November 12-15, 2008 Bluffton University’s theatre department will perform Whatever Kindles, a fictional docudrama exploring the everyday experiences and struggles of members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).  Written by playwright and CPT reservist Tricia Gates Brown, the docudrama takes its title from the words of St. Theresa of Avila, “Do whatever most kindles love in you.  It features seven fictional CPT workers and an ensemble of supporting characters that share their experiences in Canada, Columbia, Iraq and Israel/Palestine through direct address to the audience and short vignettes.  The play premiered at George Fox University in Oregon during the fall of 2007.  A free script is available at http://www.cpt.org/resources/books#7.

3 September
Janeth Foronda Torress, a government official in Criminal Investigations, met with CPTers Nils Dybvig and William Payne to request information related to four crimes of homophobic violence she is currently investigating…

16 September
The Barrancabermejan youth organization Legion of Affection, which had received death threats from a paramilitary group the previous month (see August 2008 Update), held a well-attended press conference in response to those threats.  The young people described the nature of their work, how they respond to threats with courage and humor, and concluded by performing a cultural dance.

In the afternoon, two men went to the home of a leader of the Women's Popular Organization (OFP), asking where she was and insisting they knew how to find her.  Because of this potential threat, the following day CPTers Jenny Dillon and Stewart Vriesinga accompanied this leader to her meetings in the region.

It wasn’t what I had expected.  That seems to be the theme of my work this year in Colombia.  My teammates Pierre and Sallie Ann had just left for an accompaniment trip, the delegation had taken off for the mining zone, Sarah was headed for Bogota to meet a new teammate at the airport, another teammate was on vacation.  This left Sandra and I here in Barranca what I thought would be a couple of quiet days, catching up on e-mail, cleaning the patio, chatting with neighbors, maybe starting a novel.

But a phone call sent us in a different direction. The past weekend, six people had died in an ongoing string of murders in Barrancabermeja…

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Oct. 29, 2008

Pray for Colombia. The president has declared a "national emergency" as indigenous peoples in the south and small miners in the north block roads and occupy towns protesting government intimidation and broken commitments.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

In  the South Hebron Hills sits a new cistern—another sentinel of resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Israeli settlers from the settlement of Ma’on in the South Hebron Hills harassed and yelled death threats at Palestinian elementary schoolchildren on their way home from school, Thursday 23 October 2008.  The children were returning from the At-Tuwani village school to their homes in the villages of Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed escorted by an Israeli army humvee.  When two adult Israeli settlers chased the children, throwing stones and threatening to kill them, the Israeli soldiers remained in their vehicle and got out of the humvee only at the conclusion of the escort.

Two friends of CPT Hebron told team members on 13 October 2008 that the Palestinian Authority has replaced the board of directors of the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS)schools and orphanages.  The friends noted that  this new move means that the ICS schools and orphanages will likely continue to operate the rest of the school year.

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Wed., Oct. 22, 2008

Pray for Palestinian farmers seeking to harvest their olive crops. Israeli settlers have attacked them in several places while the army stood by.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemakers Teams
Toronto, Canada

On Thursday, 16 October 2008, representatives of the mining and agricultural communities of Southern Bolívar (See map at http://cpt.org/albums/Maps/South_Bolivar_001.jpg) decided that unless the Colombian government agreed to resume meaningful dialogue by Monday, 20 October, they would mobilize thousands of their members in a bid to force the government back to the bargaining table.  They made the decision after national and state government representatives failed to appear on Wednesday, 15 October, at a meeting in Santa Rosa that the government itself had scheduled–and rescheduled and rescheduled.