Peace Sanctuary Churches


Information from the Peace Sanctuary Churches



Short Summary | Quote from Cristo El Rey | Story of Remanso de Paz | Quotes from Penial Members | Further Reading from the Churches | Peacebuilding Strategies

Short Summaries of the Three Peace Sanctuary Churches' Work:

Cristo El Rey (Christ the King) church is located in the town of Tierralta , in the northwest Colombian province of Córdoba .


Photo by Phillip Cryan

Cristo El Rey was formed in 1978. Tierralta is the town where Colombia 's major paramilitary federation, the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), was created and where the current Colombian government is holding peace talks with the AUC. In 1996, when 64 families arrived in Tierralta displaced -- after paramilitaries committed a massacre in their village -- Cristo El Rey provided refuge to the families and helped them find land and build houses in Tierralta. Since then the church has assisted a number of other waves of displaced families, formed a nongovernmental organization focused on community development, repeatedly interceded with the AUC in cases of death threats and other problems, and become a point of reference for churches and community groups throughout the region interested in peacebuilding and community development. Cristo El Rey has also run a small school since the 1980s.

Peniel church is located in the town of Zambrano in the northern Colombian province of Bolívar . Zambrano is known in Colombia as a "Red Zone": an area of active conflict between guerrillas and paramilitaries. Many rural villages surrounding Zambrano are now ghost towns and there have been many times when open combat has taken place in the streets of Zambrano itself. Zambrano is also a severely economically depressed town. Peniel members operate a community bakery, offer psychological counseling and support to victims of the conflict, and run a vibrant youth program designed to prevent young people from being forcibly recruited by one or the other of the armed groups. The youth group is responsible for a small agricultural project just outside the town. Peniel also provides meals for children and the elderly.

Sanctuary of Remanso De Paz Church

Photo by Phillip Cryan

Remanso de Paz (Haven for Peace) church is located in the city of Sincelejo , the capital of Sucre province in northern Colombia . Remanso de Paz was formed by displaced persons in 2000, when they arrived in Sincelejo after having been displaced from their rural villages in the municipality of Macayepo (in neigboring Bolívar province). 15,000 families left Macayepo that year after attacks by both FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas and AUC paramilitaries. Upon arriving in Sincelejo, some Protestant pastors and lay leaders went to the mayor and convinced him to grant them use of a piece of land being used as a garbage dump, along the side of the highway on the outskirts of town, if they would provide the labor to clean it up. They built their church there, and subsequently began to acquire use of pieces of land throughout the city and transform them into community gardens. Remanso de Paz members provide support and advice to many newly displaced persons who arrive in Sincelejo , provide trainings in crafts-production to displaced women, and provide meals for poor children. They have established close working relationships with many local government agencies.

A young woman works on crafts-production during a class

Photo by Phillip Cryan

Quotes from Cristo El Rey

October 2004

The following are some quotes from members of Cristo El Rey (Christ the King) church, which is partnered with GAC and was visited in October by LWR:

  • Some displaced people living in Tierralta have begun to attempt to return to their rural lands, despite the ongoing conflict in the areas they were displaced from. "A lack of attention to their basic needs by the government forces them to attempt to return," a Cristo El Rey lay leader said. "People say, 'Rather than die of hunger here in the city, I'm going back, to at least die on my own land.'"

A community leader stands in the 'patio productivo' (community garden)

Photo by Phillip Cryan

  • Another community leader explained, "For most displaced people, the impacts of their displacement never really go away. There is no such thing as full recovery, because the trauma is always there. You always dream about the way things were before, and wonder ‘when will it be that way again'?"

  • A leader of CORSOC, the community development organization that grew out of Cristo El Rey's involvement in social projects, explained the church's rationale for becoming involved in such projects (especially assisting displaced people): "We don't do it because the government doesn't. We do it because we understand is as our role as Christians."

  • Another leader told the story of how Cristo el Rey members first became involved in direct conversations with illegal armed groups: When the paramilitaries massacred members of Protestant churches in a rural area in 1996 and Cristo El Rey took in all the families that left the area after the massacre, "we went to try to talk to the paramilitary leaders here in Tierralta. They said they killed the church members because they were 'collaborators' with the guerrillas. We told them, 'You can tell that to the press, but not to us. We knew those people. We were here long before you were. We know they weren't working with any armed group.'"

