The Church in the Mountains

A different world

Even though the country’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, life is very different for the Church in the Mountains of Colombia. When evangelical missionaries from other countries were persecuted in the early twentieth century, they took refuge in the mountains. Today, in every village, an evangelical church is alive and active, despite pressure from the guerrillas and the paramilitaries. These groups use violence against pastors and leaders and leave a trail of pain: widows, orphans, kidnappings, rapes, and Christians driven from their land.

The “free church” in the larger cities does not always know about these brothers and sisters, or get involved with them. But the Church in the Mountains needs prayer, supplies, and support, and it needs to know that the Body of Christ has not forgotten it, in other countries too, like Brazil.

Report · June 2014

Hearing their prayers

In July 2012, with a team of thirteen Brazilians who love missions, I saw for myself what life is like in the north of the country. We visited families of pastors, widows, orphans, the displaced, sisters who had suffered terrible violence and brothers who had once been in the guerrillas. We embraced them, we wept, we tried to meet the many needs. We played with the children and soccer with the young people; we gave basic health care (with the help of Colombian believers), a dentist, haircuts. But what stayed with us most was hearing their prayers, prayers of forgiveness for the enemy and of gratitude to God, and the praise that rises from lips “touched with the coals of God’s altar.”

One of the pastors and his wife lead 249 congregations, 80% of them in the conflict area, and they have witnessed many atrocities themselves, even within their own family. Their motto touches and encourages our hearts: “We go on sowing the Word of God, watering it with our tears and trusting the Lord of the harvest, knowing that we will reap with joy” (Psalm 126:5-6).

The joy and gratitude for our presence, unprecedented in that region, were our greatest reward. I came back built up and encouraged to keep going, to proclaim the victory of the Lord Jesus in the life of this church that is being forged in the fire of persecution. I returned in 2013 with another team of Brazilians.

— Ingrid Hort (a servant, nothing more!)

How we can help

Prayer requests

• That the strong witness of our brothers and sisters may reach the guerrilla and the whole nation.
• That there may be a change in the hearts of the Colombian people, and not revenge.
• That the government would meet their basic needs: health care, education, transportation.
• That the Gospel of the Kingdom of God may continue to be preached and taught, overcoming the pain and poverty of our brothers and sisters.