BOGOTÁ, Colombia – As Colombian churches seek to live out their faith and respond to a decades-long armed conflict and economic injustice, churches in Canada and the United States are also seeking to be instruments of God’s justice and peace.
Sister Peace Church relationships link a congregation in Colombia with one in the United States or Canada. Fourteen Colombian churches are now cultivating relationships and sharing in prayer and action for peace with congregations in the United States or Canada.
“We are a single body, only located in different parts of the world. Together we can be salt and light, confronting the violence that is consuming Colombia and the world,” a member of a Colombian church told me.
The program, which began in 2001, is sponsored by Justapaz, the Colombian Mennonite Church’s Christian Center for Justice, Peace and the Colombian Council of Evangelical Churches’ Nonviolent Action and the Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace.
Sister churches strive to be a global faith community seeking peace and healing in a suffering world. They work to understand how to best speak to issues in their sister congregations’ communities and nations. Each congregation explores the interrelated nature of peace and violence in their own country and abroad.
Churches pray for each other, exchange e-mails and phone calls in which they share their joy and struggles, send and receive gifts and visit one another. Some churches light a candle every Sunday in remembrance of their sister church; others sing a specific song or send cards to the children of their sister church. Congregations have held joint worship services, placing a microphone near speaker phone so they can hear each other. Some churches in North America also choose to help fund the peace work of their sister church.
As Sister Church Facilitator, I am constantly told by congregations in Colombia what a blessing their sister church relationship is. It is a source of strength, encouragement, love, solidarity and friendship in the midst of often very difficult situations.
I often hear how churches in the U.S. and Canada are moved by the faithfulness and passion of their sister congregations to work for peace, often with few resources and in the midst of armed conflict.
“Through our sister church, our horizons broaden in experiencing God’s love and work internationally. We are inspired by the faith of this congregation in living out their love of God and neighbor,” said Sue Glick, a member of Portland (Ore.) Mennonite Church. Portland Mennonite is Mennonite is a sister church to Iglesias Menonita de Anolaima in Anoliama, Colombia.
“We hear Colombian news with different ears and seek to be a voice for justice in this international context,” Glick said. “We share the same parent, we work together in God’s household, and we seek to be agents of healing for each other.”
Many sister churches in the United States and Canada participate in education and political advocacy throughout the year on behalf of their sister church and the church in Colombia. In May, many sister churches participated in Days of Prayer and Action for Peace in Colombia. Congregations are again urged to think about peace in Colombia in September, when Colombian Mennonite churches traditionally hold events for a “Bread and Peace” effort linking hunger and economic injustice issues to peace work.
As I look at these relationships, I see the global church coming together, uniting in work to bring God’s kingdom to earth and striving to respond to God’s call to bind the wounds, fear and brokenness born out of injustice and conflict.
To learn more about the Sister Church Program, e-mail Amanda Guldemond, iglesiashermanas@justapaz.org. To learn more about Bread and Peace, see mcc.org/us/washington/issues/latinamerica. To learn more about MCC’s work in Colombia, go to mcc.org/colombia.
Amanda Guldemond, an MCC worker in Bogotá, Colombia, serves as Sister Peace Church facilitator for Justapaz.
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