“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

-Martin Luther King Jr. (Strength to Love, Harper & Row, 1963, p. 14)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

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.

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