Moving beyond the Pew… to Colombia

 

Our daughter Hannah has lived in Colombia for the past three and half years. In late August, the rebel faction known as FARC, and the government of Colombia signed a peace accord. After over 50 years of armed conflict, and four years of negotiations in Cuba, the two major groups agreed to the end of hostilities against one another. Yesterday, they had the formal signing the capital city of Bogota. All the important people on both sides dressed up in white clothes. I am thinking it was symbolic of purity and peace. The President said after the singing, that “ the horrible night of violence is over. “ The War is over after 50 years and hundreds of thousands of military and civilian deaths.  

 

There is one final action that must be taken. The whole country will vote on the agreement on Sunday October 1.  A simple majority of 50 plus one, of people voting yes, will lead to the implementation of the details in the accord. Please pray that the country will take this courageous step of voting for peace.

 

In the streets of Bogota yesterday, there was dancing and excitement that this day will be the beginning of something new. There is talk about having a truth and  reconciliation commission modelled on the one in South Africa and Canada. This means telling the story of pain and suffering and death. I noticed in the news feeds, that there many young people singing and happy about what has begun. Please pray for the people of Colombia.

 

The Canadian government has pledged $57 million dollars for the peace accord in Colombia. Please continue to talk to Canadian politicians to give money, support and diplomacy towards this new day in Colombia. The danger for Canada and other countries, including the USA, is to tell the Colombians how this is going to work.  Please pray that the people outside the country do not intervene in destructive ways.

 

Paul, that early church writer and leader, wrote a letter to a group of followers of Jesus Christ in the community of Ephesus. Ephesus was a large city-state in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Many soldiers were stationed there. There was a small, but powerful, Jewish community living there among the majority of Greek speaking people. Paul wanted to bring people together so they might thrive together.

 

Paul wrote, that “ he [ Jesus Christ] himself is our peace, who has made the two ( or three or four ) groups one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. “ The Greeks, the Jews and the Roman Empire had  different histories, cultures and ideas. They ate different foods, spoke different languages and worshipped different gods.

 

Paul invites all these people to be together. The work of Jesus as teacher, healer, storyteller and saviour demands that we find ways to work together. Paul spent a lot of time in Ephesus, speaking and listening to the lives of the people there. But, in the end, it was for that small church in Ephesus to figure it out, and live together in peace.

For Colombia, the dividing wall of hostility is now broken down. The rebels are to drop their weapons. They are to be given farmland, and are to be re-trained to be to work in the communities where they live. There has been much mayhem over these 50 years, and there must be repentance and forgiveness for all people. These issues are very difficult.

 

Please pray for Colombia. Dear God, “ We pray for the country of Colombia, its leaders, it pople and its community. Shirley and I pray for our daughter Hannah. Allow her to be a voice of peace to the communities and she lives and work in. Give her the ears to listen , as the people of Colombia begin this new journey of peace, justice and reconciliation. AMEN.