Over the next few days I will do my best to post information, quotes, and statistics regarding the situation in Colombia. All of the information I post comes from my Accompanier Handbook, but I will cite sources as specifically as I can. So here goes...
"Colombia is a rich country, where many people die of hunger.
It is caught up in a craze for land- for land on which to grow coca for the cocaine trade to cut down the mahogany forests, to develop oil fields.
It has laws but little law enforcement, so it lives by the rule of the gun.
It has four armies, which are fighting over the land.
Civilians are caught in the middle, and many are being killed.
It has about 4 million displaced persons, living in wretched camps.
And- if Colombians try to help- the government may declare that they are the enemy and put them on a death list."
The program in which I am participating falls under the category of "International Protective Accompaniment." The foremost practitioners of IPA have been small teams of international observers from Peace Brigades International, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Witness for Peace, and other related groups.
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship's Accompaniment Program, with whom I am serving, seeks to provide an environment/outlet through which churches and Christ-followers can learn how to be faithful to God in a violent context. "Although our governmental leaders attempt to resolve conflict and guarantee security through heavy investment in the military, sacrificing liberty and human rights, we hold to God's dream of a world that can live in peace."
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