Wednesday night, May 8 blog from the GEMN conference in Bogota, Colombia, by the Rev. Jim Boston

Today we had morning site visits. Two buses headed to a church outside of town which is trying to start a farm.  Most of them did not make it to the church, and none to the farm, due to cautious drivers and bad traffic.  Those that did walked uphill a long ways.  I happily, took the bus to Iglesia San Salvador.

Padre Jose started Iglesia de San Salvador in a poor neighborhood on a hillside in the south of Bogota.  With help from friends he built a small ground floor chapel. Later three higher levels were added, the building next door was acquired, and an empty lot next to that, which he hopes will become a parking facility. Think compact. The main worship space, or capilla, is on the top level of the remodeled second building. On Sundays this is packed with 160 worshippers. The first half of the three hour service is the Eucharist, familiar to us from the Book of Common Prayer, but with very lively, danceable music. The second part is devoted to prayer and praise.  Most of the congregation goes forward for anointing and prayer for all kinds of needs, for themselves, their families, and others.  Their thank offerings are the largest part of the church’s income. The rest is from pledges and from Padre Jose’s efforts.

Three distinctive ministries, one to the aged, the second to the young, and the third to refugees are carried on.  For up to a month, refugee families, called the desplacados or the displaced, are housed, fed, clothed and helped to find housing and jobs.  They have fled violence in their home areas, often because of threats to their teenage children.  Most families arrive with four or five children.

When the church discovered that some elderly people were living on the streets, they were taken in. Some had been turned out by their children. Currently four are in residence, receiving all their needs from the church, often until they die.

Padre Jose has an apartment on the top floor of the original building which he shares with a brother, two nephews and, until recently, his mother.  They get their food from the church as well. The church is entirely self-supporting. Although Padre Jose works full time with no salary, his needs are met and he is one of a small number of Columbian clergy who have pension payments made on his behalf. Most clergy in the diocese must have a secular job to support themselves.  All of them appear happy.

In fact, despite living in a country that has suffered from internal war for fifty years, people in general appear to be living normal lives, and the Episcopalians seem distinctly cheerful.  They are encouraged by the presence of the GEMN conference and have welcomed us warmly.  They are also praying for the success of the current negotiations with the main insurgent group (FARC) in Havana. That would still leave various “para-militaries” and criminal groups in the countryside, but will be a giant step forward for Colombia.

Bogota is a city of 7 to 9 million people. Downtown and the area to the north are modern and prosperous looking.  To the south there are miles of poorer areas, filling the valley and climbing the hillsides.  The weather is comfortably cool most of the time. With a dozen churches, Episcopalians are a small but very meaningful presence. They have good relations with the “historic” churches, by which are meant Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists.

This afternoon we had a choice of two programs. The first was a hands on exercise in planning mission projects, including research, budgeting, funding, accounting, and follow-up. Participation by both Spanish and English speakers was lively. I also caught the end of an impassioned talk about micro-credit lending and the transformation it can bring, especially to very poor women. Although burdened with the conflicts and greed of various powerful forces, people in Columbia are eager for peace, work, and a healthy society. Our church is one of many forces for good in a complex landscape.

We are getting great hospitality and tasty meals from the Social Center of the National Police. It has a hotel, conference center, multiple dining spaces, a gym, a pool, a classy playground and three soccer fields. We are surrounded by activity and friendliness. Photos will be posted in due course.

The best part of being here is the conferencistas. Besides the usual GEMN crowd of diocesan representatives, missions activists, Church Center staff (a few), and prospective missionaries, we have many men and women from all four orders from the 9^th Province and Central America. All events are bilingual and most have simultaneous translation. Also present are the Episcopal missionaries and YASCers serving in Latin America. (YASC is Young Adult Service Corps.) Scholarships were provided for 10 young people between 21 and 35, half from the US and half from Province 9. So we have lots of young people. The YASCers first night here (before the conference began) was devoted to seeing Iron Man 3 in IMAX. As a new retiree I find the people here, young and old, offer wonderful promise for the future of Christian faith, and of our Church.