Jim's Peacemaking

Hello friends, The guy next to me in the flight into Bogotá just said, "NO, no! Won't work, don't even try it. Don't go there." Then without any explanation, he moved to a back seat in the plane. I guess when he saw me reading Christian Peacemaker Teams newsletter, he saw the word Christian and figured I was an ordinary missionary. So I did not know quite what to do. I had some fear that he did not like missionaries and that is why he moved. I sensed somehow that the Lord wanted me to relate to him, though I was not sure how. So I thought I would at least return the sunglasses which he had left on the seat. And to my surprise, he was very grateful. After a bit he came back and sat with me again and started to do more sharing and was friendlier than before. He said, "I am here on business. I love shooting guns and killing animals and flying airplanes. I have a problem with the FARC guerrillas. I have been in the Marines for fourteen years, and have been a l...

Hello Friends, First on a personal note, I now plan to enter Colombia and get a visitors visa at the airport on September 5th and return on November 21st. I do not know if I will have to go to Ecuador when and if I have to renew it. I hope not. I could just say I have been able to lower my slightly high blood pressure and cholesterol by exercise, diet, and supplements, which gives me peace of mind for beginning this two and a half months in Colombia. It has been a while since I have had any noticeable depression and that is good too. A question that is often on peoples' minds is: " Do you see any hope for change for the better?" In the 4 years I have been going to Colombia, each year it seems more and more people, from soldiers, human rights workers, to people on the street, are coming to see that supporting the violence of any armed group just turns into more violence. It is becoming ever clearer that war just does not work to resolve conflicts. That is one thin...