Happy Anniversary, IPC!
I haven´t written in a bit, as the internet here on our computer has been down, but the celebration is now over and I have a bit more time to make sure this makes it on to you all...
This weekend was taken up by the festivities for the 150th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia. There was a flood of North Americans, who came in about 4 different delegations from across the United States in order to attend and celebrate with the Colombians. I enjoy having more people to speak English with, and it was a good way to show our solidarity with the IPC, but it still felt a little imperialist at times. The Colombian church was planted by North Americans, and while they´ve done well (at least, as far as I´ve seen) at re-adapting the traditions and making them their own, I still wasn´t comfortable with how foreign certain aspects of the celebration felt - from the pounding chords of "God of the Ages" in their militaristic glory to the invitation of a North American to be the primary speaker at a celebration of the Colombian church, we´re still struggling to overcome the patristic tendencies in our relationship between the two denominations.
Overall, though, it was a weekend of great expressions and excitement. There was presentation Saturday night with two dance groups, one a magnificent dramatic Afro-Colombian dance troupe (which even impressed Christine, my fellow accompanier who spent years working in the theater), and the other an assortment of youth from throughout Barranquilla who were connected with the church. There was a huge "birthday party" of sorts last night, after the worship service, with every version of any birthday song you can think of, and official greetings were brought from more Reformed churches than I knew were in existence! Now, things are slowing down a bit - the delegations are leaving town, the officials and journalists have other business in country.
Sadly, one of the people we´ve been working with here primarily, Milton Mejia, and his family, are leaving for the States today because doing the work of God has become too dangerous. I admire the ability of the people here to continue to "sing with all their throat," (as one hymn puts it) while looking cold reality in the face. What courage....
This weekend was taken up by the festivities for the 150th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia. There was a flood of North Americans, who came in about 4 different delegations from across the United States in order to attend and celebrate with the Colombians. I enjoy having more people to speak English with, and it was a good way to show our solidarity with the IPC, but it still felt a little imperialist at times. The Colombian church was planted by North Americans, and while they´ve done well (at least, as far as I´ve seen) at re-adapting the traditions and making them their own, I still wasn´t comfortable with how foreign certain aspects of the celebration felt - from the pounding chords of "God of the Ages" in their militaristic glory to the invitation of a North American to be the primary speaker at a celebration of the Colombian church, we´re still struggling to overcome the patristic tendencies in our relationship between the two denominations.
Overall, though, it was a weekend of great expressions and excitement. There was presentation Saturday night with two dance groups, one a magnificent dramatic Afro-Colombian dance troupe (which even impressed Christine, my fellow accompanier who spent years working in the theater), and the other an assortment of youth from throughout Barranquilla who were connected with the church. There was a huge "birthday party" of sorts last night, after the worship service, with every version of any birthday song you can think of, and official greetings were brought from more Reformed churches than I knew were in existence! Now, things are slowing down a bit - the delegations are leaving town, the officials and journalists have other business in country.
Sadly, one of the people we´ve been working with here primarily, Milton Mejia, and his family, are leaving for the States today because doing the work of God has become too dangerous. I admire the ability of the people here to continue to "sing with all their throat," (as one hymn puts it) while looking cold reality in the face. What courage....
posted by Amy at 10:22 AM
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