Celebrating bread and peace in Colombia
By Amanda Guldemond
August 30, 2007
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – On Sept. 21, Colombian Mennonites will take to the streets of the capital city, handing out bread to passers-by and asking people to consider the link between peace and hunger, poverty and economic injustice.
Throughout Colombia, churches mark the International Day of Peace with Pan y Paz, or Bread and Peace, events to draw attention to the need for economic justice in proposals for peace. Sept. 21 is designated by the U.N. as a day of international nonviolence and ceasefire.
In Colombia, a decades-long armed conflict continues to claim lives and terrorize residents. Some two-thirds of Colombia’s population lives in poverty, and severe economic inequalities exacerbate the conflict and violence in the country.
“Bread and Peace is an event that gives Colombian churches an opportunity to publicly express the importance of peace and economic justice for their community and country. Many churches that participate in "Bread and Peace" make peace and justice related work a year round focus,” said Shalom Wiebe, national coordinator of the effort.
Now, MCC and Colombian churches invite those in the U.S. and Canada to take part as well. “Stand in solidarity with your Colombian brothers and sisters and be a voice in your own communities and countries, calling for a just economic distribution and peace for Colombia and the rest of the world,” Pan y Paz organizers urge in a letter to U.S. and Canadian churches.
Bread and Peace events were first held in Colombia in 2002 and have grown each year.
Churches and Christian organizations throughout the country hold public events such as marches. They write letters to local and regional government officials about their vision for peace, as well as sending letters to the armed groups and to newspapers.
Groups have organized prayer times, special liturgies and concerts to draw attention to the voice of the Colombian churches in respect to the violence in the country. Churches are also encouraged to have a time of reflection the Sunday before or after Sept. 21.
In 2006, more than 46 public celebrations took place, uniting more than 200 churches of many denominations throughout the country.
In the coastal city of Barranquilla, about 3,000 people marched through the main streets of the town and distributed bread. A Mennonite congregation also took provisions to impoverished areas of the city.
A march in Cali, Colombia, drew around 9,000 people. In Supía, a town in western Colombia, pastors, representatives of the Catholic church and the vice-chancellor of schools coordinated a march that drew about 2500 people.
The church of Gethsemane of Turbo hosted an evening of music, mime and poetry in Turbo’s small central square. Approximately 600 people gathered. After a biblical message and information about the Bread and Peace initiative, the church shared bread and milk with all those present.
Over the last five years, Bread and Peace celebrations have lifted up the voice of the church on issues of inequality and economic injustice in Colombia. Bread and Peace inspired churches to create programs that respond to members’ daily needs and has strengthened the identity of the Christian church in Colombia as a peace church.
U.S. and Canadian congregations are invited to plan Bread and Peace events, to pray for peace and economic justice in Colombia and to speak out to their governments about the need for peace in Colombia.
“Let us stand together as we all work towards bringing the gospel of peace to the world,” organizers urge.
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.
END
Amanda Guldemond, an MCC worker in Bogotá, Colombia, serves as Sister Peace Church facilitator for Justapaz.
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