Thursday, October 18, 2007

Palenquero

Many thanks to Alice Winters for sending along this link to a New York Times article and slide show on the language and culture of San Basilio de Palenque, an Afro-descendant community in northern Colombia. This town was established in the seventeenth century by slaves who seized and defended their own freedom. The Presbyterian Church of Colombia (along with ecumenical partners) is involved in ministery with two related displaced communities near Palenque.

Slideshow: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/10/18/world/20071018_COLOMBIA_index.html

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/americas/18colombia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Thursday, September 6, 2007

The essence of accompaniment

As you all know, I am deeply involved with accompaniment in Colombia. What you may not realize is that accompaniment is something that has been dear to my heart for many years now, and it has deeper and broader meaning than the specific example we are all familiar with from our work in Colombia.

When I lived in Uruguay, one of the things that stood out to me most about the culture is the way people regularly offer to accompany one another in all the tasks of everyday life. If I had an errand to run or a visit to pay, my host sister would say, “Te acompaño.” I’ll go with you. It was just an everyday way of doing things, a natural and genuine impulse.

This simple feature of life and relationships in rural Uruguay quickly became second nature to me, but it has been somewhat difficult for me to keep it as a part of my life here in the states. Here we value our independence and we like to imagine we have things under control. We value efficiency: why send two when one can do the job? The idea that someone would want to come along with us just for the sake of being with us is sometimes unsettling, but I think we need to keep at it.

The best way for me to learn about you and your experience is to walk beside you and share in that experience. If I walk by your side, we will have chances to talk and share stories with one another. Or sometimes we may simply walk in silence, but I will have seen and heard and smelt things along the road.

Accompaniment is an important model for the life of the Church. It can be practiced within our congregations, in our families, and across the globe, this way of coming together and learning about each other’s lives and experiences. When we walk together, we are not divided into leaders and followers, helpers and people in need. We do not seek to change the one with whom we walk, we simply walk alongside her and share in her experience of the world.

We walk together because it is not good for us to be alone. When we walk with each other, we get a taste of one another’s lives, and we begin to appreciate and understand one another. I wonder if we can’t learn even more by walking a mile at someone’s side than by walking a mile in her shoes.

As far as I can tell, the deepest benefit that comes from our accompaniment program in Colombia is the very real solidarity that is made present in our relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not to discount the protective aspect of our presence, which is certainly important. But the transformation of lives comes, I think, from the way in which we embody our unity by journeying together. The distances between us are not enough to separate us, for we are one in the love of Christ. We, though many, and very diverse, are one body. When one member suffers, all suffer together with it, and when one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

This is why I think accompaniment should be something we do in every part of church life, in our families and local communities as well as around the world. Accompaniment is about taking the time to walk together, to share the journey. Accompaniment isn’t just about going to the church in Colombia or elsewhere in time of crisis, it’s about living out the reality that we are one body. It is good for us to walk together and get to know one another in a tangible way.

Friday, April 6, 2007

Unpacking dreams

A few days ago a friend of mine asked if I would share these beautiful words at a gathering, and that reminder made me think of sharing them here. They are words by a friend and human rights advocate from Colombia, written last fall shortly after he left his beloved country in order to protect his physical integrity. This is my translation of his heartbreaking and inspiring letter:


It’s almost two weeks I’ve been out of the country and it seems as though it were only yesterday that I took that plane, that I packed my dreams, my illusions, my hopes. There are so, so many things, so many ideas spinning around in my head, so many feelings discovered, so much pain, so great the suffering of our people, of us ourselves, my own...

I couldn’t keep a tear from running down my cheek as if it were seeking a refuge, I couldn’t keep from crying, I couldn’t keep myself from trembling when I got off the plane, when I heard people speaking in a language that is not Spanish, I couldn’t keep from being afraid, from feeling naked, unprotected.

