{"id":51220,"date":"2023-07-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?post_type=resource&p=51220"},"modified":"2023-07-18T12:09:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T17:09:00","slug":"pray-with-colombia-july-30-2023","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/pray-with-colombia-july-30-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Pray with Colombia, July 30, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lectionary Selection:<\/strong>  Matthew 13:31-33, 33-52<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds
of flour until it worked all through the dough.\u201d
-Matthew 13.33<\/p>\n\n\n

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Prayers for Colombia<\/strong>

Good God,
you always sow
because you harbor hope\u2026
But on more than one occasion
seeds don\u2019t grow,
and get lost among the everyday rubble,
and in history.
It is so,
like the woman in the parable
we implore,
that you do not stop kneading our life,
nor the seeds of peace
that you insist on putting in our life;
Do not let us fall into temptation,
to spoil,
to anchor loss,|
and instead welcome us like the good earth,
like the dough that finally ferments,
grows and bears fruit.
Amen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission Moment from Colombia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon landing in Tumaco, an almost direct road takes us, as part of the delegation from Justapaz, to the center of the municipality. Then there are some curves and the infinite gray Pacific. Towards the shore of calm waves are the markets, the kiosks with pyramids of fruit and fresh fish. Children run between the pilings of businesses and restaurants over the dark waters in the late afternoon. Flanking the landscape, we see army brigades and young soldiers armed with very long rifles under the palm trees of the coast on the bridge that connects the islands of Tumaco. After all, almost 13 armed groups have a presence in the department of Nari\u00f1o.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Esther, the daughter of the pastor of the Tabernacle Church, is called \u201cpastor.\u201d She is tall, Afro-Colombian, and calls her father: \u201capostle.\u201d Life has ways of making us responsible witnesses of what we have experienced. That is what pastoral action is about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, they carry rolling vigils and prayer services in homes and streets where it is scary. Instead, they are humanitarian journeys through neighborhoods where urban gangs prevail. Then they take the gospel and request the cessation of the conflict. At these church services, guys sometimes arrive with artillery in their hands and lined with grenades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to go from religion to the kingdom, empathy, and charity,\u201d says Esther*. Because the exercise of accompaniment of the church only makes sense with the communities outside the temple. Sometimes it turns out that one of these boys from armed groups converts, but he already has arrest warrants. The \u201capostle\u201d could welcome them into the congregation, but they have no guarantees before the law. Because this is not just a matter of \u201caccepting the Lord,\u201d but they are also matters of law that would have to be faced,\u201d she acknowledges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On more than one night, young people from groups outside the law arrive at Pastor Esther’s house and call her \u201caunt.\u201d She welcomes them and talks about their lives and the Bible with them. It\u2019s like that woman who kneads yeast with flour. You must wait for everything to ferment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Alex Maldonado and Xiomara Cintr\u00f3n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mission Partners in Colombia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n