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January 2002
Dear Friends,
We have just finished the biennial meeting of the Synod of the
Presbyterian Church of Colombia, composed of three presbyteries
from different parts of the country. Let me share some of the
items on the agenda.
Crisis in Colombia
"The situation this country faces is being felt directly
and indirectly in every area of the life of the church,"
said Synod Executive Milton Mejía in his report to the
Synod. "The economic crisis has led upperclass families to
sell their assets, even household effects, while lowerclass families
have had to reduce the amount they spend on food, education, health,
and clothing." Colombia, he added, has one of the worst indexes
of poverty and distribution of income of all Latin America.
In addition to this crisis we have the violence: some 20 persons
a day were killed in 2001 and more than 1,000 fled their homes
each day in the face of human rights violations and the indiscriminate
fumigation in the south as part of the "Plan Colombia."
The government provides humanitarian aid for only about 20 percent
of these desplazados, Milton noted as he described national and
presbytery projects to provide aid to displaced persons. Members
of the
synod expressed appreciation for the work of the Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance and many local congregations who have helped
to make these projects possible through their gifts.
An important initiative of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia
was the opening of an ongoing ecumenical dialogue with other Colombian
denominations concerning the church’s mission and its role
in overcoming the crisis that Colombians have lived with for the
past 50 years.
Mission Strategy
Mission was a key item on the agenda. A separate day-long mission
consultation focused on evaluating the national church’s
mission strategy and its implementation in each presbytery. The
keynote speaker, a noted Colombian sociologist who was separated
from the church for many years but has now returned, discussed
"Social, Educational and Cultural Challenges for Christian
Institutions in Colombia."
The consultation stressed the need to define and strengthen
the church’s understanding of its identity and heritage in
the Reformed tradition, with emphasis on the production of Christian
education resources and biblical and theological background materials
(very few such materials are available in Spanish). It reaffirmed
the Synod’s commitment to evangelization "in the style
of Jesus, that is, we must go out to people in the city and in
rural villages, teaching, healing, and announcing the good news."
Reformed University of Colombia (CUR)
The university is in the final stages of accreditation after
more than four years of development and structuring, and the report
to the Synod dealt mainly with the project to obtain full accreditation
from the Colombian government. The Synod heard with gratitude
that the PC(USA) has loaned us $40,000 to complete the minimum
financial reserve required. In addition, it learned of the massive
support of U.S. Presbyterians, who wrote their senators last summer
asking that the U.S. ambassador in Colombia intervene with the
Colombian minister of education on behalf of the university project.
Those many letters had their effect. The ambassador has contacted
the minister several times to urge approval of the project. A
number of influential Colombian politicians and members of the
business community have done the same. However, the wheels of
Third World bureaucracy grind slowly. As early as October we were
told that the we would have our reply and I may have written a
few of you to say that we were now official. When October came
and went with no reply, we were told that the response would come
by November
20, then December 8. However, these dates also passed and when
the collective vacation of government offices began on December
15, the minister still had not signed our project.
The offices are now reopening for the new year, and we are waiting
for word from the ministry. On the other hand, a presidential
election is coming up this spring. The minister of education is
a political appointment, and we will see how the political activity
of the coming months affects our project. Meanwhile, classes begin
for the new school year in February and as Dean of the School
of Theology I will travel to the southern part of the country
to open a new branch campus in the city of Ibague (pronounced
ee-bah-GAY).
Please continue to pray for Colombia, for the church’s
mission outreach here and for the educational ministry of the
CUR (including accreditation!).
Blessings on you…
Alice Winters
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 262
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