Colombia Reflection I (again)

We expanded our reflection upon learning that TUMC takes its kingdom reports seriously and allocates significant amount of time to them. Unfortunately, Melissa is not feeling well today and I delivered this report on our behalf:

Colombia is a land of paradox. There is great wealth in natural resources, yet millions suffer the injustice of poverty while 6 families control the majority of the wealth. On one hand there is great beauty: The beauty of flowers, which is Colombia’s largest legal export; the beauty of a people rich with culture and traditions; the beauty of artisans’ handicrafts. On the other hand, there is slash and burn agriculture; one of the highest densities of landmines in the world; and an ongoing 50 year civil conflict that leaves tens of thousands dead every year and the second highest number of internally displaced people in the world after Sudan.
In Colombia, millions of people live as Campesinos, or peasant farmers, living off land that has been farmed by their families for generations. When an armed group moves into a rural town, they will intimidate, buy votes, massacre to instill fear, and ultimately drive Campesinos off their land to make way for big oil, mining, or agri-business of both legal and illegal crops. It is hard for us in Canada to understand this. But try! If a group of armed men knocked on your door this afternoon and told you you must leave your home – Today – where would you go? What would you do?
For many, the answer is to flee to a nearby city, and sometimes from there to Bogota, the capital city where they anticipate receiving government support. But they arrive to find that employment opportunities are scarce at best and the government support is reserved for those that can prove they were displaced by the violence. So, you have a letter from the paramilitary commander verifying that he killed your spouse, don’t you? Left high and dry, many of these people end up in Cazucà, a slum of 300,000 on the outskirts of Bogotà. Upon arriving in Cazucà, we looked over a sea of make-shift shelters separated by dirt roads on the mountain side. Those who are recent arrivals make their homes with wood and tin, while people who have been there longer have “upgraded” to cinderblock. Where we visited, they had not had water for 3 weeks. Graffiti on the wall reads ¨If you don’t put your children to sleep by 6, we’ll put them to sleep for you¨ - a reminder from the paramilitary groups that are a constant presence even here.
In this context, MCC has partnered with Mencoldes, a Colombian Mennonite Church development agency to work for justice and peace in the neighbourhoods of Cazuca. One program is the Women’s Dreambuilders organization. We met with three women who have been participating in this program, and each of them told us that as they learned about the underlying social circumstances that have led to the conflict and brought them here, they became empowered to make a difference in their community. They began to understand the rights they have as people and as women. The program teaches them various skills and helps them find jobs. One of the women had a job at the Fruandes fruit drying plant that sells product at Ten Thousand Villages, and now she has received training to be a nurses assistant! Some of the women in this program have received support for income generation projects through MCC support and the living gift festival. All of these opportunities to improve their lives and their community have given these women hope and a sense of purpose in the midst of a suffering world.

I want to tell you about a church called Romanso de Paz in Sincelejo. This is a faith community that originally worshipped in rural Colombia until an armed group entered their town and carried out a massacre that left no family in the church unscathed. So the survivors quickly scattered and fled to the relative safety of the city. They were invited to split up and join several local churches, but pastor Adelina Flores feared that if they split up they would lose their identity as Campesinos, and despite the upheaval and not having enough food or a place to sleep she felt called by God to gather up the congregation and rebuild the church. God led her to an abandoned plot of land that was being used as a garbage dump and told her to build the church there. She didn’t understand God’s plan or how this was going to work, but she listened. They cleaned up the site, and built a beautiful open thatched roof structure. Then they became involved in providing for their own members needs and those in their wider community by offering literacy courses, income generation projects, conflict resolution training, and more.

Upon our arrival at this church, a group of members began singing to us as an introduction and welcome. I can not describe the intensity and passion with which they sang. Their songs tell the story of their peaceful existence before the arrival of the armed groups who began killing them. But then, “Where is my brother, where is my son?” The song asks. The pain is palpable. They continue, “Let us cry together dear sisters and brothers not of sadness but rather of enthusiasm, the God of the heavens has protected us and takes us by the hand.” What an amazing expression of faith. I don’t think I have faith like this. In Canada, in the midst of such affluence, it is easy to start to think that we are self sufficient – that we don’t need God or each other. It seems that the strongest faith is found in the face of greatest adversity. I do not wish any adversity on us here in Canada, and certainly I do not wish for another day of suffering that is going on in Colombia, but I pray that our hearts will be open to hear our brothers and sisters there at this time and be encouraged in our faith. In the Colombian people, and particularly in Cazuca and at Remanso de Paz, I see an amazing revelation of God’s love. Another line in their song says, “And so we invite you to join in our cry: May Peace reign! May Love reign!” We are a global family of faith. One member can not say to another, “I have no need of you.” The Colombian church is our family. Today, let us raise our voices and join their cry. May Peace reign! May Love reign!