Hope in Hopeless Colombia
Pray and Not Give Up Luke 18:1by Jack Voelkel
I had just returned to Medellín, Colombia, after a year's absence. As we were entering the gate to the property of the Biblical Seminary of Colombia, my friend commented, "Last week the paramilitaries shot a pastor right here. He leaves a widow and five children." "Why?" I asked. "They say he was indiscreet in his comments about them," was the reply.
After teaching in the seminary for 2 months, my last week there, I received a notice that a well known pastor in the south of Colombia had also just been killed, this time by the guerrillas. It seems that they had approached him some time before and had commented on the number of young people he had in his congregation. "We want you to encourage them to join us in the revolution," they told him, pointedly. "And by the way, we would like you to give us a percentage of the offerings you are receiving as an act of solidarity with 'the people's struggle'", they added. Instead, he decided to pray for them and the situation. One night, in a prayer meeting, they shot him right in front of his family and friends.
I have the names of 50 pastors who have been killed during the past 3 years in that country.
Why all this violence in Colombia? And why the pastors? For over 50 years there has been a guerrilla movement in the country, as a reaction to the corruption of elected officials who seem more interested in feathering their own nests than in meeting the needs of the poor. The guerrillas fund their movement through "taxing" the wealthy landowners, kidnapping likely prospects, robbing banks, and selling drugs. The landowners have raised up an army of mercenaries called "paramilitaries" to defend themselves. These two armies, plus the Colombian army, have constant clashes, resulting in the death of 30,000 people a year. 3,500 people were kidnapped last year.
Historically the guerrillas have operated in the countryside, hiding in the mountains and jungles. But now, more and more they are moving into the cities, taking over whole barrios. And following them, the 'paras' were doing the same. Each group demands loyalty of the people where they are located. The police pretty well stay away from these barrios.
After teaching for a month, I received a call from my old friend, Pedro Hernandez, president of the Medellín pastoral association. About 160 pastors meet each Wednesday morning for two hours to touch base with each other, pray, hear of city wide activities that have been planned, and to pray together. Pedro asked me if I would speak to their weekly meeting in three weeks. I was facing a four-day retreat I had to lead the next weekend, in addition to preparing for and teaching my three classes and was feeling quite overwhelmed. But my greatest hesitancy in replying positively to his kind invitation was the question, what could I say to these pastors who were living in such precarious situations?
I told Pedro I would pray about it, and we agreed on a date when I would give him my decision. Normally in situations like this, I wait and see if the Lord gives me a message, and if He does, then I agree to speak. As the days passed by, nothing had "come through," (to my relief, I confess) and I was about to call him and decline, pleading too much pressure of duties. However, the morning of the last day, I awoke with a verse passing through my mind. I had to find a concordance to look it up and discover where it was. It was Luke 18:1: "Jesus told His disciples ... that they should always pray and not give up" (NIV). I called Pedro, and told him I would be there.
As I studied the passage, I discovered that the word translated "not give up" is a word which brings together two concepts: "to be a coward" and a negation. In other words, when we face something that overwhelms us, which is beyond our capacity to handle, our natural tendency is to withdraw. We become afraid, we lose heart, we throw in the towel. Jesus calls us not to do this, but to pray. In other words there are two alternatives: prayer or failure.
As I stood before the pastors on that Wednesday morning, I could only imagine what they faced which could overwhelm them: the fear of violence; the stress of their work in growing congregations with people facing all the problems life, their own family struggles, their economic shortfall (most receive inadequate salaries), problems with their children, health issues, large decisions before them, and what the woman in Jesus' parable in this passage confronted, unjust public functionaries.
The Lord often arranges for me to have to live my messages before I preach them. I was wading through papers to grade, exams, mini-theses of my graduate students, plus other duties. It was either pray or sink, and by His grace, I was making it through.
When the message was over, Pedro invited those who needed the Lord to take them through difficult situations beyond what they could handle, to stand. As they did, he encouraged those around them to lay hands upon them and minister to them. It was a precious time, as a volume of strong prayers reached toward heaven, fueled by the invitation Jesus gives us in this passage.
The next morning I returned to my classes. My students were in their last year, preparing to graduate. Some were pastors already, and all would be next year. As I looked into their faces, I could not but think of what many would face. As we had made our way through the Book of Acts, we had noticed that these believers had not been immune to suffering, nor martyrdom. We talked a long time about Stephen, his unique gifting, and why the Lord didn't spare him. No answer here, except God's sovereignty.
What hope do they have for their country? I have talked with taxi drivers, pastors, fellow professors, professional people, and the students themselves about this issue. Hope? Over 2 million people (out of a population of 40 million) have emigrated over the last several years, tired of the threats, the kidnappings, the violence. They have shown by their leaving that they see no hope.
There are 2 ½ million displaced persons now in Colombia, fleeing the violence in the country, coming to the cities with no place to go. The war is draining the economy. The rate of unemployment continues to rise.
I talked with a major in the Colombian army who has been involved for years in intelligence. "We know the names of the guerrilla commanders, their strengths, and their patterns. But we will never be able to defeat them. We don't have the equipment. Often they have more sophisticated arms than we do." Some people are beginning to express the previously unthinkable, that the solution would be the participation of North American troops. But we all know that the real issue is much deeper. As we noted before, it is in the very weakness and corruption of the leadership of the country.
So what hope can I leave with my students as they prepare to graduate, going out to face issues beyond the scope of anyone to handle. And once again, we hear Jesus' words: We should "always pray and not give up." Jesus is the only hope.
And what is true for the Medellín pastors, and the students in the Biblical Seminary of Colombia, is also true for each one of us. We discover that the Lord will often lead us into situations that are beyond our capacity to handle. And His word will always be, "pray and not give up." We are not able, but He is.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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