Colombia
Summary
Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged after the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A decades-long conflict between government forces, paramilitaries, and antigovernment insurgent groups heavily funded by the drug trade, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), escalated during the 1990s. More than 31,000 former United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries demobilized by the end of 2006, and the AUC as a formal organization ceased to operate. In the wake of the paramilitary demobilization, illegal armed groups arose, whose members include some former paramilitaries. After four years of formal peace negotiations, the Colombian Government signed a final peace accord with the FARC in November 2016, which was subsequently ratified by the Colombian Congress. The accord calls for members of the FARC to demobilize, disarm, and reincorporate into society and politics. The accord also committed the Colombian Government to create three new institutions to form a “comprehensive system for truth, justice, reparation, and non-repetition,” to include a truth commission, a special unit to coordinate the search for those who disappeared during the conflict, and a “Special Jurisdiction for Peace” to administer justice for conflict-related crimes. The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to expand its presence into every one of its administrative departments. Despite decades of internal conflict and drug-related security challenges, Colombia maintains relatively strong democratic institutions characterized by peaceful, transparent elections and the protection of civil liberties. [1]
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Statistics
From the The Joshua Project [2]
In the News
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Prayer Guide
Colombian missionary vision is growing. Several Amerindian peoples are closed to foreigners, but Colombians are increasingly reaching them. The large majority of Colombian missionaries serve short term within their own country. A small but growing number of Colombians have gone to other lands, but church support is limited. Pray for the ongoing ministries of COMIBAM as well as Centro Cristiano de Misiones Mundiales in inspiring Christians to be involved in mission.
Unreached peoples. Pray specifically for:
a) The thousands of gamines, or street urchins, in the cities. Bogotá has one of the highest numbers of street children of any Latin America city. YWAM, LAM, Tearfund and several new local ministries provide food, shelter and preparation for a life off the streets.
b) The wealthier classes are small in number but control most of the economy. White rather than mestizo, they are overwhelmingly Catholic (although often very nominal) and generally isolated from evangelicals, who focus on the poor. Their wealth and ties to the circles of political and ecclesiastical power make them objects of resentment.
c) The Muslim community numbers around 35,000 of Syrian, Lebanese or Palestinian background.
d) Student and youth work is slow and hard. The history on campuses of Marxist ideology and then post-modern individualism hinders interest in serving others and seeking God. With more than half of the population under age 25, reaching the younger generation is crucial. Campus and youth ministries and even youth-oriented prayer movements such as Tribal Generation are all growing. Pray for their work to be creative, passionate and fruitful.
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