 They spread to Africa, and then to Asia where some have morphed into models for neighborliness in modern urban and ecumenical environments, with the hope that Christian renewal at the peripheries will impact cultural centers.In the 1960s Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) spread rapidly, encouraged by the emphasis which the Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council and at the Latin American Medellin Conference gave to more active engagement of the laity in living the gospel imperatives.BECs realize the presence of the church in all its aspects, as communion, servant, herald, sacrament, and institution.