First Person: Pan y Paz is God's call for Colombia

Janna Bowman is a Mennonite Central Committee worker in Bogota, Colombia with Justapaz, the peace and justice ministry of the Colombia Mennonite Church.

Peter Stucky is the president of the Mennonite Church of Columbia.

BOGOTA, Colombia (Mennonite Mission Network) - "This gathering demonstrates that not all Colombians want war. It's good for people to come together and state their (nonviolent) position. It turns this plaza into a place of peace ... and that means that peace is possible in Colombia." 16-year-old Camilo Esquivia articulates the spirit of determination, love and hope present at Saturday, September 21st, Pan y Paz event.

"We are here today in an act of obedience to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," began the vigil leader, Ricardo Pinzón.

A few days earlier, thanks to the solidarity of Mennonite and other churches in North America, the Colombian Anabaptist churches were joined by several other denominations in publishing a declaration in major newspapers. The declaration established their position and invited all Colombians to this celebration called Pan y Paz, or Bread and Peace.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, declared by the United Nations as an International Day of Peace and Nonviolence, 150 people gathered in the main square of Bogota, shaking off the fear of being in a country at war and under a State of Emergency (rule by executive decree and the military has freedom to act outside of regular legal norms) declared by the president a month earlier. Perhaps many others stayed home remembering the repression that met worker and agrarian marches earlier in the week.

The Colombian Mennonite Church, Justapaz, Mencoldes, and the Collective for Conscientious Objection - all Mennonite-related entities - organized a liturgical event in which Mennonites and other Protestants and Catholics declared their convictions in favor of a just peace built through nonviolent means in the midst of Colombia's rapidly growing war. This followed a day of prayer and fasting by Christians in Colombia, Canada and the United States.

We were impelled by the words of the Lord to Joshua: "Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." So in spite of not having permission to do so, we gathered.

To the relief of many, the event went smoothly. The police were present, ready to confront anyone who "misbehaved," but instead of creating tension, they listened and even offered their services. They, like the people sitting amid baskets of bread and flowers at the feet of the speakers and song leaders, heard the call to faithfulness.

"Thank you for responding to this call that recognizes that prayer is the transformative action which God has given us to not only transform ourselves, but whole countries as well and desperate situations where all solutions were apparently blocked," a speaker reminded the gathered assembly. "Through their prayers and actions, the people of God throw down the walls of indifference and egotism, [break] the forces of weapons and of injustice. So thank you, sisters and brothers, for believing in God; for believing when our Lord Jesus Christ says that if you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, 'Be thrown into the sea,' and it will be done for you."

John Giraldo, coordinator of the Collective for Conscientious Objection, joined pastors, displaced women and youth in leading a litany contextualizing the church's faith stance. In a country where the government and all the armed groups are pressuring everyone to take sides in the war, where people are daily being jailed and assassinated for holding dissenting opinions, the church declared obedience to Christ's nonviolent path. The gathered community voiced its refusal to cooperate in war - whether paying war-taxes, supporting bellicose strategies or siding with an armed group. We called for justice - a rejection of the selfishness and greed on the part of those who perpetuate this war. We cried out to God for mercy on the victims of senseless violence. We committed ourselves to active participation in creatively seeking peace and walking with those who suffer the ravages of violence.

"We commit ourselves," responded the crowd to the group leader's invitation to "place our resources and our gifts in the service of peace and social justice."

Vigil participants were moved to learn of the hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. and Canadian church people fasting, praying and acting for peace with them. We listened to several letters of support from churches and church organizations of the North also committed to seeking a peace with justice in Colombia and the world. "...We acknowledge our complicity in your terror," reads the letter from First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, Ill. "Our government has supplied the Colombian military with nearly $2 billion in aid which has encouraged this warfare and the fueling destruction of lives, property, and human rights. Your courage is a witness to the world and a challenge to us to live the ideals that we profess. We will support you and your efforts by following your lead to work for nonviolent change..."

"We are not alone," whispered one elderly woman to herself.

The vigil culminated in a breaking of the daylong fast. "When we share our bread, as Jesus taught us to do, there is enough for everyone. This is justice. Only justice will lead to peace." As a large loaf was broken up front, Mennonite youth wove through the crowd with large baskets of fresh rolls, and everyone sang "Holy, holy, holy, the earth is full of your glory, Colombia is full of your glory" We broke bread together and in those moments shared the gift of grace.

We experienced the blessing promised by Jesus to peacemakers.

Instead of displaying a forlorn frown, a ragged shoeshine boy beamed as he gobbled the bread shared with him by an equally contented teenager. Mothers shared bread with their children. A father sat with his sons, studying the litany as they munched on the bread together. Even a few police officers accepted the invitation to join in the ceremony. When our bread was shared, it multiplied, and there was more than enough to go around.

A representative of UNICEF who had brought greetings to the event embraced Peter Stucky, president of the Colombian Mennonite Church. A nationally recognized leader of the national peace movement joined them and their laughter. Because as Peter had said a few minutes earlier, God's promise for Colombia is a country with bread and peace for all, a country with abundance of wheat and wine, a beautiful country where young men and women will flourish. "I invite you to dream, pray and work together so that this will become a reality."

"It's important that the Anabaptist church is making its position clear and taking a stand at this time," said 85-year-old Mary Hope Stucky, one of the remaining founders of Mennonite work in Colombia. "People are being attracted to the church precisely for this reason. ...We have much to be thankful for, and we trust that God is using us in ways that we don't even know about."

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