Mennonite Weekly Review

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — At Teusaquillo Mennonite Church, Colombia’s crisis of internally displaced people is not abstract.

During the church’s Momento por la Paz (Moment for Peace) gathering April 11, most of those who attended were internally displaced people who fled to this city of about 7 million. They continue to be persecuted and hunted, fearing assassination.

“They come to the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church near downtown Bogotá because a relative, a friend or sometimes just someone they’ve met standing in line or in the street has told them they might find a haven or help at this church,” said Pastor Peter Stucky. “So they come looking for support and peace.”

Those gathered April 11 made the crisis less abstract for Mennonite churches in the United States and Canada as part of a campaign, “Face the Displaced – Colombia: Our Hemisphere’s Hidden Humanitarian Crisis.”

Rebecca Bartel from the Mennonite Central Committee advocacy office and Jess Hunter-Bowman from Witness for Peace invited participants to write to U.S. and Canadian Mennonites, sharing their hopes, fears and dreams for Colombia. They called them to support policies that build peace instead of supporting warfare, creating more victims.

On large banners on the floor with human figures drawn on them, people from [the Teusaquillo church](http://www.mennonitechurchofcolombia.org/congregations/teusaquillo_en/( knelt and wrote messages of greeting and gratitude to Canadian and the U.S. participants in this year’s Days of Prayer and Action for Peace April 18-19.

Partners in Colombia gathered about 40 photos of faces of forcibly displaced people in Colombia along with their stories. They plan to make and distribute posters displaying these pictures of people, along with their words, as a way to make legislators and communities face the human reality of the crisis.

Colombia is home to nearly 5 million internally displaced people, reports the Colombian Commission for Human Rights and Displacement. This is the largest registered number of IDPs in any country, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.

A potential trade deal between Canada and Colombia may exacerbate violence around land rights and add to displacement.

“People of faith all over the world are calling for international trade and investment systems that respect and promote the dignity of the human person as created in the image of God and [that] lead to environmental sustainability,” Bartel said.

Contributing: Deborah Froese.