Newsletters

Date: March 11th 2010

Settling In
by Liz and Bill Branch

This first week has been one of settling in. We have learned the routine of the presbytery office and the lack of routine in daily life, including the water coming on and going off unpredictably. We have learned that we don´t know nearly enough Spanish, but we have also learned that German, the Accompaniment Coordinator, is very patient and uses English when he sees a blank look on our faces.

We have learned some of the history of the Colombian Presbyterian church (IPC) and how this fits into the history of the country of Colombia. We have met with four representatives of the internally displaced (IDP). They came to the presbytery office to dialogue about the partnership between the IDP organizations and the North Coast Presbytery of the IPC. The major agreement between the two parties, aside from the conclusion that the partnership had been helpful to the displaced, was to meet again next week.

As we have talked to people here, we have heard "accompaniment" used to describe several different roles. Mamie Broadhurst and Richard Williams are here in Colombia for three years as pastoral accompaniers. Bill and I are here for five weeks as short-term accompaniers. The IPC describes its activity with the IDP´s as "accompaniment". In the next few weeks we´ll be searching for clarification of all these roles.

One of the highlights of the week was the World Day of Prayer celebration on Friday evening. Our apartment mate, Linda, who was an accompanier in January and February, and Liz represented ¨the world¨by reading parts of the service, which Cameroonian women had written. Thanks to the Latin beat that the keyboardist used and her enthusiasm, the congregational singing got us all moving. We were particularly struck by the youthfulness of the women. Some, but only a few, appeared to be retired. Many had just left their work to come to the service.

Gracia y paz,
Liz y Bill Branch

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