Behind... all my life, my family, my girlfriend. Behind me a country, a people that silently resists in the face of so much barbarity, a people full of martyrs, more than 70 thousand victims, with more than 5 million campesinos and people from peripheral neighborhoods of the cities, from the makeshift slums displaced by the military- paramilitary, with a government that sows terror, with a regime that generates social injustice, with more than four decades of living a civil war.

A friend, Sara, had asked me for a name to be spoken in the ceremony at the School of the Americas, I couldn’t give it to her because there are already so many men and so many women close to me, who I knew and shared things with, who taught me so much and who were vilely assasinated by the State in its strategy of low-intensity warfare, in its strategy of assassinating beneath the cover of darkness and fog. That’s why I couldn’t give Sara a name. When she wrote me asking for it, as a gesture of solidarity with me, I remembered each one of those who are no longer here, I believe that at 26 I’ve seen all the assassinations I needed to see in my life... That’s why I couldn’t give Sara a name.

Now I am hiding, leaving the country for a distant land, for another country so that the weapons of hatred, the weapons of injustice, the assassin arms of the State, of its paramilitaries might not assassinate me...

Now from this place I will unpack my dreams and my hopes anew, to carry on, to continue, to prepare myself to return with the surety, with the faith and the hope that one day those things will have to change, that one day we will all be able to be together, those who are no longer here, those of us who have left, those who will come to rebuild our homeland, that it might be like spring, that it might be the rainbow of flowers...

I try to control myself as I pick up my suitcase in the airport, I still tremble and my eyes must be shot, many people greet one another, they embrace, it is reencounter, it is the magic of life... as I exit, a friend awaits me, he smiles, in him the solidarity of the peoples is reflected, in him is the proof that a different world is possible, he looks at me, he hugs me close, he doesn’t say anything, there are more than enough words and in his embrace he understands and feels that the pain of our Colombia is the pain of humanity...

Almost two weeks now and it seems as if it were only yesterday...

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Action Request

Death Threat Against Community Leader
report from Church Commission for Justice and Peace

“My face is red with weeping, deep shadows ring my eyes.
Yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure.
Oh earth, do not cover my blood, May my cry never be laid to rest.”
Job 16: 16-18

SUMMARY –
On Saturday 17 of March - 6:30 p.m. ENRIQUE PETRO and all his family were threatened by paramilitary groups that operate under the name of “Black Eagles”. The telephone threat came days after the destruction of the Ethical Commission’s Monument of Memory and the boundary fences of the Humanitarian Zones and the Zones of Biodiversity. While these actions against the afro-descendants and mestizos happen, the ex or demobilized groups operate with side-arms and radios of communication, and illegally occupy the titled estates of individuals and collectives within Curvaradó.

ENRIQUE PETRO witnessed the crime against the afro-colombian leader, Orlando Valencia in October of 2005. ENRIQUE PETRO has been an inhabitant and the legitimate owner of 130 hectares of land within the Collective Territory of the Curvaradó, for more than 46 years. His land was taken by the paramilitary and was planted with palm by Urapalma, after his forced displacement, a crime against one of his children and an attempt on his life. Within his property and in agreement with the Law he has managed to avoid having 30 hectares of land planted with palm. Since April of 2006, this has been a Humanitarian Zone to protect the life of the inhabitants.

REQUESTS - To urgently contact by fax/email the following:

FRANCISCO SANTOS, Vice-president of the Republic
fax: 011-571-334-1138
Email: fsantos@presidencia.gov.co

FERNANDO ARAUJO, Minister of Foreign Relations
fax: 011-571-282-5802
Email: cancilleria@cancilleria.gov.co

CARLOS HOLGUIN SARDI, Minister of the Interior & Justice
fax: 011- 571-560-4630
Email: dhdirector@mij.gov.co

ANDRES FELIPE ARIAS LEIVA, Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development
011-571-284-1775
Email: ministro@minagricultura.gov.co

JUAN LOZANO, Minister of the Environment
011-571-332-3434
Email: atencionalusuario@minambiente.gov.co

