are always open to collaborating with the governments of the day in everything that benefits our peoples. We do not seek privileges; we seek to serve and to share the love of God,” he said.
WEA secretary general addresses delegates
Botrus Mansour, secretary general of the WEA, traveled to Costa Rica to attend the assembly’s working sessions and address the delegates.
“I love the theme you chose for this conference: alignment, mission, unity. Unity is extremely important. It was the original passion of the World Evangelical Alliance when it began more than 180 years ago,” Mansour said.
He also described how evangelicals from different denominations first came together in the 19th century.
“All these evangelicals were excited and felt that God was backing them. And they said: ‘Let’s put our differences aside and let’s organize a worldwide organization to be united and to do God’s mission,’” he said.
[Photo caption] Representatives of 22 countries gather in San José, Costa Rica, for the 13th General Assembly of the AEL. Christian Daily International
Costa Rican federation welcomes delegations
Pastor Ronald Vargas Badilla, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation, gave the opening address on behalf of the host federation.
“Tonight we are not only opening the doors of an assembly: we are opening our arms, our hearts and our nation to receive men and women of God who represent millions of believers throughout our beloved Latin America,” Vargas said.
“This assembly should not be understood solely as an institutional, administrative or organizational meeting; it is much more than that: it is a gathering of brothers and sisters, a visible expression of the unity of the body of Christ and an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen the spiritual bonds that unite our nations,” he said.
Vargas also recognized the national alliance leaders in attendance.
“We especially recognize the participation of our 22 national alliances, represented by their respective presidents, who constitute an expression of unity and representativeness in the evangelical church on our continent,” he said.
[Photo caption] Pastor Ronald Vargas, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation, welcomes delegations to the AEL General Assembly. Christian Daily International
Video presentations during the ceremony covered the host country and traced the AEL’s history, from its origins in 2001 under the Ibero-American Forum for Evangelical Dialogue (Foro Iberoamericano de Diálogo Evangélico) to its formal founding on Nov. 2, 2013, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.
