Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives

The name “Colombia” conjures up horrifying images of drug trafficking, kid-nappings, assassinations, terrorism and economic instability. Unfortunately these images are true. But lost in this picture is a land of breathtaking beauty (snow capped mountains reaching to 19,000 feet, lush valleys, magnificent foliage, tropical beaches), immense natural resources (some of the world’s finest coffee, oil, gold, 90 percent of the world’s emeralds), and a marvelously diverse population of friendly people whose mixture of Spanish, Indian and African blood produces a unique type of beauty.

How then did Colombia plunge into the violence that today is decimating the economy and all efforts for peace?

Violence is not new to Colombia. Indeed, it goes back to the beginning of their history as an independent nation. The “Cry of Independence” was raised on November 11, 1810, in the coastal city of Cartagena, now celebrated as their Independence Day. Final freedom from Spain came in August, 1819, when the great Liberator, Simon Bolivar, defeated the Spaniards at the Battle of Boyaca. Colombia joined with Venezuela and Ecuador to form Gran Colombia. However, by 1830 this union disintegrated and Colombia became a separate nation. Thus began 170 years of partisan politics, dictatorships and civil wars.

The basis of conflict often lay in the political system. Two major parties were formed. The Conservative Party supported a strong central government and a privileged role for the Roman Catholic Church. The Liberal Party favored strong regional government and a limited role for the Church. This resulted in repeated and often bloody conflicts.

The climax of a century of conflict erupted on April 9, 1948, when Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, the immensely popular candidate of the Liberal Party to become president, was assassinated on the streets of Bogota. This exploded in “the Bogo-tazo,” uncontrolled riots that rapidly spread over the entire country. The next fifteen years became known as “La Violen-cia,” a period of unprecedented violence in which at least 200,000 citizens died.

While the violence was primarily political in nature, it soon became open season for all sorts of lawlessness. The Roman Catholic Church took advantage of the civil disorder to try to eliminate the small Protestant population. Decrees from ecclesiastical authorities, songs of hate taught to school children, even inflammatory statements from the Vatican, opened the door for unrestricted attacks. Presbyterian missionary James Goff wrote a doctoral dissertation entitled “The Persecution of protestant Christians in Colombia, 1948-1958,” in which he meticulously documents all forms of persecution, such as imprisonment of pastors and others, bodily attacks, harassment of Protestant children, destroying of houses, churches and schools and at least 120 proven cases of martyrdom. This may well be the best documented persecution in the history of the church.

By the mid 1960’s Colombia had had enough of bloodshed, and major political efforts were made to produce a peaceful sharing of power between the two parties. At the same time the Vatican Council, called by Pope John Paul XXIII, spoke of Protestants no longer as heretics and enemies of the Church but rather as “separated brethren.” Catholics were even urged to read the Bible, previously restricted to the clergy. New hopes were raised and an era of relative peace and growth ensued.

I lived in Colombia at that time and was amazed to see how rapidly this new spirit of ecumenism penetrated down to the grass roots level. I was even invited by a Jesuit priest, who had led violent attacks on churches and written hate filled tracts about Protestants, to address his church, with no strings attached. In 1991 a new constitution removed the privileged position of the Roman Catholic Church granting more freedom to all religious beliefs.

Unfortunately the new era of peace slowly began to erode again. By the mid 1980’s the trafficking of narcotics, which previously was negligible, was becoming an ominous threat. Colombia produces 75 percent of the world’s cocaine, and markets in the US make this a lucrative business.

Today small farmers who live by the proceeds of corn, rice, bananas and other agricultural produce get caught in a bind. The narcotic traffickers tell them that they can make ten, twenty, fifty times as much money by raising cocaine, and this is true. This places evangelical farmers, who do not wish to be involved in drugs, in an impossible dilemma. They are told either to produce cocaine or take the consequences, which usually means destruction and loss of their farm and even possible death. This leads to huge movements of refugees, who flee the rural areas and are now clogging the urban centers.

The problem is complicated by the fact that there are now three major forces in conflict. On one side are the drug traffickers and guerrilla terrorists. On the opposite side are the paramilitary forces hired by the large landowners to protect them from the guerrillas. In between these is the Colombia army, which, so far, has been ineffective in trying to curb the violence and stop the flow of drugs. All three forces are guilty at times of indiscriminate violence against innocent people.

Added to this is the fact that a small number of powerful Colombians own most of the land and control the political process. This breeds resentment and unrest among the others, especially the campe-sinos who are basically tenant farmers.

So what is the hope for Colombia? As so often is true in history, the church seems to thrive under persecution and violence. According to Operation World in 1960 evangelicals composed only 0.6 percent of the population. Today evangelicals have grown to 5 percent and Charismatics number 17 percent of the population.

There are some brilliant pockets of light, such as the infamous-now famous-Bellavista Prison in Medellin. Here OMS missionary Jeannine Brabon and her Colombian colleagues such as Lacides Hemandez, have been used of God to spark a remarkable revival among hardened criminals and professional assassins who were involved in the drug trafficking. This is a story in itself which cannot be told here for reasons of space, but which gives evidence of the work of the Spirit of God in the midst of one of the most violent countries in the world. (An article on Bellavista Prison appeared in the August 7, 1998 issue of World Pulse. You can read this article on the EMIS website: . Go to World Pulse.-Ed.)

Another hopeful light is the prayer vigils in places such as Cali, formerly one of the key centers of the drug cartels, when up to 40,000 or 50,000 believers gather in a stadium to pray all night for their land.

Whatever the discouraging news from Colombia today may seem to be, we stand upon the assurance that someday “the kingdom of the world (shall) become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11: 15).

David Howard served as president of Latin America Mission.

February 8, 2002