election in Barranca

Dear Friends,  There are 13 council persons that will be elected and there are 300 candidates. Eberthy is one of them. Roberto her husband is a councilperson, but because he refuses to cooperate with the normal open corruption of receiving money under the table they reprimanded him.  So his wife Eberthy is running. Roberto got into politics because he felt a deep call as a Christian to do so as a way to use the city'smoney for the general welfare like schools, roads, and healthcare, instead of for personal gain. It has been an uphill battle. He has been a lone ranger. However it is encouraging to hear of another good friend similarly committed who says she wants to run for city council in four years. Many candidates use the TV and big billboards to promote themselves, something Eberthy cannot afford. They depend on friends for financial help and volunteers to make personal contacts with voters. I feel such a heart for Barranca  that I decided to make a small donation to their campaign.  Here is the family: Sasha, Eberthy, Roberto, and Robertito. They got the slogan “Elect to Serve” from a remark I made.

They proudly shared a letter with me in which 41 Colombian Baptist churches articulated their support for the Colombian peace talks. They shared several times how much my peace work for Colombia has encouraged them. I must say their work has equally encouraged me. Despite the fact they are super busy because of the campaign they without any hesitation insisted I stay with them. They are my closest Colombian friends. I feel I am in family. We are continually laughing from the teasing we do with each other. Because of our closeness I was moved to share my recent discovery of the impact on me of my losing both my parents a month a part when I was 12. This sharing has brought us together even more. Because of Eberthy’s help with connections to Barranca schools I did over 12 talks in classes in Barranca. The last one, to 5th graders, was the best in which the students made lots of suggestions and comments about how they can work on better ways of dealing with conflicts with their classmates. I got this started by stating that more violence and deaths happen in Colombia, especially to women, than in the war. Then I asked them how they think they might help bring peace to Colombia. It ended up being over an hour long class. