More bread, less bullets
by Shalom Wiebe
ARMENIA, Colombia – In the main plaza of this mid-sized city, Mennonite pastor Antonio Herrera warned listeners that, in a nation torn by conflict and violence, peace can’t be reached by a greater investment in the military.
Rather, he said, “it is reached through more education, health care, and more employment for all Colombians.”
Speaking through a megaphone as part of a Sept. 21 event called “Pan y Paz,” or Bread and Peace, he said that identifying the factors that contribute to the armed conflict is not enough. “As long as there are empty stomachs, there will always be violence in our country,” he said. “Peace is not obtained through more bullets; with more bread we can reach peace.”
Sept. 21 is designated by the U.N. as a day of international peace, nonviolence and ceasefire. In honor, churches throughout Colombia hold Bread and Peace events, asking people to consider the link between peace and hunger, poverty and economic injustice.
In 45 celebrations throughout the country, the message of bread and peace was shared in neighborhoods, parks, plazas, universities and street corners. Speakers called people to commit to a lifestyle embracing principles of nonviolence, and highlighted the need for economic justice as the key to a lasting peace in Colombia.
In the capital, Bogotá, people took to the streets and plazas of their neighborhoods in 15 different Bread and Peace events. Teusaquillo Mennonite Church, for instance, organized an ecumenical march, stopping at specific "stations" along the way which used art, theater and song to highlight the suffering and hope of the Colombian people. Representatives from Mencoldes, the development organization of the Colombian Mennonite Church, wore large, colorful boards calling attention to hunger and agriculture issues in Colombia.
The march, which drew at least 100 people, ended in a main plaza, where representatives from different churches led a liturgy, followed by an address by a representative of the U.N. and the sharing of 3,000 small bread loaves with the people in and around the plaza.
In Itagüe, as many as 4,000 people took part in an event that included music, high school students’ presentations on peace themes, dance, poetry and the sharing of bread and grapes.
Through the event, said pastor Jorge Gonzales, people see “the Christian church being more active in the reality of the country and more proactive in the search for solutions.”
Colombian Mennonite churches began celebrating Bread and Peace events in 2002, and the event has grown each year. As local churches work together to plan activities for Pan y Paz in their communities, Bread and Peace has become more ecumenical. Some 20 denominations were represented in this year’s celebration, the three Anabaptist denominations, the Catholic Church and numerous other Protestant and evangelical denominations.
END
Shalom Wiebe, an MCC worker in Bogotá, Colombia, is national coordinator for Bread and Peace and a support worker for people and communities under threat.
Photos available: 1) Balloons fly into the air during a Bread and Peace event in Itagüe, Colombia. (Photo by Genaro González R.)
2.) As part of a Bread and Peace event in Bogotá, Colombia, Bogotá, Samuel Barron hands out loaves of bread. (Photo by Markus Büker)
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