You need to come to Italy next February for the Global Baptist Peace Conference. It isn’t cheap, and the tanking economy is giving us all the jitters. But if you’ve ever dreamed of being in a room full of Baptist-flavored people from every continent who believe that God is more taken with the agony of the earth than with the ecstasy of heaven, you need to make this journey. Or help someone else make it.

The gathering in Rome will be the fifth in a series of international Baptist peace conferences. With the co-sponsorship of the European Baptist Federation, 170 Baptists from 26 countries gathered in Sweden in August 1988 for the first-ever global conference devoted to justice, peace and human rights concerns.

That first conference was attuned to Cold War threats and East-West rivalries. Which is why the focus for the next gathering—hosted by the Baptist Convention of Nicaragua in 1992 on the anniversary of Columbus’ geographically-confused Global South by the North.

By the early 1990s, leaders of Alliance partner Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America were becoming acquainted with the courageous work of nonviolent activists among Baptists in Asia. At the invitation of these leaders, BPFNA assisted in the planning process led by the Asian Baptist Federation (ABF). The 1996 conference—the largest such gathering outside formal ABF conventions— was specifically for Asia but employed conflict transformation trainers from four continents.

Previously not permitted to hold these events in conjunction with the Baptist World Alliance quinquennial Congress, Australian Baptists—hosts for the January 2000 Congress—paved the way for another international peace conference in the days leading up to the Congress in Melbourne.

That brings us to Rome in 2009. Won’t you join us? Directly, with your presence, or indirectly, with your support for others? Can’t go to Rome yourself but want to support the conference? Baptist activists from the undeveloped and underdeveloped countries need financial assistance to attend. American Baptist Churches International Ministries serves as fiscal agent for this scholarship fund. For information on how you can contribute, send an e-mail to ken@circleofmercy.org.

For more information and to register visit globalbaptistpeace.org.