Prayers for El Guayabo
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
Psalm 34:15 (NRSV)
We write you today to request your prayers for the community of El Guayabo.
El Guayabo is a rural community of approximately sixty families in the municipality of Puerto Wilches, Santander. These families settled the land now known as El Guayabo and have lived and farmed there since 1986. The community is currently facing legal proceedings
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
Psalm 34:15 (NRSV)
We write you today to request your prayers for the community of El Guayabo.
El Guayabo is a rural community of approximately sixty families in the municipality of Puerto Wilches, Santander. These families settled the land now known as El Guayabo and have lived and farmed there since 1986. The community is currently facing legal proceedings from a landowner with uncertain land titles, who is questioning their ownership of the land and therefore placing the community at a risk of being evicted. The majority of the community are members of the Foursquare Church or the Catholic Church, and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) have been accompanying El Guayabo for the past year.
There have been several attempts to evict the community in the past, and each time they have received support from friends and neighboring communities which has empowered their nonviolent resistance and enabled them to remain on the land.
On June 16, 2014, the Puerto Wilches chief of police notified the community that they would be evicted from the property on June 26, 2014. This past Thursday, June 26, the riot police came to evict the community, but once again, accompanied by neighbors and civil society organizations including CPT, they nonviolently resisted. Despite the disciplined nonviolent nature of the community’s resistance, the police responded with tear gas and pepper spray. After a long standoff the police left and the community remained on their land.
Since the community of El Guayabo is still at a constant risk of being evicted, we ask you to lift them up in prayer, asking God to continue to protect them and guarantee their right to due process under the law. We are also collecting statements of solidarity and support for the community, which can be sent to annavogt@justapaz.org. We will collect messages through Monday, July 14, to be delivered to the community by Justapaz and the Cedecol Peace Commission in the following weeks.
Thank you for supporting the El Guayabo community, as well as the peace and justice work of Justapaz and the Cedecol Peace Commission, with your prayers. For now, prayer is what the community is asking for and is the best way to support them. If there are new calls for action from the community on behalf of their right to land and a life of dignity, we will pass those along.
Blessings from the Justapaz and Cedecol Peace Commission.
Michael Joseph serves with the Restoration, Life and Peace Commission of the Council of Evangelical Churches (CEDECOL) in Colombia, South America. He provides a pastoral critical presence to church leaders and lay people who are living in life-threatening situations..