Christian Women’s Network for Life and Peace

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace
Colombian Council of Protestant and Evangelical Churches
September 2007

Overall Goal

Contribute to building holistic and sustainable peace in Colombia; based on the values of the Kingdom of God and on Jesus Christ as the model of justice, equality, and dignity; seeking to be a space for transformative action.

General Project Goal

To empower women, as created by God, to fully participate in their families, society, and churches with equality amongst women and with men; achieving the goal of living with dignity in community.

Specific Goals

To train Christian women in Biblical and theological basics of gender issues, organizational processes, and project management, for personal growth and to improve their quality of life.
To create spaces for women to accompany children, youth, and the elderly in actions that affirms their dignity and quality of life.
To provide holistic accompaniment to victims of violence.
To document our experiences while creating educational materials (on Biblical-Theological themes, self-esteem, leadership, etc.)

This team is comprised of the Regional Coordinator in each region of the country and the National Coordinator. We are also supported by the National Coordinator of the Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace.

So far this year we have achieved the following:

In March we joined in the celebration of International Women’s Day.

We participated in the National Assembly of the Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace of the Colombian Council of Protestant and EvangelicalChurches in Cartagena from April 17-19. During that meeting we nominated a new National Coordinator (the previous coordinator’s term was ending). We were joined at this meeting by pastors Felix Ortiz and Michael Joseph of Global Ministries.

We have carried out various workshops with church women in various regions (e.g. Conflict Resolution, Stress and Trauma Management, Community Organizing with Displaced Communities, Self-Esteem, Meaning and Life-Projects, Ministry of the Women’s Network).

We have accompanied women victims of the armed conflict (and their families) as well as indigenous women. As the Women’s Network we feel a deep commitment to those who suffer, who are the most vulnerable, and one of our goals, achievable with God’s help is that these women be wholly dignified, that they realize how valuable and how important they are to God, to us, and to society.

We have advised and supported children’s feeding programs in marginalized neighborhoods. We have given workshops on peace-building and nonviolence to those children and youth.

We have supported the documentation and political advocacy work of the Commission by sharing the cases of human rights violations in our regions with the documentation coordinators.

We have developed productive projects in different regions for women to create and sell: artisan goods, sandals, and dolls. We have also trained other women in micro-enterprise management so they, too, may generate an income. These projects have been possible thanks to the support of Global Ministries, to whom we are immensely grateful.

As the Women’s Network we have been able to generate in-kind donations for displaced families who have come to the capital cities, leaving behind all they own to save their own lives and those of their children. We have also given these women psychological and spiritual counseling. This has been possible due to the Stress Management and Trauma Recovery training some of us have received.

Some regions have carried out trainings with indigenous and displaced communities. Those regions are currently meeting with those leaders to define next-steps and seek funding for that work.

Plans

Continue training programs. The Word says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6). We believe that there can never be enough training, that we always have something to learn and that training is the basis of work of the Women’s Network. In our contexts we find women who have been oppressed, downtrodden, and marginalized by bad Biblical interpretation.
Multiply (replicate) the Stress Management and Trauma Recovery workshops with the coordinators and leaders of the Women’s Network.
Keep up the productive projects that have already begun and provide support for those who are seeking to start their own micro-enterprise.
Seek financial resources/support for women and families victims of violence in Colombia.
Celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.
We are currently preparing to celebrate the Pan y Paz (Bread and Peace) events on September 21. Pan y Paz is a national level celebration that we support as the Women’s Network. Pan y Paz takes place on the International Day for Nonviolence and Cease-fires. As the Women’s Network we consider one of our goals to be to influence society, by organizing public events where we are that denounce death and human rights violations in Colombia.
In October we will participate in the Regional Assembly meetings of the Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace sharing the work of the Women’s Network at each of those meetings.

And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’

Luke 13: 11-12