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Showing posts from January, 2006

Jim Fitz's Peacemaking in Colombia -- Introduction for Readers

To some this is new, to others it will be a refresher about the civil war in Colombia in which Christian Peacemaker Teams works at reducing violence. It would probably be helpful to keep this for reference while reading my letters when I am in Colombia. Since 2001, CPT, by their nonviolent presence, has been providing protection for 80 farm families on the Opon River in Colombia from threats and killing by guerrillas and paramilitaries. CPT is an ecumenical organization working to reduce violence in conflict areas of the world. I am a member of Plow Creek Mennonite Church, Tiskilwa, Illinois. I work full time at peacemaking and as part of that I volunteer 2-3 months each year with CPT in Colombia. While in Colombia, I will send you a weekly letter about our work there. As security has grown, local Catholic and Protestant churches and development groups have begun to work with the people in the Opon area. The presence of these groups has allowed CPT to reduce its presence from about