Supia, Colombia, Part 3

The Union Misionera Church building in Supia sits straight along a small inclined street in a busy section of town.  Most of the building is comprised of worship sanctuary of about 30 by 40 feet with small classrooms, restrooms and a very nice, recently finished, kitchen all in the back.  But the Union Misionera de Supia congregation is not the building, it is all about it's people who are engaging the world around them.  In fact, even the building is clearly designed to serve the people which is seen in the little fish storefront connected to the building (in the picture right, we are standing in the shop door).  One of the ministries of the church is in the area of micro-business.  They are keenly aware of the need to be about developing opportunities to sustain families.

The congreation's biggest entrepreneurial endeavor to date is an investment in one family's fish business.  This family farms fish for eating and for aquariums.  The family has grown to the point of operating a number of sites where they farm the fish, a restaurant where they serve fried fish (very delicious), and the little store selling fish and aquariums.  They are starting to handle tropical birds also.

There is a clear sense of pride on the face of Pastor Jhon Fredy when he speaks of the people of the church and their involvements in the community.  From the award-winning coffee farmer, to the young man who came into the church after serving in the military, they each have a story and their pastor is not shy about telling it.

In the back end of a Land Cruiser we rode around the mountain side community of Supia visiting fincas, eating and hearing the stories of the beautiful people of Union Misionera de Supia.  We were accompanied at each stop by a farm truck loaded in back with the young adults of the congregation.  It is clear to me that while these folks enjoy their gatherings for worship, however, the true stuff of the church is in how they are living in the world.

On the first day of our visit Jhon Fredy took us to meet the town's mayor, a kind-faced, older catholic man who was very willing to tell us about his role and responsibilities.  Actually, he spent a lot of the time apologizing for what he has not yet been able to do since he is struggling to bring some integrity to  finishing someone else's term.  As the conversation in the mayor's office was concluding, Jhon Fredy asked me to offer a prayer for the mayor, and I did.  I have to wonder, if the shoe was on the other foot, and he were visiting my congregation, would I take him to meet and pray for Mayor Kauffman?


Our visit with the mayor of Supia indicates the expected scope of ministry for Jhon Fredy and his congregation.  Because of Jhon Fredy and his congregation's lobbying with the mayor and city council, the town now celebrates an annual day of peace complete with a peace parade (Pan y Paz) which coincides with United Nations International Day of Peace.  Might it be that we in North America have, in our lust for separation of church and state, forfeited our voice?

Supia, Colombia, Part 2

Anabaptists have a growing presence in Colombia, from the three denominational groups (Mennonite, Mennonite Brethren and Brethren in Christ), to Mennonite Central Committee which has workers in Bogota and around the country.  Then there are people like Union Misionera Pastor Jhon Fredy Cardona who is not in an Anabaptist congregation yet both he and his wife, Beatrice, have been members of Anabaptist congregations in other cities.

A few years ago I traveled to Colombia with John Driver, and that time it was Steven Abernathy that was my in-country guide.  Steven is now married but still working for MCC out of the Bogota Office, but this visit my guide was a wonderful young woman from Goshen, Indiana (if you can believe that) named Becca.  On a one year assignment and working as the Sister Church Coordinator for Justapaz, Becca joined Ben and me for the trip to Supia (her first trip there as well).

Becca, Ben and I seemed to be the center of attention for congregation in Supia - we were the "personas especiales."  Let me illustrate.  We were told via e-mail that there would be a wedding in the church during our visit and we should bring clothes suitable for the occasion.  When the three of us arrived for the wedding, we were told that we would be sitting on the platform with the pastor and the Bride and Groom - so we did.  It was a beautiful wedding.  It was a long wedding (about two and half hours).  I am guessing that it was a typical wedding for this congregation.

It began with the groom and his parents meeting the bride and her parents in the middle of the worship space to be "brought together" for this occasion.  Then after opening words and the couple had been seated on the center of the platform, Pastor Jhon Fredy said something like, "Now our guest pastor will come and offer greetings..." and I realized at that moment that he was the master of impromptu.  I wish I had recall of what I said, but I was not prepared and very nervous - I haven't a clue.  At least I had a formal role in the wedding.  Poor Becca and Ben conspicuously shared the platform with no role other than being "personas especiales" (the picture on the right was taken by Ben from his seat).

Then again at the wedding reception, Pastor Jhon Fredy got me again: "The bride and groom asked for you to offer the first toast."  We were drinking a cold sweet coffee with a hint of liquor when I toasted the couple with "God's love in the good times and forgiveness in the difficult so that Christ's way would be clear in their home."  Then I quickly slipped off to the side where Jhon Fredy found me once again and invited me to be the first to dance with the bride after the groom.  They weren't just throwing around the title "personas especiales," they saw us as personas especiales.

Supia, Colombia, Part 1

I have heard good faith stories before and I did expect to meet people with experiences of hard life when I got to Supia, Colombia.  I'm quite sure that in the mix of meeting people, experiencing another culture and carrying greetings from my church, hearing people's stories was the essential thing that I was after in this trip.

A young adult from my congregation (Ben) and I flew to Bogota, Colombia last week.  We stayed our first night with a wonderful older couple I had met on my first visit to Colombia, three years ago, named Luis and Fanny (pronounced "Faa-nee").  Early the next morning we took a taxi to another airport and flew to Pereira where we were met by Jorge, our driver for the week.  From Pareira, we traveled by Jorge's taxi/bus on two hours of mountain highway to Supia.

Supia is a small town (about 25,000 people) nestled in a valley of mountains in the department of Caldas, the heart of the Colombian coffee region, and in this town is Iglesia de Union Misionera, my congregation's sister church.  We were joined in this relationship to Union Misionera de Supia through the peace church program of Justapaz, a grass roots Anabaptist justice and peace organization. (I recommend you check out the Justapaz web link above - this is a remarkable organization).


Let me share a story of faith from a woman I met...

Just a few years ago the people of Colombia experienced one of the most confusing and ugly human rights violations of the recent past, they call it the El Escándalo de Falsos Positivos.  This scandal, which came to a head in 2008, involved the Colombian military (or some faction of it) kidnapping and killing innocent citizens, and taking their pictures as guerrillas killed in armed conflict, thus offering "proof" of their success against the armed groups.  Many Colombian military officials were removed from their positions when the false positive incidents came to light from around the country.

This woman's husband was collected right off the streets of Supia by soldiers and taken to a holding center.  Those who were taken with him were killed as false positives.  He was seventy years old and so was released when they realized he did not fit the profile of an armed rebel.  He has since passed away, but the glowing story of God's passion for her community is displayed in this woman as she teaches the congregation's youth what it means to trust God and follow Jesus.