Demand the adoption of immediate measures of protection for the life and personal integrity of ENRIQUE PETRO, his family and the inhabitants of the Curvaradó including:

- Confrontation of the paramilitary structures that are in Belen de Bajirá, Mutatá, Brisas, Andalucia and Caño Claro.
- Relieving the state agents of 17th Brigade and Police of Urabá of their duties and commands and modifying the institutional structures that operate in complicity with the new criminal structures.
- Immediate cessation of the planting and extraction of palm and its transport to Mutatá with administrative and police measures of the Ministry of Agriculture, Interior and Environment
- Restitution of the individual and collective property to the legitimate owners of the Curvaradó.


Bogota, D.C. March 22 of 2007
COMMISSION INTERECLESIAL OF JUSTICE AND PEACE

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Peace Dove

A week ago, I had the joy of taking part in the sixth training for accompaniers. One part of the training event was a presentation of personal testimony from an Afro-Colombian couple that is in sanctuary in Chicago. Their stories were deeply moving, and we were all so grateful for their candor in telling us what the reality in their home region is like.

After their presentation, I drove them to the train station, and we had the chance to continue in somewhat lighter conversation. Somehow we started talking about pigeons and how dirty they can make things. We were speaking in Spanish, so I commented that in English we have two different words for the Spanish "paloma". One is pigeon, the kind of paloma that infests city streets. The other is called dove, the one that stands for peace. This led us to the sad observation that the paloma de la paz, the one we really need in the streets, is the one that is hardest to find.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Current Events

The following article is from the Boston Globe, and provides an accessible summary of recent events in the "parapolitics" of Colombia as a way of underscoring the implications of US ties:

Colombia political scandal imperiling US ties
Congressional support for ally eroding

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff | February 25, 2007

BOGOTÁ -- Just two weeks ahead of a high-profile visit by President Bush to Latin America, the United States' key partner on the continent is engulfed in an extraordinary scandal that threatens to undermine the credibility of US alliances and policy priorities from Mexico to Argentina.

The widening probe linking dozens of political allies of Colombia's president, Álvaro Uribe, to the country's right-wing death squads and drug traffickers has started to erode support on Capitol Hill for Colombia, the biggest recipient of US aid outside the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The United States has spent $4.7 billion since 2000 fighting drugs and the insurgency in Colombia. In a show of support for his center-right ally, President Bush is scheduled next month to be the first US president since John F. Kennedy to visit the Colombian capital of Bogotá.

But after a week that saw the ouster of Uribe's foreign minister over her family's ties to paramilitary militias and the arrest of his hand picked former secret police chief for murder, the next casualty of the scandal could be America's reputation. The region feels forgotten by and estranged from Washington, D.C., since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and a string of victories by leftist presidents.

Bush is not expected to offer significant new aid or trade in his March 8-14 tour, his nemesis Hugo Chávez of oil-rich Venezuela is traversing the continent with an open checkbook.

"Who have we staked all of our political capital on in Latin America? Uribe," said Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy, a think tank in Washington. "If this scandal engulfs him or his armed forces, it will be a devastating blow to the whole design of US policy."

The "para-political" scandal burst open last fall, when a computer seized from paramilitary leader "Jorge 40" revealed the names of dozens of politicians who supposedly collaborated with paramilitaries in intimidating voters, seizing land, and kidnapping or killing labor unionists and political rivals. Other revelations followed, including secret documents signed by officials pledging moral support or kickbacks to the illegal militias.

The paramilitaries formed in the 1980s to combat leftist guerrillas who have terrorized the population for more than 40 years. But the militias, like their leftist rivals, were soon implicated in massacres, kidnapping, and drug trafficking to the United States. The paramilitary umbrella group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, is classified as a terrorist organization by Washington, and many of its leaders are wanted for extradition on drug charges.

