Wájaro – Let’s Go Together
I recently returned from a trip to Colombia, South America. I was invited to join a team of leaders from the Midwest Region of the Churches of God in an exploratory trip to become familiar with the work being done by the Wájaro Foundation in Colombia. Wájaro is led by CGGC affiliate missionaries Jake and Lauren Jones who are from the Urban Light Community Church in Muncie, IN. The team was led by Travis Bodden, MRC regional director and Pastor Lezlie McCrory, associate pastor at Urban Light, and also included Danelle Miller, clerk of the MRC Ad Council currently serving with her husband Brian at Crossroads Community Church in Sullivan, IN and Annessa (Annie) Meader from the Brighton Church of God in Brighton, IA.
Photo by Lauren Jones
The Wájaro Foundation’s vision is to accompany communities most affected by Colombia’s historic armed conflict in their pursuit of peace, justice, reconciliation and collective well-being. They do this work through a three-pronged mission:
- To work with local leadership, and together support initiatives that seek to strengthen and rebuild community social fabric.
- To build collaborative partnerships with other private, public and religious organizations involved in Colombia’s post-agreement reconstruction effort.
- To invite groups that support our work to engage the communities we accompany, with the aim of creating space for critical reflection, mutual encouragement and transformation.
The word “Wájaro”, which comes from the language spoken by the Amazonian tribal group known as the Eduria, means “let’s go together” and captures in large-part what the Wájaro Foundation seeks to do—to walk alongside groups of people engaged in peace and justice work in difficult regions throughout Colombia.
Photo by Lauren Jones
I’m still processing all that I experienced on the trip, but I wanted to offer a few brief reflections.
The first is the beauty of the global church. I got to meet brothers and sisters in Christ from the Misak and Wayuu indigenous people groups. Their love of Christ and their love of neighbor was inspiring. Their willingness to forgive enemies was humbling. Their desire to see their communities flourish and the work they were doing around education, literacy, and fair trade for women artisans was beautiful. Their commitment to their community, not just their local church, but seeing everyone in the community blessed by their work was something that stood out to me. We have such a limited scope in North America and we need the global church to help us understand the fullness of what Jesus is doing in our world. What is going on in the United States is NOT the totality of the work of God in the world and I need reminded of that often.
Photo by Lauren Jones
We had the privilege to worship with our Wayuu brothers and sisters on Sunday morning and I was moved by how most everyone brought something to the worship service. Multiple ladies helped lead the worship service with songs and prayers. At one point, everyone was given an opportunity to share a word from scripture by memory (even the unprepared guests from North America). Pastor Lezlie McCrory brought a great word from Genesis 22 that was translated into Spanish and Wayuu. This was an agricultural community and at the end of the worship service, the new baby goats (kids) were presented and there were both prayers of thanksgiving for God’s provision and prayers of blessing for the young animals. There was no sense of being a spectator or passive participant in the life of the worshipping community.
Lastly, I was once again reminded of the beauty and the awesomeness of the kingdom of God. Our Lord is advancing His kingdom to the ends of the earth! People are being reconciled to God and one another. What has been broken by sin is being redeemed, restored and made whole and throughout our time in Colombia, we were privileged to witness this over and over again.
One of our values in the CGGC is Global Mobilization because we must carry the Gospel of Jesus to places both near and far, both around the corner and across the ocean, to the house next door and to the ends of the earth. If your congregation has never explored the potential of partnering with a ministry somewhere outside of the United States, you’re missing out on part of the beautiful work the Lord Jesus is doing in our world today and you’re missing the opportunity to both encourage and learn from our brothers and sisters in Christ from other lands and nations.
I’ve told many friends that I returned safely home from Colombia very tired, but with a heart that was full. I’m grateful for how our Lord is working in this world and for friends like Jake and Lauren who’ve said, “yes Lord, send me.” May their tribe increase!
Photo by Lauren Jones
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
CGGC eNews—Vol. 17, No. 7
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