Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Dreaming of the World As it Should Be


This last weekend, 19th and 20th of May, the Human Rights program of IELCO invited members from all around the country to come together and dream of how they want the future of the church's defense of human rights to look. We were pastors, coordinators of national ministries, project leaders, and lay people, all interested in living out the call to protect the vulnerable and liberate the oppressed. Gathering at a retreat center just outside of Bogota, we dreamt of the world as it should be. 

The group working on some team-building activities. Photo by Pastor Nelson Celis. 
Identifying the realities of the difficult conditions in many communities in Colombia, we identified how the Human Rights program can help IELCO face those challenges. We dreamt together of a country without violence, of vibrant communities that seek to protect the most vulnerable in their midst, and a national church that advocates for peace and justice.

We left the retreat having formed a national advising committee to help offer direction to the Human Rights program, to make sure that the program responds to the needs of the local communities as well as the vision that we have identified during the retreat. The committee is an equal number of men and women from every region of IELCO in the country and will now take the vision developed in this retreat and put into action.

Angelica Oquendo and Carlos Parra, two young leaders in IELCO, sharing with the group some of their experience in Palestine, where they participated in the Lutheran World Federation's program called "Peace Messengers". Photo by Curtis

Sara Lara (coordinator of the Human Rights program) leading a conversation about the current state of the Human Rights program. Photo by Pastor Nelson Celis.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Path of Hope

Saturday, May 12th, the House of Peace and Reconciliation from the Emmaus Lutheran Church in the city of Medellin led a public event called “Path of Hope”. We went to a nearby public library, where we had attained permission to use the entire entrance area to hold the event.

The “Path of Hope” is a historical timeline of important events and people that have been examples of nonviolent action and resistance throughout the world, (The idea was motivated by the Lutheran Peace Fellowship).

Members of the House of Peace and Reconciliation setting up their timleine at the local public library. Photo by Curtis.
The House of Peace and Reconciliation is currently holding a course called “Peace-builders” and the students of the course were each given the responsibility of a section of the timeline. They then studied the events and people in their section, so they would be able to tell interested passersby about the history of nonviolence in the world. The goal is to develop a consciousness of the possible and a hope that we can build a different world.

Pastor John Hernández with a group of interested library-goers, discussing some of the earlier examples in history of non violent resistance. Photo by Curtis.
They explained the well-known like Gandhi , Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela; as well as less well known history like in 1845 when the Lutheran Franckean Synod in New York, declared themselves abolitionists in no uncertain terms, arguing “with courage and clarity against this great and heinous national sin”. They declared that communion was impossible with any “ecclesiastical body that tolerates, apologizes for or remains silent on the subject of slavery”. Or, the Indigenous Nasa People of Colombia and their Indigenous Guard, a non-violent force trained to protect their communities from the different armed actors in Colombia’s conflict.

Members of the House of Peace and Reconciliation explaining the origins of Mother's Day as an anti-war protest by mothers who refused to send their children to war. Photo by Curtis