In a peace process started by Uribe, about 31,000 alleged paramilitary fighters had put down their weapons and agreed to confess to crimes in exchange for lighter penalties, making way for investigations into links to powerful elites.

Eight pro-Uribe congressmen have been arrested for collaborating with paramilitaries, and dozens of national and regional politicians, some who have apparently fled the country, are under investigation. Pro-Uribe legislators, as well as the opposition, have called for special elections to "cleanse" Congress, to erase suspicions that many may have won because of support from paramilitaries. A decorated colonel has been relieved of his post, and other former military officials are also under investigation.

On Monday, Uribe's foreign minister, María Consuelo Araújo, resigned after the Supreme Court arrested her brother, an Uribe-allied senator, for involvement in the kidnapping of a political rival. Her father, a former governor, another brother, and a cousin are also under investigation.

On Thursday came the worst blow. Jorge Noguera, who served as Uribe's campaign manager and later as head of Colombia's secret police, was arrested by the attorney general. Noguera is accused of giving a hit list of trade unionists and activists to paramilitaries, who then killed them. Another former secret police official is serving an 18- year sentence for purging police records of paramilitaries and drug traffickers.

Already, the scandal has had a ripple effect on Capitol Hill, where questions are being raised about requests for an additional $4 billion in antinarcotics aid and a free-trade pact is up for approval.

"American taxpayers deserve assurances that the Colombian government has severed links to these terrorist groups," said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees US foreign-assistance programs. "[This] scandal only reinforces the need to reassess who we are dealing with, whether adequate corrective steps are being taken, and what we are getting for our money."

For the Bush administration, Uribe has been a staunch and rare supporter in a region increasingly dominated by leftist or anti-US leaders. But with Colombia's Congress opening hearings next month into paramilitary power in Uribe's home state, including accusations against Uribe's brother, the scandal threatens to swallow up the president himself.

Uribe's defenders at home and in Washington are standing firm, countering that it is his success in persuading paramilitaries to disarm and confess that has shed light on the links to illegal militias. A recent Gallup Colombia poll gave Uribe a 73 percent approval rating.

"The US applauds the Colombian government for its determination to investigate, and where appropriate, prosecute all charges of ties to paramilitary organizations and other illegal armed groups," Eric Watnik, a State Department spokesman, said in a telephone interview from Washington.

But with Bush set to visit Bogotá, US policy to Colombia will be under the microscope. In addition to Democrats in Congress, some of Colombia's neighbors may question why Washington sticks by an administration in the midst of a humiliating crisis.

US Representative William D. Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat active in Latin American affairs, said evidence of the right-of-center government's links to death squads "evokes memories of the 1980s in Central America. I think you're going to see hearings on these issues." Aside from the problems in Colombia, Delahunt contended that "what we have is a Latin America policy that is an afterthought."

Maria McFarland, a Colombia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said Bush has "stood by Uribe unconditionally," despite long standing allegations of his armed forces collaborating with death squads. With proof now emerging, McFarland said, US policy appears hypocritical.

"They are prepared to criticize very harshly leaders they disagree with, but when their allies do something, they turn a blind eye," she said. If the United States continues "to support so strongly a government mired in corruption and links to terrorists and drug lords," it will fuel resentment from other Latin American countries that have been ignored, she said.

Having put so much faith in Uribe, Bush is expected to broaden his agenda during a trip that will also take him to Brazil, Uruguay, Guatemala, and Mexico.

"We'll see a real emphasis on Mexico and Brazil, on ethanol and biofuel -- an attempt to elevate other regional players," predicted Dan Restrepo of the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington. "Part of the silver lining in all this could be a wake-up call to pursue all of our interests in Latin America."

But Leonardo Carvajal , a professor of foreign affairs at the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogotá, dismissed such comments as failing to take into account the strategic realpolitik of the region.

"Colombia is the beachhead of US interests in Latin America. . . . It doesn't matter what scandal happens," Carvajal said. "Everyone knows that the counterbalance to Chávez is Uribe and that Colombia is the bastion of US interests in Latin America."

