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Friends United
Meeting |
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July/August 2007
CPT in Colombia:
Working Hand-in-Hand with Local Churches
By Delycia Feustel
How are human rights taken from a community? How are families forced from their lands, scattered, their livelihood and dignity stolen, and left to despair in refugee camps and the barrios of the cities? In Colombia it has come about with the murder of ministers and community leaders. It happened by continued threats and fear of torture and death. It came by destroying the community organizations where people join together to support one another.
We Christians must ask ourselves, “What is the role of the Christian church?” Friends United Meeting is working toward answering this question through its participation on the Steering Committee of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).
A speech given by Ron Sider in 1986 at a Mennonite World Conference gave rise to the formation of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). In his speech Sider said, “Those who have believed in peace through the sword have not hesitated to die. Proudly, courageously, they gave their lives. Again and again, they sacrificed bright futures to the tragic illusion that one more righteous crusade would bring peace in their time. For their loved ones, for justice and for peace, they have laid down their lives by the millions. Why do we pacifists think that our way—Jesus’ way—to peace will be less costly?”
I went to Colombia with a CPT delegation and indeed these Christian men and women from Colombia, Canada and the United States work for peace and place themselves at risk.
After returning from Colombia and reflecting on my experiences, I asked myself, “What was the role that I saw of the Christian church in a country at war with itself?” The delegation I participated in spent a week in Bogota and a week in the region of Barrancabermeja (Barranca). While in Bogota, the Mennonite Church, Iglesia Menonita Teusaquillo served as our host. Their minister, Peter Stucky, spoke of some of the responsibilities of the church to not only nurture the Mennonite community but to shelter those in danger of torture and death, to work with the non-governmental agencies for peace and justice, to teach and practice conscientious objection, to train others in the way of peace and justice with nonviolent action and to work with CPT. Throughout the delegation’s brief time it was obvious that the Mennonite fellowship was working to achieve these goals.
The CPT work in Colombia was not what I had expected. CPT only goes to areas where they are invited to do peace work that is mutually agreed upon by themselves and those who invite them. They do not enter a country with their own agenda to be imposed on the people. Though they witness to their faith in Christ through their lives and the peace work that they do, they do not see their mission as that of evangelizing. The full-time team has worked effectively with other NGO’s and governmental organizations so that dialog and working relationships to meet the need of the Colombian people was evident.
One of our first activities was a gathering at the church for a weekly moment of prayer. The woman who spoke—and I will use no names to protect those still at risk of torture and death—was part of an organization that works with families of victims who were killed. They work to reveal the injustice of the deaths; they work to protect their families who continue to live in fear. She emphasized the need for justice, not revenge, and the need for symbols to remember those who were killed so they are not forgotten.
Another member of the church prepared many delicious meals for us and also spoke about his work with Justo Paz (Justice and Peace). He spoke of their work with other evangelical churches to teach peace as well as their work with youth on how to be actively nonviolent and to be a conscientious objector.
From the number of individuals and organizations who took the risk and time to speak with a small delegation of seven people from North America, it is evident that the CPT mission and workers are highly regarded. We were honored to have a member of Teusaquillo speak to us. Prior to our meeting him we were advised that his hands shook not from nervousness but from nerve damage resulting from torture. He was in so much danger that he moved every day or so to a different home. He spoke of his devotion to human rights and justice for the Colombian people. It was not until he was asked to relate his personal story that we learned he had been a professor at Barranca. The oil workers union of Barranca went on strike to protest privatization. He joined them in their struggle and was captured and tortured. He is now an advisor of a coalition of 14 organizations working with indigenous people in Colombia. After his torture and release he left Colombia out of fear for his life and those of his family members.
We heard other personal first-hand stories of Colombians who had been threatened or whose family members had been killed. We heard how they had succeeded in escaping to other countries, only to return to Colombia. Their deep faith led them to do the very thing Ron Sider called, challenged, all of us to do.
I found two of our experiences especially moving. The CPT delegates joined the youth of Teusaquillo to prepare and pass out food to the homeless. They do this every Saturday evening. Several of us joined the youth at the church where they were busy packaging single servings from huge cooking pots. Everyone knew their role in the production line process. The CPT gringos were soon included and put to work helping package over 400 meals. As soon as the last meal was packaged about 23 of us hustled out of the church and into two waiting vehicles.
We drove to a square in Bogota next to the police station. We were advised to leave valuables in the van and not take pictures. We piled out and prepared to pass out the meal, which consisted of the hot bags of food with a spoon and bread.
No sooner had they set down the bags of food than the homeless started drifting in from all sides of the square. Two policemen appeared with huge guns and walked around us the entire time. Three young men greeted the homeless and visited, moving up and down the line quickly and including everyone. Most of the homeless were men. Most were silent. Some spoke incoherently or came over after receiving their food to say thank you again and again.
I have seen small clusters of three or four homeless in large cities of the United States and Europe. In Bogota, I saw over 400 homeless people drift into the square from all directions. They would get into line, receive the food and disappear down the side streets as they ate. I was reminded of how fog moves from the river, across the meadow by my home in New Hampshire and then disappears. If I look I see it passing quickly. If I am not paying attention, I miss it and that is a shame.
Another experience that impacted me was the day we learned of social cleansing. The delegation went to a public action against social cleansing—killing youth who are considered to be a bad influence—that is ongoing in one of the 15 cities of Bogota. We visited the mission site of another Mennonite church in Casuca, a barrio in south Bogota where poor and displaced people from all over Colombia come and where the cleansing is occurring.
The center was initiated by one Mennonite woman who saw a need in the area to minister to the displaced. They started with 40 children and 25 families coming to the mission. They now serve 150 children and 105 families with 37 volunteers working six days a week. Initially they offered services only to the displaced, but now the poor residents of Casuca are welcome as well. Their work centers on values and nonviolence— both military and domestic. We visited the classrooms where the youth spoke of their lives in Casuca, of the fear of being outside after 6 pm when it starts to grow dark, of finding the bodies of youth caught out after 6 pm with signs on their bodies stating this would happen to those who disobeyed the warning. Those who work in the mission of Casuca leave by 4 pm out of fear of violence.
These are only a few of the ways I saw how the Mennonite Church is serving the people of Colombia.
Peter Stucky, the Mennonite minister of Teusaquillo, ended his talk referring to Micah 4 and Isaiah 2. He said, “We have to do our part and the rest is up to God.” Now it is for me to continue to seek discernment about what is my part?
Delycia Feustel is a member of Hanover Friends Meeting in Hanover, New Hampshire. She is retired. Delycia participated in a CPT delegation to the Middle East in April 2007 and has been accepted to participate in the CPT training this summer.