Newsletters

Date: June 5th 2010

by Dave and Joan Gifford
June 4, 2010

We are pleased to report that we arrived safely in Medellín, Colombia on Wednesday May 26th in the afternoon. Any anxieties we had about our new environment were quickly dispelled when we spotted the smiling face of the rector of the Colegio Americano in Apartadó who had come to meet us at the Rio Negro airport. Together we took the long and winding bus ride from the airport to downtown Medellín, the City of Eternal Spring, where we spent the night.

That evening we enjoyed a leisurely dinner with the rector who introduced us to the accompaniment plan and how it would unfold for us over our next five weeks as guests of the Presbiterio de Urabá, starting in the city of Apartadó. We spoke of many things, of families back home, of careers and backgrounds, politics and the plight of the desplazados in Colombia. We also received our first lesson in Colombian Spanish: here if you want black coffee you ask for un tinto, whereas coffee with cream or milk is café. You need to know the difference, and what really matters!

Before coming to Colombia we were advised we would be taking a new path for the Accompaniment Program. The Program was born in the Presbiterio de la Costa in the city of Barranquilla and its focus remained there for the last five years. During Holy Week this year the Program underwent a thorough review and it was determined there is a need to expand accompaniment to include the Presbiterio de Urabá in the Departamento de Antioquia, and to the Presbiterio Central in the area of Bogotá. So in a way, together with our hosts, we will be pioneering a new and somewhat different approach to accompaniment.

Early Thursday we took a cab to Medellín's downtown airport for the last leg of our journey to Apartadó. As our flight approached Apartadó it seemed every stretch of land below was covered with banana trees. Our ride from the airport confirmed it - banana trees are growing everywhere, almost to the road's edge. Banana brands we know back home, such as Banacol and Chiquita, are leading producers here.

The Colegio Americano, the Presbiterio de Urabá, and the Presbyterian congregation in Apartadó all play important roles for us in our first weeks in Colombia, helping us settle in to our new community. Everywhere the Colombian people we have met have welcomed us with open arms, grateful the Accompaniment Program has come to Apartadó.

Let us tell you about where we are. Apartadó is a city of roughly 100,000 people just south and east of the Gulf of Urabá. The major industry is – Bananas! Most people living in and around Apartadó support the industry either directly or indirectly. We were told to expect hot humid weather in Apartadó and this is the case. Without a fan or air conditioning the heat can be intense, the humidity heavy. It reminds us of South Texas coastal conditions we know well from years at the Presbyterian Pan American School. Fortunately there is usually a breeze. To the east and on the edge of Apartadó are foothills that rise up several hundred feet, if not more. When they are not hidden by clouds they appear green and thick with vegetation. We are told the guerrillas still roam relatively freely in that area.

On this first stop of our journey in Colombia we are enjoying the benefit of a two room, comfortable apartment just a few blocks from the Colegio Americano. It lies between the apartment on one side for the pastor who leads the Presbyterian Church of Apartadó and the office of the Presbiterio de Urabá on the other side. Upstairs, where we take our meals, is the Centro de Desarrollo Integral Renacer (CDI), a ministry of the local Presbyterian Church in partnership with Compassion International.

Our apartment faces a busy and somewhat noisy street. On the opposite side is a public school which happened to be a polling place for this past Sunday's presidential election here in Colombia. So we found ourselves in the middle of a major national event. As best we could tell, the process was orderly and peaceful, at least across the street.

Years ago the Presbyterians in the area established the Colegio Americano in Apartadó. Today it is a mission of the Presbiterio de Urabá and provides elementary education for roughly 280 children, from pre-kinder (3 years old) to 6th grade. The school employs 14 teachers and offers a strong, quality curriculum highly competitive with other schools in the city and much sought after by local residents. The rector is supported by two women who manage the finances, general correspondence and paperwork. What is remarkable about their office, besides its small space, is how efficient they are with so little office equipment. Like most school offices, it is always busy with the coming and going of parents, teachers, and students. For us, it is our primary access to the internet and the gracious support of the rector.