Friday, February 9, 2007

Visioning

Well, I'm back in Chicago again. The bitter cold in the air isn't helping me get over the shock of such a sudden transition from Colombian accompanier to over-extended Chicago seminarian, but there are some very good things going on here to make me at least comfortable with the fact that I've returned. One is the upcoming accompanier training, just two weeks away, which I will be joining in leading this time. I also had the blessing to attend an excellent forum on domestic violence here at McCormick today, which reminded me of the discussion Anne was going to lead on Tuesday afternoon on women and the violence of war.

Jake left Colombia last Saturday morning, but I stayed through Tuesday morning. This enabled me to meet each of the three current accompaniers and spend a little time in conversation with them. It also meant that I could be present for the first day of meetings Anne Barstow, PPF's Colombia Coordinator, had with our colleagues in the IPC. This was important for me, since I will be working as PPF's Accompaniment Coordinator beginning March 1st.

The crowning event on Monday was the meeting we (Anne, her husband, and the accompaniers currently in the country) had that evening with the new executive presbyter, the moderator of the denomination, the presbytery's director of diaconal ministry, and a pastor member of the diaconal ministry committee. We spent several hours sharing our joys and hopes and vision for the future of the accompaniment program. The conversation affirmed the value of the program for the kind of model of relationship it builds, and for the important statement it makes about the communal, institutional nature of the ministry of the church in both countries, which encompasses and transcends the individual struggles and gifts of particular members. I left with a great sense of hope for the future, for the work we are doing together to create a world of justice, peace, dignity, and love.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Life is beautiful

Here are some excerpts from the second accompanier report that Jake and I submitted, which is framed around this passage:

Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)

In the midst of the tragedy of internal displacement, living with the scars of physical, psychological, and economic violence, or simply with the endemic problem of poverty, faith in God’s greatness and presence continues to flow through the veins of most of the Colombian people we have met. Here in this place where violence and death are close at hand, life itself is seen as a gift in a way that is difficult for many of us in the U.S. to comprehend.

Last Saturday night we went with several of the young adults to watch the Garabato del Norte parade, one of the pre-carnaval events. The garabato is one of the traditional carnaval elements, a man and his female companion in brightly colored costumes who fight against death, symbolized by someone dressed up as a skeleton. The man has a wooden stick to use as a weapon in that fight, but the real weapon is the fiesta, the dancing and happiness that the couple represents. This is one of the lessons we have to learn here, that life goes on as long as you can live it joyfully, no matter how difficult the situation may be.

In that spirit, I'd like to share the lyrics of a song that's getting a lot of radio play these days. It talks about all of the simple beauties and pleasures of life that we can enjoy, even though life is often so painful.
I've included my English translation after the original.

Esta Vida

Me gusta el olor que tiene la mañana
Me gusta el primer traguito de café
Sentir cuando el sol se asoma en mi ventana
y me llena la mirada de un hermoso amanecer

Me gusta escuchar la paz de las montañas
Mirar los colores del atardecer
Sentir en mis pies la arena de la playa
y lo dulce de la caña cuando beso a mi mujer

Sé, sé que el tiempo lleva prisa
pa' borrarme de la lista
pero yo le digo que...

Aay... ¡qué bonita es esta vida!
aunque a veces duela tanto
y a pesar de los pesares
siempre hay alguien que nos quiere
siempre hay alguien que nos cuida

Aay... ¡qué bonita es esta vida!
y aunque no sea para siempre
si la vivo con mi gente
es bonita hasta la muerte
con aguardiente y tequila.

Me gusta escuchar la voz de una guitarra
Brindar por aquel amigo que se fue
Sentir el abrazo de la madrugada
y llenarme la mirada de otro hermoso amanecer.

Sé, sé que el tiempo lleva prisa
pa' borrarme de la lista
pero yo le digo que...

