August 21, 2003
Friends,
On Monday, August 18, the Joining Hands Against Poverty Network
of Peru sent out an urgent request
for prayer and advocacy so that Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo
would not block the scheduled release of the final report of the
National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Many of our friends
in the Giddings-Lovejoy Joining Hands Network (Missouri) and around
the world began to pray, and many wrote immediately to President
Toledo.
Yesterday, the president announced that the Truth and Reconciliation
Report would be presented publicly on schedule. This is wonderful
news for the communities most affected by the violence and human
rights abuses of the past 20 years during which 70,000 people
were killed. The formal presentation will be made in the presidential
palace in Lima, with a public acknowledgement and commemoration
in Ayacucho, one of the areas most affected by the violence. Our
friends in Giddings-Lovejoy are scrambling to send a representative
to attend the event in Ayacucho.
Our Joining Hands Network, along with some of Peru's Protestant
churches and organizations, is organizing an "evangelical
commission" to press for follow-up to the final report and
will present a letter to President Toledo tomorrow at noon, urging
him to carry out the report's recommendations. John 8:32 is the
theme: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set
you free.” This is a remarkable moment for the Protestant
churches to be able to work together with the Catholic church
and other groups in Peru's civil society, offering their own contribution
to national reconciliation.
If any of you are in the neighborhood during these momentous
days, join us!
Wherever you are, your prayers have challenged the myth that
we live in separate "worlds,” unconnected one from
another—"the First World,” "the Third World,”
etc. In a powerful moment this week, our prayers together bound
these "worlds" together.
With thanks for your solidarity and in the hope that we might
continue together,
Joining Hands Against Poverty Network of Peru
Hunter Farrell, Facilitator
Conrado Olivera, National Coordinator
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