The World Evangelical Alliance has at its International Leadership Forum in South Korea has expressed support for peace in divided Korea, championing women and girls in the Church and seeking to build bridges with other faiths.

The alliance's forum issued a statement on March 5 from Seoul in which it noted the WEA leadership was invited to attend the National Prayer Breakfast with South Korean President Geun-hye Park.

There Bishop Efraim Tendero, Secretary General of the WEA, offered a prayer on behalf of the alliance.

"Korea is the only nation that is still divided and the pain felt by its people and the separated families on both sides are difficult to describe in words alone," Tendero noted.

"It is our hope that God will make possible what seems impossible to man: to grant peace and an end to the division of the Korean peninsula."

Hosted from Feb. 29 to March 4 by the Christian Council of Korea, WEA's national member body, the ILF2016 consisted its international council, executive leadership, heads of regional evangelical alliances, heads of select national evangelical alliances, commission and initiative directors, and leaders of global partner organizations.

"After the cancellation of the General Assembly in 2014 that was to be hosted in Seoul, our coming to Korea allowed us to connect again with our member CCK and church leaders," Tendero said.

"We have strengthened our relationship with the people of a nation that has been richly blessed by God and in response has sent out over 20,000 missionaries into the whole world."

The annual gathering brought together some 90 leaders from 40 countries to strengthen partnership across organizational and geographical boundaries in key issues facing the Church today.

After the meeting WEA noted that women and girls make up half of the population of the world, "yet the Church is at times still more influenced by cultural rather than Biblical views on the role of women.

"The focus group will now 'create and promote a practical guide for the WEA and its constituency to engage, equip, encourage and mobilize men and women to be champions of women and girls in the Church, so that the WEA reflects a vision for how women can equally contribute to Church and society for the sake of the Gospel.'"

On intra-faith and inter-faith relations, the WEA explained that it is as one of the three world church bodies, serving some 600 million evangelicals.

"For many years, the WEA has held dialogues, seeking to build bridges of understanding while recognizing the differences of faith and values of the various faith bodies.

"The group focused on developing language that is understood in the widely differing contexts around the world as well as addressing specific issues concerning the relationship of the Church with people of other or no faith," the WEA said.