Aay... ¡qué bonita es esta vida!


This Life

I like the smell of the morning
I like the first sip of coffee
To feel when the sun rises in my window
and fills my gaze with a beautiful sunrise

I like to hear the peace of the mountains
to see the colors of sunset
to feel the sand of the beach on my feet
and the sweetness of sugar when I kiss my wife

I know that time is in a hurry
to wipe me off the list
but I say...

Ay! life is so beautiful
even though somtimes it hurts so much
And, in spite of our burdens,
there’s always someone who loves us
there’s always someone who cares for us

Ay! life is so beautiful
and even though it doesn’t last forever
if I live it with my people
it’s beautiful unto death,
with aguardiente and tequila.

I like to hear the voice of a guitar
to toast to a friend who has gone
to feel dawn’s embrace
and fill my gaze with another beautiful sunrise

I know that time is in a hurry
to wipe me off the list
but I say...

Ay! life is so beautiful!

Monday, January 22, 2007

Walking Together

On somewhat short notice, I was asked to preach at Comunidad del Camino Presbyterian Church yesterday. I accepted the invitation, with some hesitation because of the limited time I would have to prepare, but I am so glad that I did. It was wonderful to be with Comunidad del Camino again--they are the first church I visited here in Colombia. And the lectionary texts for the day were so beautiful, the sermon came together easily.

I spoke about community, using the passages for the day from Nehemiah and 1 Corinthians. I continue to be amazed by the nature of the preaching event, how the Word is illuminated and transmitted in a special way through prayerfully guided speech. I am still very new to preaching--I believe yesterday was my ninth sermon, including the two I prepared for preaching class last spring. I find it intimidating to a certain degree, but I love it.

I spoke about the importance of really living and being in community, not just individuals but an interdependent whole. I was nervous at first, but once I got going I felt much more at ease. It was a very moving experience for me, and it seemed appropriate to speak about community here where I have learned so much about what that word truly means.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Papaya & Trust


Here in Colombia, "dar papaya" (to give papaya) is a way of saying "to trust" someone. I was reminded of this expression during a meeting we had on Tuesday afternoon with a man who has just discovered that his name is on a hit list from Jorge 40's computer. ("Jorge 40" is the alias of a major paramilitary leader whose laptop and other documents were confiscated several months ago. The list in question is 32 pages long and includes names of some who have already been killed and others whose lives may be in danger.) While talking about the possibilities for the presbytery to resume work with his community, he said that he thinks it might turn out well if we go about it carefully, making sure to cooperate with the Catholic priest who has been working there. He said that the people are careful about who they trust, and he likes it that way, no quiere que den mucha papaya. This is an important means of self preservation for the community, which has a troubling history of police and military manipulation and, because of its poverty, is easy prey for false promises.


That was the first time I've actually heard anyone use the expression "dar papaya" in conversation--I had learned it years ago from a friend who was married to a Colombian. What struck me about it particularly was an interesting coincidence: just that morning, when we were visiting the farm of the displaced persons' cooperative in Galapa, we were literally given a papaya (which you can see on the post in the upper left corner of this picture of me talking with one of the members of the cooperative, my thanks to Jake for the pictures in this post). It was one of those gestures of respect, gratitude, and hospitality that I always find deeply moving and humbling, when those who have so little still have the dignity and desire to give out of their need. I was even more touched by the gift of that papaya when I was reminded to think of it in the context of a culture that uses "giving papaya" as a metaphor for trust.