Daughter of a Protestant pastor who was killed by paramilitaries


Photo by Phillip Cryan

Story of Remanso de Paz

A young man who is a member of Remanso de Paz wrote this song in order to tell the story of the community’s displacement and coming-together as a congregation

Singing 'Story of Remanso de Paz'

Photo by Phillip Cryan

I

There is a story I want to tell you

Of things that took place not far from here

In my homeland, the land of my birth,

A land of prosperity and blessing

(x 2)

A great change came, a tragic war,

And at the time it was hard to confront

Our desperation and great sadness

For the people they had mutilated

(x2)

We moved to a city nearby,

Taken there by the Lord's hand;

In an instant He consoled us,

He told us "My child, I have brought you here,"

"You must come together,"

"You must be united"

(x2)

CHORUS

We cry, beloved brothers and sisters,

Not in sadness but with ardor;

The God of heaven has protected us

And has taken us by the hand

(x2)

II

We obeyed the word of God

Through the promises He made,

"I have brought you here for a great blessing,

I am Jesus Christ and I will be glorified";

But many have lacked comprehension

(x2)

I feel sorrow and I want to intercede today

Because what God wants to do

Is so great --

You have to open your heart

(x2)

Like when Isaac arrived in the land of Gerar

And was obedient to the word of God,

And the Lord blessed him greatly;

He prospered in that land

(x2)

CHORUS

We cry, beloved brothers and sisters,

Not in sadness but with ardor;

The God of heaven has protected us

And has taken us by the hand

(x2)

III

Today I can testify

Of the wonders of our Lord;

Today, united in APORTAPAZ1,

We are working in the vineyard of the Lord

(x2)

CHORUS

We cry, beloved brothers and sisters,

Not in sadness but with ardor;

The God of heaven has protected us

And has taken us by the hand

(x2)

[1] APORTAPAZ is a nongovernmental organization founded by members of Remanso de Paz to work on a variety of community projects: soup kitchens for poor children; patios productivos (community gardens); providing legal advice to displaced persons; training in production of handicrafts; etc. Its office is directly across the street from the church.

Quotes from Penial Members

December 2004




Photo by Phillip Cryan

Two LWR staff members --Michael Watt (Director of Programs for Latin America ) and Sarah Ford (Director of the Office of Public Policy) gathered these on a trip to Zambrano in early December.

“Peace must begin in our heart. How can you ask for peace with a pistol in your hand?”

(Guillermo2)

“How do you put a value on someone’s pain?”

(Luz Marina)

“Sometimes I think it must have been a nightmare, but I actually lived it.”

(Juanita)

“If I didn’t have my faith and my hope, I wouldn’t have survived until today.”

(Luz Marina)

“When I’m on my knees, praying, the question I ask God is, why and for what did this happen?”

(Luz Marina, speaking about abduction by guerrillas of her only son)

2Names have been changed for security reasons

Contacting the Peace Sanctuary Churches:

All emails sent to these addresses need to be in Spanish, so if you need help translating find a friend or go to a Sal y Luz meeting and get some help.

Cristo El Rey: corsoc_icr@yahoo.es

         This is the church with which Gustavus is partnered

Peniel: iglesiapenielzam@hotmail.com

Remanso de Paz: igremansopaz@hotmail.com

For sending letters, cards, photos, etc, please translate them into Spanish and send them to this address.  Make sure to note the Peace Church to which they should be sent.  Also, include your contact info so they can write back to you.  These items will be hand-delivered by LWR representatives who visit the Churches often because mail is not reliable.  Replies make take a while, so please be patient.

Phillip Cryan

Lutheran World Relief

615 Lynn Ave.

Ames , IA   50014

There is currently a change in the organization and leadership of Sal y Luz at Gustavus, so the contact people will be announced once that information becomes available, probably in the fall of 2005.  Until then, watch for information posted around campus on meetings and events.

Further Reading from the Churches

A document was put together in the hopes of communicating the work and vision of the Peace Sanctuary Churches to a wider audience.  This is the first draft of that document, and it contains information about the Churches, what they do, and what they have learned as well as historical information on the conflict in Colombia .  It is a valuable source of information.  As newer drafts appear, we will put them here in order to provide the most updated news and insight.

            Peace Sanctuary Statement

Peacebuilding Strategies

Many of the peacebuilding strategies used by the peace sanctuaries in Colombia can be found in Lisa Schirch’s The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding.  One of the ways members of the churches are working to actively reduce direct violence by creating a safe space.  They create “a physical place where people can meet across the lines of conflict,”(Schirch 36-37).  They are also working to prevent victimization in hopes of preventing the expansion of war and direct violence. 

            The peace sanctuaries focus a lot of their energy on trauma healing.  They create a space where victims can be healed physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Through all these actions, they essentially are working to end the conflict.  They encourage dialogue, mediation, and negotiation.  A main goal of the churches is to reestablish a sense of community among the victims.  Rebuilding communities and providing support for displaced families and other victims who have nowhere else to turn.  Through these methods, they are actively participating in peacebuilding. 


Created: May 08, 2005
by the Intro to Peace Studies class of 2005