Newsletters

Date: May 31st 2008

A Wise Man
by Cathy Surgenor
May 29, 2008


Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on a rock. --Matthew 7:24


This is the verse from the reading for Sunday, June 1, my last day in Barranquilla. As I have been reviewing my journal and deciding which of the many stories to write about, these words jumped out at me. Rarely has a biblical parable been so clearly demonstrated in the real world as this one has been in the Presbytery of the North Coast.

Piajo is a small pueblo in the mountains southwest of Barranquilla. We drove there last week with a load of yucca cuttings, seed corn and sugar cane in the back of the pickup truck owned by the presbytery. As we drove higher the land on either side of the road became greener and the cattle went from skin and bones to healthy.

I had heard stories about Piajo at the Presbytery office. Gloria and German* came back from there with excitement on their faces and in their voices. They had met with a landowner in Piajo who was willing to sell farm land to the displaced farmers who had been meeting at the University for months. It was good, farmable land with access to water and (when it is built), a connecting road to a main highway so that crops could get to market. This was much different from the land that had been offered before, land that the desperate farmers had been willing to take just so they could farm. It had been difficult to talk them out of it. Now waiting had paid off.

What is more, the Bishop had set up meetings with the local priest, the mayor and the police chief of Piajo. They and the land owner agreed to help the new families with access to a food bank, getting children enrolled in school, and into the health care system.

So German, Paula, John and I entered the town with hope. We were not disappointed. There was a public library with a message on the wall: Piajo is growing up reading! There was a community center, and a hospital and the roads were paved! We continued uphill with our load and then turned into a short side street on the edge of town. This was the home of Bernadino, the landowner, and it was beautiful. Perched on the side of the mountain and overlooking the valley, a fresh breeze blew continually. Bernadino came out to greet us with a warm welcome. He invited us to sit on a small veranda while his son unloaded the sacks of cuttings. He explained to us that he had built the house himself a little at a time. It was very solid and, yes, it was built on solid rock.

I reminded him of Jesus' parable and he smiled and nodded happily. We praised the town with its many public offerings. He replied that Piajo was the most peaceful community in the whole region. I asked him how this was accomplished and he smiled again and explained that there was no greed.

I'm sure his answer was simplified because of my limited Spanish. But, like the parable, it told a powerful truth in a few words. What is even more remarkable, the people of this ancient town were willing to take a risk of inviting newcomers who had little to offer other than their love of the land, and their willingness to work hard. It will not be easy. To begin with, the land is a good hour's walk from the town. There is, as yet, no road. The government must still make good on its promise to buy the land for these displaced families. Even then they will not own it until they have farmed it for five years. So far 38 families have signed up. The forms for their children's schooling and health care are completed and collected. The cuttings and seeds that we brought up in the pickup are already planted. The part that the Presbyterian Church has played, as a facilitator, is especially striking to me because none of the farmers are Presbyterian. Jesus sai d when you hear these words of mine, words about bearing good fruit, and you do them, you will be like the wise man. There has been a remarkable wisdom on the part of many in this story. The outcome is not yet assured but the hope is that over a hundred farm families will find a home and bear much good fruit.