We met several of the docentes, or teachers; we visited as many classrooms and faced some perceptive questioning from 5th and 6th graders who wanted to know about the U.S. economy, the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and of course President Obama. We have discovered that some of the teachers we met play other roles in the life of the church community. The rector proudly showed us a room of new computers he has secured in his short tenure with the school; all are used daily for instructional purposes. Children were busy with the machines while we observed.

Classes at the Colegio Americano, as well as the public school across the street from where we live, begin at 6:30 am and continue through 12:30 pm. The public school has a second session in the afternoon. The Colegio used to offer secondary education in an afternoon session but hard times have forced the school's junta directiva, or governing board, to cancel this program for the time being. The last seniors to graduate with the bachiller diploma did so in 2008.

One of the joys thus far is the food. We have no kitchen in our apartment so, whether taking lunch in a little restaurant downtown with the rector, or eating upstairs with the pastor in the CDI, we are experiencing Colombian cuisine fully. A staple of Colombia is the arepa, a rather thick tortilla of ground corn that may be served with soups, scrambled eggs, fresh cheese, or whatever, depending on the meal. Fruit juices are to die for – something different nearly every day. For example, a lunch with the rector in a small side-street cafe came with a guarapo, a drink made with limón and panela, or brown sugar. This was followed by sopa de albóndigas (meatball soup) and served with arepas. Then came the main course of róbalo, a delicious fried fish, fried green plátano plantain), and papas fritas. You can expect plátano or banana with every meal.

Next to the Colegio Americano is the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Apartadó. On Sunday we experienced worship typical of many Hispanic evangelical churches we have known elsewhere in our journey through life. God's word, la Palabra de Dios, is central to worship and feeds the message, prayer and song. Our fellow Presbyterians back home may find it surprising that worship can be 2 ½ or more hours. If the sermon is long, there is much standing, clapping, and singing to invigorate body and soul. God's Spirit is alive and active here and the people's faces show it. Preaching follows the Word closely; important passages are repeated several times, just in case you missed it the first time around! An elder, or presbítero gobernante, leads most of worship, including prayers and music. When people sing, which is often, they do so a capella, or accompanied by a drum and tambourine. We have already learned several new songs in Spanish. This congregation also meets Saturday morning
for a time of fasting, prayer, song and Bible study, and again that evening, as well as Wednesday night. Worship is central to their being; life for this small group of people, some of whom are victims of Colombia's internal conflict, has been difficult; it gives new appreciation for Christ's message in the beatitudes.

Small as it is, the Presbyterian Church of Apartadó is engaged in mission to the poor. Eighteen years ago, together with Compassion International, it launched the Centro de Desarrollo Integral Renacer (CDI) to feed and instruct 283 sponsored children ages 4 to 18, as well as 25 new and unsponsored children. The program is staffed by a director, who has a degree in social work from a local university, and eight women from the church who support her as cooks, teachers, specialists, and secretary. The children are scheduled to meet at different days and hours three times per week. Each curriculum guide focuses on four critical areas in child development:

· Spiritual: leading to accepting Christ
· Social Emotional: learning to relate with others and self-control
· Cognitive: reading, literature, writing, etc.
· Physical: good nutrition, health, fitness, etc.

Only the very poor are granted admission to the program, and then only after careful screening; presently there is neither space nor support for additional participants. Most children--many of whom are desplazados, victims of family abuse, or severely malnourished-- walk a great distance from outlying barrios three times weekly to attend CDI and get a good meal. In addition to the instruction and food they receive at CDI, participants come seeking help to pay for uniforms, books or supplies required by the public schools.

By the end of our first week in Colombia, when a certain degree of routine had settled over our lives, we began to hear stories. They are real people's stories, told in hushed voices, behind closed doors from near expressionless faces. They are stories of injustices that have radically changed the lives of those who were telling them. We expect to hear more of these in the days to come as we get to know Colombia and the people with whom we are living.

There is great need in Colombia. The Church is striving to meet that need but some days the burden seems overwhelming to those who work to do God's will. Still, they continue on, confident that God is with them, protecting them, providing for them, and leading them onward. As outsiders and new to this reality, we are humbled by what we see and hear.




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