After a half-century of continuous civil war in Colombia, a new story is beginning to emerge: guerrillas in half of the fronts of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, can be openly Christian and not killed for it.
FARC leadership allows its militants to listen to Christian radio stations operated by the Bogota-based ministry, Colombia for Christ.
Currently, 29 comandantes – military commanders – are meeting for peace talks in Havana with representatives of the Colombian government. The talks began in November 2012. The guerrillas’ lead negotiator is its secretariat member, Ivan Marquez, who identified three among the FARC’s Havana negotiators as Christians, and said that people are free to follow the religion of their choice.
Unlikely friend
These comandantes have an unlikely friend called Russell Martin Stendal, a missionary whom the group kidnapped more than 30 years ago (see feature on page 15 of the March 2015 issue of en). Stendal launched Colombia for Christ with his former captors in mind. His vision is that all of the FARC can learn about Christianity and that, if embraced, it will change guerrillas’ hearts and minds. That alone will end the violence, Stendal said.
The Christian message, he said, is getting through, at least at the top. Whether it trickles down to the Colombian villages, where guerrillas continue to harass Christians, is another matter.
Stendal has lived in Colombia since childhood, and his years of evangelistic work, supported by ministries in Colombia, the US, Canada and Europe, has brought trouble to him from across the spectrum: the government, its right-wing paramilitaries, and leftist rebels. He has spent time in the custody of each, including his five-month abduction by rebels in 1983.
In recent months, however, the guerrilla leaders in Havana have welcomed visits from both Colombian and North American Christians. Among them are two men in their late 80s: a founder of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship and a military retiree.
'God has his foot in the door'
Stendal estimates that at least 10% of FARC guerrillas are now Christian. He notes that when guerrillas become Christians – and he said he has seen hundreds of them do so – the last thing to change is their minds. Typically, he says, the transformation first is seen in their actions. They may question orders, or refuse to carry out evil deeds, or even flee the guerrilla group, though any of these are grounds for punishment up to execution.
The battle ultimately is never against individuals or governments or even rebel movements, Stendal said. The battle is against evil, and that, he said, demands prayer.
‘I am not so optimistic about the “peace process” per se. The politicians involved are for the most part extremely corrupt and unreliable’, he said. ‘I am, however, optimistic as I see God changing many hearts on all the different sides of this conflict... They’ve received us, and God has his foot in the door.
‘God is definitely doing something in Colombia that will impact the entire world, and some of the guerrillas are part of it’, Stendal said. The rebel leadership’s changing attitude ultimately will affect ordinary Colombians, he said. ‘It means that there will be more freedom to openly worship the Lord.’
Lead negotiator
The most crucial piece of evidence of change within the FARC is the movement's lead negotiator, Ivan Marquez himself.
‘I know the look in the eyes of Ivan Marquez’, said Helmer Idrebo, 52, who, under the nom de guerre Geronimo, spent 33 years as a guerrilla in Western Colombia. As head of the FARC 8th Front’s militia, his job was keeping the civilian population in line and obedient. He became a Christian in 2007.
He sees television news reports about the Havana peace talks. He has noticed a transformation in Marquez, his former colleague. ‘A year ago the look in his eyes was completely different’, Idrebo said. ‘The look in his eyes has changed. I’m certain that something has now touched his heart. I don’t know what's happened, but I do know that God has placed his hand on him. Where God places his hands, I’m sure he won’t take his hands off him if his work isn’t finished [because] God never leaves something halfway done’, he said.
‘Ivan Marquez has been dirty, he’s been filthy, as I have been. But what’s touched Ivan was the hand of God that touched me, the same that changed me.’
