Shalom Wiebe, MCC Colombia

Serving with MCC in Colombia, I've have many opportunities to celebrate God's love as I work in my two assignments: 1) Support Worker for People and Communities under Threat and 2) Coordinator of the "Bread and Peace Coalition". Here is a peek into my world:

The other day I spoke with a family who had traveled by foot, boat, and bus for 24 hours to make an appointment with the Peace and Justice Committee of the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogota, of which I am part. The family had been living under threat from one of the various armed groups in Colombia, and had moved to the remote location in an attempt to eek out a living undetected by their persecutors. With the help of the Peace and Justice Committee they had applied to the Canadian Embassy as refugees 3 years ago. Now, through the MCC Canada Refugee Program they had been matched with a sponsoring Mennonite church in Canada; however, their case had taken years to process, and had been all but forgotten.  

Imagine everyone's surprise when after 3 years, they were contacted by the Embassy with the good news that they were accepted as refugees for Canada! In the midst of their disbelief that they were really going to be able to start a new life, the fear that this was just another promise not to come true from the Embassy, God's love could be seen. A new Mennonite church in Canada promptly accepted the invitation to sponsor them (the old sponsorship had timed out), and are now preparing for the family's arrival. In the midst of the suffering and injustice in Colombia, I am deeply moved that, just like this family, many of the families that arrive in Canada as refugees will be showered with God's love by a church family who will accompany them not only through their first year in Canada, but often for many years to come. What a difference this makes for families who have much trauma to be healed while adapting to a new culture, language, and way of life.   

"More bread, less bullets....In Colombia peace can not be reached through more investment in the military, but rather it is reached through more education, health care, and more employment for all Colombians. Peace is not the absence of conflict, ...as long as there are empty stomachs, there will always be violence in our country. Peace is not obtained through more bullets; with more bread we can reach peace."

These were the words of a Mennonite Pastor, spoken through a megaphone in the central plaza of his city during an event called "Pan y Paz" (Bread and Peace) celebrated by churches across the country in honour of the UN declared Day of Peace, NonViolence and CeaseFire. In over 50 celebrations held by churches of around 20 denominations, church members shared bread with people in their neighborhoods, parks, plazas, universities, and street corners and spoke of the need for economic justice as the key to a lasting peace in Colombia. As the national coordinator for the churches that participate in "Pan y Paz", I saw God's love celebrated by people reaching out to their communities, offering bread as a symbol of peace and passionately calling for changes in government policies in Colombia that would improve the desperate situation of unemployment, health, and education in their country.

• Pray for wisdom, sensitivity, and inner strength as I work regularly with displaced people who are victims of trauma. It can be difficult not to internalize the stress and fear manifested by many of the displaced people with whom the Justice and Peace Committee works.

 

For more information on Service Opportunities contact Sophie Tiessen-Eigbike at (604) 850-6639 in Abbotsford, 1-888-622-6337 from outside the Lower Mainland or e-mail: stiessen@mccbc.com