Jim's Peacemaking

Dear Friend, “There must have been 40 or 50 soldiers from the Colombian Army who came through here. They accused Jorge, my son, of being an informer for the guerrillas. I was so scared. They took his picture and asked him a lot of accusing questions. I was afraid to let him go fishing like he often does. They were all around the house. I was afraid that if there was a confrontation with the guerrillas, bullets might hit any one of my children.” “They asked our first and last names and checked them, with lots of others from the community, against their list of supposed guerrilla sympathizers. We are not guerrilla sympathizers, but there is nothing we can do to convince them otherwise. They have guns, so I don’t argue with them. Someone must be singling us out. I was so scared that I called Pierre of CPT to let you all know about it. Then I was scared that they might be listening in on the call. Pierre said it is was ok and wondered why the army keeps using these fear and intimidation ta...

Dear Friend, Land mines are one of our biggest problems here. You know how children are. You tell them to stay on the path, but it is so hard for them to realize the danger and obey. Just for them to go to help find some firewood or go to school, it is so dangerous. One was badly injured and we took him to the hospital in San Pablo, and they said they could not treat him there. Then we had to take him to Bucaramanga, all at our expense. There doesn't seem to be any help from the government," shared one of the farmers. Delcy, from the Vice President's Office of Human Rights, answered, "If they cannot treat a person in San Pablo, they are responsible for transporting him to where he can be treated. I will have that looked into." Another farmer shared, "The Army treats us like dirt. They have check points on the paths to our fields, and they stop us and accuse us of being guerrillas and detain us for hours at a time. They entice our children with candy and then...

Hello friends! " Would you like something to read on peace?" I asked the taxi driver as I had done probably a half a dozen times to taxi drivers in my trip to Bogota. He responded, "Sure, I am always interested in reading." I told him about Peace Pilgrim's 28 years walking and sharing about peace in the USA and gave him a Peace Pilgrim booklet. And than I said, "You know I am sorry to say that I feel a lot of the conflict here in Colombia is caused by the million dollars a day my government gives in military aid to Colombia. Can you imagine the lobbying being done to keep the war going by the big US corporations who are supplying those arms?" He responded, "That has been my analysis too. It seems your government wants to keep the war going for the business it generates." I am reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. It is about Perkins' life of working to convince governments of poor countries to go into debt to do ...

Hello friends, This week, as the team and I met together to hear each other, I really sensed that God was actively involved (as He always is) in our lives. I went into the sharing time a bit anxious, with notes to make sure I did not forget something, but once I got started I hardly looked at the notes and was able to just share from my heart in a sense of trust and peace. As a part of my quiet time, one of the things I read almost daily is a truth I came to one time with a counselor as I was dealing with a conflict. It is: "When I enter into conflict with a pure heart and trust and not as a power struggle to win, it leads to peace and us affirming each other." I sense God has enabled this "peace and affirming each other" to happen here with the team. The team has very generously given hours in reading and meeting to work not only on the issue of my desire to do peacemaking presentations about CPT with the Mennonite Brethren, but also to working through the misund...

Dear Friends, "My mother in-law Nellie read that Peace Pilgrim booklet you gave me. She was very moved by it, and she would like to read more by Peace Pilgrim. Do you have any thing else? And she would like to talk to you too," our repairman excitedly said to me. I responded, "I don't have any thing else by Peace Pilgrim, but you can give her this book Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr." Later I got to talk to Nellie. Nellie then shared, "Oh yes, that was really inspiring. We have to build peace person by person and house by house by the way that we relate to and treat each other. What Peace Pilgrim has to say is very important. And I really like the book Restorative Justice that I am now reading. I especially like to read stuff like that." I responded, "When you get that one finished, I can loan you another book!" The political saga continues in Barranca. A prominent Catholic priest, Padre Francisco, a close consultant to the Mayor, who is ...

Hello friends, "Long time no see. How are you?" Manuel asked. I responded to my friend, a 73-year-old street vendor, by saying, "I have been having my challenges. My knees have been bothering me a bit." As he removed a container of lotion from his market booth, Manuel said, "This will take away your pain." "How much is it?" I asked as I took out my wallet. Manuel answered insistently, "Oh, absolutely nothing, it's a gift." When I visited Manuel another day he offered me another lotion. It does work, too. Down the street I came upon another of my friends, Govianno, a tamarindo juice vendor. It was, as usual, close to 100 degrees so I said, "I'll have to have a cup of ice cold tamarindo. How much is it?" He shook his finger to say no, and said, "I am so glad to see you; it's on me." He then refilled my cup as we shared how our families were doing. Another day I visited Alfonso, who sells reading glasses, a...

Hello friends, In the nine hour bus trip to Barranca from Bogota, I found my mind going through tapes of defending myself before the team over the issues we were going to be facing. Then I felt guilty, anxious and full of emotional pain about this. While I was experiencing this mental anguish, I was trying to keep from watching a shoot'm up movie on the bus TV. Finally, toward the end of the trip, I thought to try to pray, which gave me relief and peace. Thanks be to God for God and prayer. It was really nice to be greeted cheerfully by friends Michele and Charletta upon my arrival at the house in Barranca. I was also grateful for the nice, simple meal which was ready for me. The next morning I found my fearful thoughts returning. Then Charletta, as she led team worship, said, "We want to welcome Jim during this time. Jim, can you share with us what your hopes are for your next two months with us?" Since they did not know about my wan...