Christians in southern Colombia are living in constant danger from a guerrilla army that has banned worship services in rural areas under its control, it was reported on December 18.
An estimated 150 churches have been forced to close since July, when the 32nd Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP in Spanish) launched a repressive campaign against Roman Catholic and evangelical churches in the state of Putumayo.
Only congregations that have express permission from the rebel group are allowed to hold services without fear of retaliation.
Christians at greatest risk are the members of house churches and the itinerant evangelists who serve them.
‘Every time my husband or another church leader leaves to preach in the countryside, I can only ask, “Lord, continue to watch out for the safety of every one of them” ’, said Jeanet Ortiz Pinto, wife of itinerant evangelist and radio speaker Angel Pinto.
War orphans
The Pintos have pastored the Church of God in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, since 1988. Angel Pinto also serves as itinerant pastor of several newly planted churches in the region. During his 25-year ministry, Pinto has been captured five times by armed groups. Twice they told him he would be executed. In both cases, local commanders released the pastor once they realised who he was: his congregation operates a well-known rescue ministry for war orphans.
‘Some of those orphans belong to us. Their parents were our comrades in arms’, they told Pinto the last time they spared him. ‘If we kill you, they will have nobody else to care for them.’
The FARC is known to have assassinated hundreds of evangelical church leaders over the years, including some of Pinto’s ministerial colleagues in Puerto Asis.
In the 50 years since the FARC launched its guerrilla war, 220,000 people have lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands of families have been displaced, creating one of the world’s largest populations of internal refugees.
Ironically, the current aggression against Christians is happening while the Colombian government is engaged in negotiations with the FARC in Cuba, with a view to developing a comprehensive peace plan. The Colombian government tapped politicians, journalists, businessmen, and retired police and military officers to form the negotiating team, but no religious leaders.
