February 21, 2005

BOGOTA, Colombia/GENEVA – Approaching the village of Tobia, via a steep path, Hebert Gutiérrez, coordinator for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia (IELCO), starts calling out Rosa Amaya. He wants her to know who is coming. There are many guerrillas in Tobia, a 90-minute drive from the capital, and everyone is constantly alert.

Rosa, 39, has eight children ranging from one to 18 years of age. Her nine-year-old niece lives with them, since Rosa's brother is in prison. Her husband Orlando works as a hotel guard in Bogota, returning to his family once or twice a month with enough money for the children's schooling. Rosa takes care of everything else. She gets up at 4.00 a. m. daily to make churros (bread rolls), which the children bring to school to eat and sell.

She grows a variety of vegetables and fruits in the family garden, and also keeps some chickens for the family's consumption, and for sale. During weekends, the children are at home to help out.

On the face of it, this family appears to be doing relatively well, but their lives were not always so easy. Rosa's family is one of over two million Colombians displaced internally or forced to flee to neighboring countries as a result of a civil war that has lasted over 40 years.

IELCO, a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member church since 1966, has been assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Colombia for several years. "We work in a very difficult context," asserted IELCO Bishop Sijifredo D. Buitrago in an interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI), referring to the country's political and socio-economic crisis.

The government continues to face serious challenges as it deals with widespread internal armed conflict mainly perpetrated by the two major guerrilla groups – Colombian Revolutionary Forces (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), and narcotic trafficking. Para-military forces have developed a third group in the conflict, which is greatly feared because of its extreme violent methods against civil society.

In its response to the IDPs' needs, IELCO works closely with the El Salvador-based LWF Department for World Service regional office in Central America, and with Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, the global network of churches and their agencies responding to emergencies worldwide. The LWF is a founding member of ACT.

"Migration and displacement severely affect the life of IELCO's congregations as some of them are located in the so-called ‘red-zones'," Buitrago said, referring to regions controlled by one or more armed groups.

As the violence increases, the human rights situation deteriorates, and advocacy becomes an increasingly risky job. Indeed, many of IELCO's members are displaced, remarked Rev. Jairo Suarez, secretary for the church's office for justice and life. He acknowledged there are risks involved in speaking out for people's rights in the context of a conflict in which hundreds are killed annually. But the church is unwavering in its commitment. Human rights defenders, judges, journalists, peace activists, businesspersons, leaders of indigenous communities and religious people are the most exposed groups for kidnappings and violent actions, Suarez explained.

Sharing the Faith from Different Contexts

The violence and instability coupled with the deteriorating economic situation has greatly affected the church's capacity to sustain itself financially. IELCO recently had to shut down some of itsschools due to lack of financial resources.

Buitrago stressed the importance of sharing in the joys and struggles of the member churches of the Lutheran communion. "We live out our faith in different contexts, and coming here makes me realize just how diverse the LWF is," he said on his first visit to the LWF Geneva secretariat late last year. He has been head of the church since January 2004, succeeding Rev. Nehemias Parada.

For Rosa's family and other community members, such solidarity has meant having access to potable water and latrines, which reduces the spread of water-borne diseases. They also received assistance toward the construction of houses. The next phase of IELCO's project will provide families with material for improved kitchens, and Rosa is planning hers. They will also receive education in hygiene and health.

The IELCO has 3,000 members with 14 congregations. Ninety percent of Colombia's 42 million people are Roman Catholic.

Lutheran World Information
This article is part of the ongoing LWI Features on Healing focusing on the LWF Tenth Assembly theme, "For the Healing of the World."