Jim's Peacemaking

Dear Friend, My next trip to Colombia will take me in a bit of a new direction, for I have been invited by the Colombian Mennonite Brethren to work for three months with them. I will be sharing about CPT work as a way of promoting peacemaking amongst their 44 congregations and nearly 4000 members. Because the Colombian Mennonite Brethren are in the process of recovering their peace heritage, it is a particularly ripe time for this to happen and I am very excited for this opportunity. This direction may not look as "exciting" as being on the front lines with CPT on the Opon River. However, I feel my potential for helping the Colombian peace process is multiplied in this opportunity because I will be encouraging more Colombian Christians to get involved in peacemaking in their own country. The Church has an important part to play, especially in bringing the call to love our enemies and integrity into the Colombian peace process. Last Thursday I shared with a loc...

Dear friends, "Did you go to church before you were put in jail?" I asked over the phone, through the glass window between us. Roy* responded, "No, but I did accept God at the worship service the Gideons have here every Saturday. I am reading the book of Proverbs in the King James Bible they gave me, though it is hard to understand." I asked, "Would you like to pray?" He said, "Sure." I then led us in a short prayer time. I shared with him about the different pieces of peacemaking literature I had brought for him. I knew he had some interest in that because we had met the first time at our weekly peace vigil some three years ago. Upon arriving for my next visit, the jailer told me, "Roy's visiting time is nearly up. Go right in, so you can have a minute or two with him." Again through the glass and phone I said, "Well, we don't have much time. What would you like to talk about?" To my surprise, he said, "...

"You're urging our congress to cut funding for our troops in Iraq really disturbs me, I am a vet from WW II and that is not supportive of the troops. I totally disagree with you." Said the vet after I told him about CPT work. I responded, "I feel it is supportive to bring them home alive, not in a..." (I never got to finish my sentence as it obviously did not make much sense to him.) He interrupted me, "This conversation was a waste of our time." I answered, "I don't think so, even though we disagree deeply. For us to talk with each other is what Jesus would want us to do." We ended by shaking hands as he parted. "How do you like working for the Carnival?" I asked a 20-some year old woman. "Well it sure beats living on the street." I wonder what in her history made her say that. After I shared quite extensively about CPT work, a brother responded, "That is good work you do. I was in Vietnam, and I am still...