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Ricardo Torres is the Coordinator of Education Programs for MCC Colombia.
It was two in the afternoon on June 3 of this year when four “chivas” (public tourism buses) parked in front of the Mennonite Brethren school in the city of Cali. I was surprised because I had heard that only about 50 people would be traveling to the vigil in the nearby town. The theme of the vigil was “Unity among churches and support for the church in peacebuilding.” As brothers and sisters from nearby churches began arriving at the school, my heart was excited to see the environment of joy and festivity.
The four buses filled up, we put ourselves in God’s hands, and we left for the village where the vigil would take place. I imagine that some people kept praying during the trip because the place where we were going has the reputation of being a conflict zone, where some armed groups still operate, in addition to the State military.
En route four other buses joined us with more brothers and sisters from around Cali and the province/state of Cauca. Over the three hours we travelled, we became a great caravan of children, youth, adults and even elderly folks. While the drivers started the trek upwards into the mountains, the enthusiasm of people singing hymns and choruses rang out.
The night was filled with music, dance and cultural activities celebrating reconciliation and praising the God of peace that has protected them. Photo: Ricardo Torres
Meanwhile in La Esperanza (Hope), the village of approximately 600 people located in the mountains of Cauca, Colombia, the Mennonite Brethren host church “Christ the Only Hope” prepared to receive the visitors. Even though we brought plastic chairs from the city, the community also shared all of its plastic chairs to fill the open-air sports auditorium. This is the same place there had been a massacre on April 13, 2015, in which 9 soldiers of the Colombian army died.
The sisters and brothers prepared dinner for the visitors like experts. They worked to make everything as comfortable as possible, within the limitations of the village, for the great event. They wanted everyone to feel at home.
What a surprise for the church and the community when bus after bus arrived, honking away as if to say “We’re here!” The excitement of the people in the community was evident, seeing so many vehicles with people singing praise to God. The whole village celebrated, came out of their houses and greeted the visitors. I remember what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
Young people from different churches take the lead in celebrating through song. Photo: Ricardo Torres.
Upon getting out of the buses, we were sent directly to the church where dinner was waiting for us. Since I had been to the church before, I was worried because I didn’t know how they would serve so many people at once in such a small building. But everything had been carefully calculated. Dinner was already served. People went in one door, received their plate and juice, and went out the kitchen. I was impressed with the agility of the sisters to serve food to more than 400 people. “Crazy!” I said to myself. “These sisters can host a whole Mennonite World Conference.”
After dinner we moved over to the auditorium to start the vigil. I have to confess that when I looked at the number of chairs, and saw that they kept bringing in more, I said to the pastor of the host church, Roberto Yonda, “Pastor, I think it’s enough chairs. We don’t need to bring more.” (I had to carry some.) The pastor answered me calmly, “You think it’s enough?” and he was quiet. Oh, my little faith.
The auditorium started to fill up, even though it was pouring rain and the electricity went out. Everyone began to sing out loud and bit by bit the storm calmed. Right at 9 pm, the time set for starting the vigil, the electric generator motor started up. Six lightbulbs lit up and that was enough to see the faces of joy in the multitude—faces of celebration, hope and satisfaction. Because there was no electricity anywhere else in the community and, as a result, the nearby dance hall had closed down, the whole community started arriving at the vigil. In the end, almost 800 people were there.
Hundreds of people from the town of La Esperanza and from many towns and cities in the surrounding region gathered for this Vigil for Reconciliation. Photo: Ricardo Torres.
Pastor Roberto Yonda welcomed everyone—the Mennonite delegations from other cities and towns, the visitors from other churches—Baptists, Bethesda Missionary Center, Christian Alliance, United Pentecostal, and the people of La Esperanza, and then the program began.
Although all of the presentations were a great blessing, I would highlight one presentation that from my perspective was a great message of hope and reconciliation for everyone present—the testimony from Sandra Guasaquillo, from the host church. She told of the many difficulties the community had faced in previous years with the armed groups, with persecution and threats, and how year after year God had shown them a light of hope, challenging them to be Salt and Light amidst the darkness affecting the community. The church had decided to see help from the Mennonite Brethren peace organization, EDUPAZ, and after several discernment visits, they began a process to rebuild trust in the community through the peace-building message of Jesus.
Sandra Guasaquillo shares about the experiences of the church in overcoming fear and becoming a light for reconciliation in their community. Photo: Ricardo Torres.
Now “Christ the Only Hope” church is a leader, gaining the respect not only of the community of La Esperanza, but also of the neighbouring communities. The church has shown the community that unity produces miracles, and that together they can work for the common good. They have built a park for their children and together everyone celebrates the grace of God towards the community. The level of violence has dropped greatly, and this is what allowed hundreds of people to arrive from different places, as a gift and a reward for all of the work of the church in the community. This sister ended her testimony by expressing that the church has its doors open to anyone who wants to receive the blessing of God. That is a significant message, given that the community is very close to one of the zones destined by the Colombian government for a large group of ex-combatants from the FARC guerrilla group.
It was a night of celebration and joy, everyone singing in one voice to God, and no one sleeping. Suddenly it was time to leave. It was 6am, and the sun came up with its first light over the horizon. We got on the buses and left with the memories of this beautiful night, this example of community.
La Esperanza is located in the province/state of Cauca, one of the regions most devastated by the war in Colombia. The church “Christ the Only Hope” has been present in the community for 33 years. It currently has a membership of approximately 95 people.
At dawn, the participants from Cali started getting back up onto the traditional buses to travel home. Photo: Ricardo Torres.