Dear Friends
“We in the Pentecostal church look for models. We have been looking too much to David and Moses as our models. Our church has integrated their models of an eye for an eye and war into its teaching and worship. I am calling our church to change the songs we sing from images of war to images of peace, justice, and the wellbeing of society. I asked one Pastor to change what he has in front of the church saying we are at war for the gospel to saying that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The church needs to look to Jesus, who calls us to love our enemies, to be our model, not David and Moses.” This was the inspiring admonition of Marcos Diaz, a Pentecostal Pastor from the north coast of Colombia, to the Colombian Mennonite Conference I recently attended.
This conference was also a time for me to share in depth and get to know quite a few Colombian Mennonites. In one interchange a brother shared with me a struggle he has with a sin, and I was able to say, “I struggle with that sin too.” That special moment in which the Spirit brought us together in joy and encouragement made us brothers forever. He said “This sharing has been such a big help to me. God has lifted a heavy burden through this time of sharing with you.” All I could say was, “Thanks be to God, Alleluia.”
Another brother who works for the government in customs shared his struggles to be honest and not take bribes as is the common practice. He recently got a new supervisor who is discriminating against those who do not want to cooperate by taking bribes. Fortunately, he has a few other Christians who work in his customs office with whom he can pray. I said I would put him on my prayer list.
I got to sharing with him that I am part of church that lives communally with a common treasury like the church did in Acts. He responded, “My wife and I and some other families in my church are exploring forming a Christian community. We hope to visit communities in the USA some day soon. One of the interested families just got back from six months with Jubilee Partners in Georgia. We will have to visit your community when we go to the US.”
A few CPTers struggle with relating to some in the church who are “lukewarm.” The response of one of our Colombian Mennonite consultants was, "It might be helpful for all of us to remember that if it weren’t for the church there would be no CPT. The church gives us the major part of our monetary support and prayer support, which is central to the effectiveness of our work and our existence."
Another of our Colombian Mennonite consultants shared, “The government here keeps saying security and the guerrillas are the problems in this country. But the real problem which must be faced in order for a peace really to come here is that distrust that has developed in the 40 years of war. Nobody trusts anyone any more. The church is the mechanism to begin to remedy this problem by fulfilling our mission to be a sisterhood and brotherhood where people trust each other. It is such an important role that the church has to play." This helps me see in a new way the important role the church needs to play in bringing peace to Colombia.
This same brother shared about the extreme suffering from violence of people in northern Colombia. They are so tired of the violence that they are willing to walk a day to come to a meeting that offers some kind of nonviolent solution. If such a meeting is called and 50 participants are expected, 100 people will attend. The people seem really ready for a nonviolence solution to be born.
I shared with him about my experience with using Open Space meeting format to integrate and motivate people to develop and create their own solutions to their problems. He said, “That is exactly what we need here. Can't you come and spend a few weeks or months with us?" If and when I might go there is something I am wrestling with. Your prayers would be appreciated. It is dangerous because all the armed groups are quite present there.
Keep praying,
Jim
This is Marcos Diaz, the Colombian Pentecostal Pastor sharing about calling his church to make Jesus their model. Hearing a Pentecostal Pastor challenging us to a deeper peace witness was one of the really high points of the conference for us Mennonites.
These are some of the many friends with whom I had a good time of sharing at the Mennonite Conference. It seemed that the Spirit was with us in many of these moments, giving us mutual encouragement in our walk of faith.
“We in the Pentecostal church look for models. We have been looking too much to David and Moses as our models. Our church has integrated their models of an eye for an eye and war into its teaching and worship. I am calling our church to change the songs we sing from images of war to images of peace, justice, and the wellbeing of society. I asked one Pastor to change what he has in front of the church saying we are at war for the gospel to saying that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The church needs to look to Jesus, who calls us to love our enemies, to be our model, not David and Moses.” This was the inspiring admonition of Marcos Diaz, a Pentecostal Pastor from the north coast of Colombia, to the Colombian Mennonite Conference I recently attended.
This conference was also a time for me to share in depth and get to know quite a few Colombian Mennonites. In one interchange a brother shared with me a struggle he has with a sin, and I was able to say, “I struggle with that sin too.” That special moment in which the Spirit brought us together in joy and encouragement made us brothers forever. He said “This sharing has been such a big help to me. God has lifted a heavy burden through this time of sharing with you.” All I could say was, “Thanks be to God, Alleluia.”
Another brother who works for the government in customs shared his struggles to be honest and not take bribes as is the common practice. He recently got a new supervisor who is discriminating against those who do not want to cooperate by taking bribes. Fortunately, he has a few other Christians who work in his customs office with whom he can pray. I said I would put him on my prayer list.
I got to sharing with him that I am part of church that lives communally with a common treasury like the church did in Acts. He responded, “My wife and I and some other families in my church are exploring forming a Christian community. We hope to visit communities in the USA some day soon. One of the interested families just got back from six months with Jubilee Partners in Georgia. We will have to visit your community when we go to the US.”
A few CPTers struggle with relating to some in the church who are “lukewarm.” The response of one of our Colombian Mennonite consultants was, "It might be helpful for all of us to remember that if it weren’t for the church there would be no CPT. The church gives us the major part of our monetary support and prayer support, which is central to the effectiveness of our work and our existence."
Another of our Colombian Mennonite consultants shared, “The government here keeps saying security and the guerrillas are the problems in this country. But the real problem which must be faced in order for a peace really to come here is that distrust that has developed in the 40 years of war. Nobody trusts anyone any more. The church is the mechanism to begin to remedy this problem by fulfilling our mission to be a sisterhood and brotherhood where people trust each other. It is such an important role that the church has to play." This helps me see in a new way the important role the church needs to play in bringing peace to Colombia.
This same brother shared about the extreme suffering from violence of people in northern Colombia. They are so tired of the violence that they are willing to walk a day to come to a meeting that offers some kind of nonviolent solution. If such a meeting is called and 50 participants are expected, 100 people will attend. The people seem really ready for a nonviolence solution to be born.
I shared with him about my experience with using Open Space meeting format to integrate and motivate people to develop and create their own solutions to their problems. He said, “That is exactly what we need here. Can't you come and spend a few weeks or months with us?" If and when I might go there is something I am wrestling with. Your prayers would be appreciated. It is dangerous because all the armed groups are quite present there.
Keep praying,
Jim
This is Marcos Diaz, the Colombian Pentecostal Pastor sharing about calling his church to make Jesus their model. Hearing a Pentecostal Pastor challenging us to a deeper peace witness was one of the really high points of the conference for us Mennonites.
These are some of the many friends with whom I had a good time of sharing at the Mennonite Conference. It seemed that the Spirit was with us in many of these moments, giving us mutual encouragement in our walk of faith.
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