Sept. 22, 2008 issue
Serving with CPT, Colombian to share people’s pain, hope
By Celeste Kennel-Shank Mennonite Weekly ReviewCHICAGO — The daughter of people displaced during an earlier flare of violence in Colombia, Gladys Gómez of Bogotá has served displaced people through her church and is now preparing to accompany communities resisting threats to push them off their land.
Gladys Gómez of Bogotá, Colombia, writes thank-you letters to supporters of Christian Peacemaker Teams in the organization’s Chicago office. — Photo by Celeste Kennel-Shank/MWR
Gómez, 49, a member of Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogotá, finished training in August to become a full-time member of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
“It’s an opportunity to walk with other people, to learn and to serve together with CPT,” she said in a Sept. 12 interview at CPT’s Chicago headquarters. “I like to listen to people, to be with them, to share not only pain, but hope and faith in Jesus.”
While many CPT members are North Americans working abroad, Gómez is taking risks for peace as a Colombian in her home country.
She values the focuses of CPT’s work there: accompaniment of rural communities, public action and teaching nonviolence.
“The most important thing in the accompaniment is sharing a culture of nonviolence,” she said.
In recent years, Gómez has served through Teusaquillo’s home for the elderly and soup kitchens for displaced families.
“Jesus was a man of actions; his words led to actions,” she said. “Some people preach a lot, but do little.”
At Teusaquillo, Gómez has found other Christians interested in peace, justice and service. It is also where she heard about CPT, in addition to meeting CPT members and delegates who stayed in her sister’s home in Bogotá.
In December 2007 she went on a delegation to Barrancabermeja in north central Colombia where CPT’s project is based. It is sometimes possible while in Bogotá to be unaware of the reality in places of greater violence in Colombia, she said.
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