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	A letter from Harry and Debbie Horne in Peru

	April 2006 Dear Sisters and Brothers, I want to share with you the spiritual journeys of a special group of students of the Lima branch of the Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana. This group studies in the confines of the prison known as Miguel Castro Castro. One stage of the journey of each of these students was some level of participation in a guerrilla movement known as the MRTA. They were young men when they participated, and when they were arrested for their participation in the MRTA. They have spent many years in prison. During that time they have undergone a profound process of reflection.

	Enrique Chahua is a student at the Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana in Lima. He has spent many years in prison for his participation in a guerrilla movement.				Enrique grew up in a home devoted to Christ in a strong Catholic tradition. He writes, “In my house you breathed the Christian atmosphere, not only because of the strength of the faith within the family, but also because of its social commitments. This has been the way of life for my mother, my father, and my sisters and brothers, something which has led me to believe in God and search for a more just and compassionate world. It makes no sense to believe in God and not care for His creation. Faith should be accompanied with the building of the Kingdom of God.”

	Roberto’s early experience was not so positive. He writes, “From the religiosity of my mother, my father’s pose as an atheist, and the ideological bombardment of the television, I don’t know what kind of hybrid product formed in my head…. The only time I went into a Mass was to retrieve my soccer ball.… My mother lost hope for me, and stopped taking me with her to the public processionals of her saints.”

	In high school Roberto tried to reconcile himself with his mother’s saints, and once he threw a piece of paper, with the words “I want to know the truth” written on it, into a pool dedicated to Saint Rosa of Lima, known for her work with the poor. It was in his early adulthood that he came to admire Roman Catholic leaders whose commitment to social change led them to participate in what Roberto saw as a process of revolution, such as Ernesto Cardenal in Nicaragua, Archbishop Romero in El Salvador, and Camilo Torres in Colombia. His group thought of themselves as “rebellious Christian youth.”		This photograph of Roberto Villar, a UBL student, was taken while he was in prison. He is now free.

	They participated in educational efforts of his local Roman Catholic church. Gradually, this group became more and more political, leaving aside Christian reflection. Although he rejected participation in the atheist Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), when the MRTA came along in 1984, he joined up. They have all spent years in prison, years of isolation from their families and, early on, of isolation even from other prisoners for 23 or more hours a day. As prison conditions eased a bit, they became part of a Christian community in the prison. This “church within the walls” has been extremely important to them. It has been a context in which they have done profound theological reflection.

	Jose Otoniel is another UBL student serving time in prison.				Roberto writes, “Maybe my path to find the Way of the Lord has been a very long one, but it has been worth the trouble. The fundamental questions of life that I asked as a youth are still around, but this time I don’t throw pieces of paper with a petition to the saints of my mother. I feel more at peace, and I thank all those people I found along the path from whom I learned a lot. The wonderful thing in all this is that the hope of a better world now appears in the face of Jesus.”

	Enrique writes, “I consider these studies to be fundamental in order to broaden my understanding of my faith, and at the same time to transmit my faith to other persons.” He is preparing himself because one day they may let him go free, and he wants to give his life in solidarity with the poor. This time, he knows that “the primary cause is not to be found in ideologies”, but in “my first formation,” in the faith he learned from his mother. There is an ongoing process of judicial review of their cases. Roberto is now out of prison, and others in the group are hopeful that they will be out soon. I believe that this time their path is the Way of Jesus, in which their hunger for justice will join hands with the making of peace. Up to now, this has been an effort of the Lima branch of the UBL, with no financial backing and without asking anything from the students but their time and effort. If you would like to support this effort, contributions from individuals may be sent to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Individual Remittance Processing, PO Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Contributions from churches should be sent to your usual receiving site or to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Church Remittance Processing, PO Box 643678, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3678. Write the title (UBL Prison Studies - Lima) and the ECO number on the subject line (ECO#052331) of the check and put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to Area Office for Latin America at 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Or click the "give" button below. Harry and Debbie Horne The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 47

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