CPTnet
November 5, 2002
COLOMBIA: Bringing peace to Colombia: one prayer, one conversation at a
time

by Carol Foltz Spring

In our work with Christian Peacemaker Teams, we plant seeds of peace daily.
We do not know which of the seeds will bear fruit, but each time we talk
about peace it can be a seed.

On October 11, 2002, Lena Siegers (Blyth, ON) and two members of a recent
CPT delegation to Colombia headed down the Opon River in CPT's motorized
metal canoe and saw a lineup of a dozen armed men along the riverbank.
They wore new, matching uniforms with insignia of a local paramilitary
group. Paramilitaries are illegal according to Colombian law and
responsible for approximately 80% of politically motivated kidnappings and
killings in Colombia.

The leader of the group asked Siegers to leave and mentioned that there was
another group of paramilitaries down river. She said, "First we'll pray."
The group of CPTers joined hands on the riverbank and Siegers prayed loud
enough for all to hear. By the time the group finished singing, "Lord,
Listen to Your Children Praying," the men were gone.

The CPTers then followed the men down river where they encountered another
group of paramilitaries, standing at attention with their feet apart, from
the same unit. Each carried an assault rifle slung over his shoulder. The
commander looked surprised to see the CPTers and wanted to talk to Siegers
immediately, but she shook hands with each of the young men first, while the
two women on the delegation talked with the other armed men. When Siegers
began speaking with the commander, everything got quiet. She talked with
him about CPT, about nonviolence, about vengeance that only creates more
violence.

The commander politely asked to speak. "The newspapers say bad things
about us. It's all propaganda. We work for peace, for the people. We are
farmers too." He said his superior was trained in the United States.

Siegers responded, "If you are farmers too, then you understand that you are
putting these farmers at risk. If you really want to help them, meet in
the woods away from their houses."

"While you're killing your brothers and sisters," she continued, "the
United
States and Canada are taking the oil and other natural resources from this
rich land. Colombia is so beautiful. If everyone would work together to
develop your resources, it would truly be a rich nation."

When Siegers asked about the commander's family, he said, "Oh, yes, I have
two beautiful young girls," and talked of his love for them.

Siegers said, "Oh, it would be so wonderful if you could go back to your
little girls."

His eyes glistened with tears. "But I'm working to build peace, so that I
can go home again."

"I feel so sad," Siegers told him as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Someday, before you lay down your weapons, you will meet your brother and
have to kill him. He has a face too, he has a mother too." She traced his
face with her hand. "I know your face now." She traced her own. "And you
know mine."

A photo of Siegers in the kitchen of CPT Colombia's house is available at
www.dallaspeacecenter.org/lena.htm.