Our PC(USA) web page Our official link on the PC(USA) website.  More links here on ways to contribute financially to support us, pages for other Mission Personnel, and other ministries of the church.



www.calledtocolombia.org
Our blog, with musings, photos, links, and other digitized thoughts on our journey.  We update this fairly often, so check in regularly, or subscribe to get notified about updates.

Prayer Requests:

* Thanks and support for all those who participated in Ecumenical Advocacy Days i Washington, DC. Several people we know took time to give voice to our brothers and sisters in Colombia in the halls of Congress. We could not be more grateful.

Your continued prayers and advocacy are especially key as the US talks more seriously about approving a free trade agreement with Colombia.

* For the Santos government as it works on the Law of Victims and Land, that the legislation that results might be just and offer an integrous system for returning lands to those from whom they have been stolen.

* Gratitude for partners in Winnebago Presbytery, Chicago Presbytery, Tres Rios Presbytery, Presbytery of the Miami Valley, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, and McCormick Seminary for their representation here for the 2011 meeting of the Colombia Mission Network.

* Gratitude to the members of Sunnyside Presbyterian Church in South Bend, IL, Northwood Presbyterian Church in Clearwater, FL, and North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Decatur, GA.   These communities are new supporters of our ministry.  Thank you!

To Reach Us:

This year I found out about many people's plans for Lent via Facebook. "I'm giving up chocolate," noted one post. "I am making a piece of art a day," said another. Several even offered farewell wishes as they had decided to give up Facebook itself for Lent.  I did not grow up with this type of Lenten devotion, so it always gives me pause. The purpose of these 40 days until Easter is to reflect and draw closer to God, and the idea is that when you make a sacrifice, each time you refuse chocolate or set aside time for your art then your mind is pointed toward God in the exercising of this sacrifice. It makes sense to me; I just don't know if the times I have given up caffeine or been diligent about journaling if I have really drawn closer to God. Doubtless that is about me, but it has made me wonder what would really bring Lent to life "en vivo" for me?

One thing that does help me is to become closer to God's people. Just two weeks ago a group of sisters and brothers came from House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota - and once again we were able to know God in a different way. This month we met new short-term accompaniers and reflected on life in Colombia. I saw life here and God here in a new light. Today I had the chance to talk about what the Accompaniment Program has meant to several displaced persons here on the Coast, and once again God began tugging at my mind and at my heart.

House of Hope with Tomato Farmers Photo by Rev. Joann Lee

You see, I have always maintained that Christianity is a team sport. That is, you simply cannot go it alone. Not only because life is hard, not only because faith can be difficult to maintain, but also because everything we know about God we know only in part. Until I die I will not know God completely, but I will know more and more because of knowing you and the part of God that you know. And without knowing you, I would never know that part of God that I can know through you. So to draw closer to God, to point my mind toward God anew in Lent is (for me) to delve more deeply into relationships with God's people - from the United States, from Colombia, campesino, desplazado, lawyer, doctor, teacher, taxi driver...lo que sea. 

So when I listen to a man who has been displaced four times and kidnapped three times talk about how he must speak the truth to those who are misappropriating government money for the poor, or how he as a father cannot imagine refusing a mother the money in his pocket if her children need to eat, or his joy at studying the laws of Colombia in order to make others aware of their rights - his trust in God animates my own. His desire to share all he has and all he is infects me. His wish to shine a little more light (the light of Christ, perhaps?) into seedy back room dealings (far more scandalous than drugs alone could ever be) pushes me to examine myself and determine where I can do more to help him open a new door to the reign of God. And that takes me closer to the passion of Christ. And that makes me grateful for the sacrifice of Christ and for the sacrifices of those still crucified today. And that helps me celebrate a living God that draws me nearer through the testimony of this brother of mine. And that, I think, is what Lent is about.

We continue to put new things up on the blog (though with slightly less regularity...).  Please go check us out at:

We appreciate your support, prayers, actions, and blessings as always. It is through each of you as well that we learn more about God and God's desire for this world. We give thanks for the gift of your presence in our lives this Lenten season, and we celebrate the many gifts God has given you to use for justice, kindness, and peace.  

Bendiciones~
Mamie and Richard, and of course, Nora Elena