Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Actions for Peace in Colombia: Hope in the Face of Roaring Conflict

By Grace Morillo

Different Responses to the Colombian Social Crisis
The Uribe administration (2002-2010) has signed a peace agreement with the strongest paramilitary factions, leading to the demobilization of thirty-one thousand combatants. Even so, there is growing proof that the paramilitary structures have not been dismantled, and guerrilla activity persists.

Civil society has also responded to this terrible state in several ways:

  1. Since 1997, ethnic minority and displaced groups, former victims of the conflict, have re-established themselves as “peace communities.” This is the case in San José de Apartadó, where the goal is to survive and live in peace. These communities have made the brave decision to not allow any of the armed groups, including the army, to enter their lands. Despite their determination, these powerful symbols of peace are being inculpated by the government as infiltrated by leftist groups.7

  2. Gustavo Moncayo (holding the photo) recently became
    an icon of peace when     he walked 620 miles to plead for
    humanitarian exchange     to bring an end to kidnappings.

    Gustavo Moncayo, a high school teacher and father of a kidnapped policeman, recently became an icon of peace when he walked 620 miles to plead for a humanitarian exchange with the FARC8 guerrillas to bring an end to kidnappings, some of which have lasted for as many as ten years. His trek began at his home in the southern part of Colombia and ended at the central Plaza of Bogotá.

  3. In 2002, Bojayá, a small town in Chocó, was caught in the crossfire between guerrilla and paramilitary forces, killing 119 people, and hurting another one hundred. However, these surviving communities have returned bravely to the lands from which they were displaced. The Life, Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Chocó, has accompanied them and is committed to defending life in all of its expressions as a necessary condition for building peace.9

  4. The Cristo El Rey Church seeks to be a peace sanctuary
    for people who have been displaced.  

    In the face of paramilitary threats, an entire evangelical rural community in the upper Sinu River basin decided to leave their lands in an exodus to Tierralta, the nearest town. The Cristo El Rey Church, a member of the “peace sanctuaries” program, housed them initially in the sanctuary and adjunct school building. The church then helped them relocate in a new settlement where they set up a new community, providing work, food, education and health for its members. These peace sanctuary churches are all over Colombia and seek to be Christian alternatives to violence and conflict. The congregations seek peace bravely: they feed the hungry, house the homeless, establish new sources of livelihood and offer a space open to reconciliation and dialogue. The peace sanctuaries program is an initiative of the Christian Center for Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Action, Justapaz, a ministry of the Mennonite Church of Colombia. Justapaz promotes structures and lifestyles leading to a just and sustainable peace.10

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Grace Morillo serves as a missionary with the Latin America Mission, seconded to Unidad Cristiana Universitaria, where she works as general secretary. She lives in Bogotá, Colombia, and attends Aposento Alto Church, a Free Brethren Assembly, and serves on the board of the Colombian Federation of Evangelical Churches (CEDECOL). Morillo was born in Pasto, Colombia.