As I write this introduction to the Report on the May 2002 meeting of the International Network Forum on Multicultural Ministry (INFORM), my memory is filled with the colour, sounds and scents of the house and gardens of the Redemptorist Centre in Pattaya. I recall not only palm trees and bougainvillea, with the pungent freshness of earth after heavy rain, but the amazing variety and richness of the many faces and voices, expressions in dance, music and story that filled the meeting rooms, flowed into the dining areas and gathered in the still space of the chapel. This Report offers a story of surprise and gladness, of much hope and hard work. Surprise and gladness as the list developed of those involved in Christian communities with members from many different cultural backgrounds. In 1999 in Sydney, the seeds of awareness were scattered. Then, as the Gospel of Mark pictures it, participants went home and proceeded with living – going to bed and getting up. The seed sprouted and grew, no one knows how. The growth was nourished with conversations, connections, communications, prayer, and the impact of world events. Somehow the growth happened. The reality of the eight major areas of concern, which appear in the Report, became clearer and the desire to seek for wisdom together enabled individuals to take some responsibility for this work.

The Pattaya gathering has shown us the strength of a network for sharing, encouraging and confirming one another. The gathering has shown the strength of a network for prioritising among the concerns of multicultural ministry in particular life situations and for clarifying, acknowledging ignorance or fault, and giving and receiving forgiveness. It opened the possibilities of strength for us to begin some of the work of caring about and confronting discrimination, prejudice and many consequent injustices. These injustices become unacceptable for those who pray, in their many languages, the prayer that Jesus taught us; the Our Father.

The final symbol of the Pattaya days was a fishing net. One of the participants described it as follows: “When we came back from our prayer time, there was a great surprise waiting for us in the plenary hall - a net expanded with all our names in it, and some of the papers of personal meditation and insights. We are in the net, not imprisoned but linked together ...”

The work will move forward under the care of a newly formed Steering Group of regional representatives together with one member of the WCC Mission and Ecumenical Formation programme. With collaboration between the outgoing and the new Steering group, the follow-up is to include commitment to and support and encouragement for regional networking. Follow-up will focus on the varied Regional priorities that have been named. The outcome of this work will, it is hoped, provide a valuable contribution to the next World Mission Conference and will give further witness to that power of truth and justice, love and peace which is the gift offered to us by Christ our Lord.

Sister Elizabeth Moran is Roman Catholic Consultant, Mission and Ecumenical Formation Programme, World Council of Churches