We received that gift from humble folk whose lives have been upset by the violence and greed of others. They have joined together in an effort to start a new life, working hard with what they have been able to acquire and dealing with all the red tape and hypocrisy of the government agency that is supposedly in place to help them gain title to new land of their own. They welcomed us into their home and told us of their struggles. We were strangers, and they gave us the gift of trust, confident that we might prove to be true friends who will accompany them in this process, even though they have received countless empty promises from their own people and from the U.S. government (for example, Plan Colombia funds available to help single mothers with school-age children are corruptly administered). I hope that God will give us the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to help us be faithful to that trust.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Sightseeing


Last Tuesday, since things were still quiet around the office, we were able to go to one of the more "touristy" parts of town with several of my friends. We started out with lunch at a seafood restaurant on the Río Magdalena, and then went out to Bocas de Ceniza, to the end of the narrow breaker that juts out into the water separating the mouth of the river from the Caribbean. It was incredibly windy, but beautiful, and we had a lovely time (although getting back was a bit rough, since there was a sort of traffic jam with the little train cars that carry you out there). Here's a glimpse of what it was like, you can see more of my pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/pastor_sarah/

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Catching Up

Well, I haven't been writing much recently, since we haven't actually had internet access for most of the past week.

Last Sunday we went to church at Fifth Presbyterian, just a short walk from the presbytery/university campus. It was nice for me to be there again. The last time I was there was on election day at the end of May. I had been asked to preach, but didn't get the message until the day before! It was good to be there simply as a part of the congregation this time. One of the things that stood out to me from pastor Milciades' message was the proverb, "No wind is favorable if you don't know where you're going." He was talking about the need to trust in God's promise to be present with us as we walk along the roads that are laid before us. After lunch, we went for lunch at a friend's house with some of the young adults, which ended in some living room dancing (and lessons for Jake).

On Thursday we had two long meetings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, talking about ideas and situations impacting the church and the accompaniment program these days. We got to see the new work scheme of the Presbytery of the North Coast with its three programatic areas: education, evangelization, and diaconia (service). We also arranged some meetings with leaders from the local organization of displaced persons, starting with a visit Friday to a cooperative farm project undertaken by seven families.

I was really grateful for the opportunity to visit the farm. It represents an important step along the road to self-sufficiency for one small group among the many who have been displaced by the violence in Colombia. They are still struggling to make it a profitable enterprise--a late planting and poor rainfall made for a meager harvest this year. The men are eager to work, but they are struggling to get by and provide for their families while they are working the fields. Yesterday they were clearing brush from some land they want to begin to cultivate. I hope the next harvest will be better.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Welcoming

Things have been pretty quiet around here, and our trusty coordinator isn't back from vacation with his family yet.

On Friday evening we went to the executive presbyter's house for dinner. It was a celebration of welcome and friendship, not only for us but for several others who were visiting or returned from their travels. We had a wonderful time, with so much life experience gathered in one room. One of the many who were being welcomed was the new pastor of the Valledupar church, who was there with his wife. He is a beloved friend of the presbytery, a Mennonite pastor who served at Fourth Presbyterian here in Barranquilla for a number of years. Now he has returned from Chocó to work in Valledupar.

All around, I had a wonderful time basking in the conversation, which alternated between the serious and the ridiculous in different streams swirling around us.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Getting settled


Jake (my fellow accompanier) and I arrived safely in Barranquilla on Wednesday, and we have been warmly welcomed. There is an ever-present breeze in the air at this time of year, easing the heat that can be stifling at other times.

The pace has been slow and gentle so far--about what I expected given that many people and places are still on vacation through Epiphany (which will get a Monday holiday since it falls on a Saturday this year) or even later into January. There is sporadic activity at the Presbytery office. Back to school items are lined up at the entrance of the SAO mega store down the street.

It is good to be here again, on my third visit to Barranquilla. I am getting back into the gentle rhythm of life here, grateful this time to see that so many people are enjoying a much-needed respite, with family-focused efforts taking the place of their usual labors. The ever-present miracle of life goes on. Alleluia!

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

A new step

Early tomorrow I will take a new step along the path before me, setting off again for Colombia. I pray that this journey will be a fruitful one, that God will grant me the wisdom and the fortitude to be a loving and supportive presence in solidarity with the people I go to meet. This is intended as a space for reflection on the people, places, and situations of Colombia, and for reflection on my personal experiences there.