Newsletters

Date: June 29th 2010

by Dave Gifford
June 26, 2010

"Blessed are the poor in spirit…."

For five days this past week we have commuted daily by bus between Apartadó and Currulao, a town of 24,000 people some 20 minutes to the north. During this time we have had some of our best experiences with the people of the Presbyterian Church El Buen Pastor. Those who planned our itinerary deemed this church a "must visit" site because nearly all the members are displaced people. In fact, the entire barrio of Primero de Mayo where the church is located consists mostly of desplazados.

In the words of their pastor, El Buen Pastor is a poor church in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Currulao. But we would not have known this from the warmth and friendship we felt as we came to know the people who live and worship here. Nor would we have guessed this considering the construction taking place here. Standing before the old church they have raised brick walls and cement columns for a new church, now six months in the making. For four long years the members made and sold arepas, tamales, panes, and galletas in the barrio, eventually saving enough pesos to lay the foundation this past January and start on the walls.

During the 1990s, and especially the latter half, refugees flooded into the Primero de Mayo barrio from all around Urabá and beyond to escape the violence stemming from guerrillas and paramilitary forces that fought for control of the area. No one was safe; thousands were forced at gun point to surrender their homes, farms, livestock, and what had been a stable way of life. Primero de Mayo grew quickly as a result. People settled in the barrio with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The lucky ones constructed lean-tos with plastic tarps to provide shelter from the scorching sun and drenching rains; conditions remained this way for years. For most, if not all, life in the barrio was a day-to-day struggle for survival. Often we heard the word lucha, or struggle, as people recounted their efforts to scrape by.
With time, and help from family, friends, and churches, including El Buen Pastor, some people began building more substantial houses. One woman, an elder in the church, told us of her son who had saved enough pesos from a job he secured in distant Medellín so the family could construct a small pen behind their lean-to and stock it with 10 piglets. The income they earned from the sale of pigs over six years enabled them ultimately to build a tiny home from cinder blocks, with a cement floor and corrugated metal roof. Others we visited, however, still lived in little houses built of wooden planks and dirt floors. Sheets of plastic or cloth are hung from their walls to separate tiny rooms. A single mother with five children at home asked that we pray for a new roof; hers is so riddled with holes that the floor turns to mud when it rains. Some families still cook over wood fires.

As we walked through the dirt streets of Primero de Mayo we noted that many houses double as mini stores, where parents or their children eke out a living selling homemade food products. Here and there, while children entertain themselves in the street playing games of marbles or hopscotch, we also saw occasional vendedores ambulantes wheeling carts with produce for sale, or recicladores picking up any usable item that can be sold for a little cash. This may be their only source of income for years. Many men eventually find work with the bananeros in the area. The really good jobs provide basic protection in the form of health insurance and pension. Others, especially those working with cooperatives, are limited to two- or three-month contracts with no guarantee of continued work and no benefits.

While living conditions of Currulao have gradually improved for some residents, general security and mutual trust have not. Fear abounds. Even with a strong and very visible police presence in Currulao, the pastor confirms that paramilitaries, guerrillas, and narco-traffickers, as well as their informants, are also present. The evidence, he says, is the number of government officials who continue to be arrested for corruption. Perhaps more telling is the way people look askance and lower their voices when they mention paras or guerrillas as they share their stories with us.

Today the people of El Buen Pastor in Currulao know the only real source of security is in God. While poor in material things, their faith is rock solid. Although there is no denying the great sadness in their hearts, there is a profound sense of joy as well. Some would say they are living in the end times, and they are securing their future with Jesus.


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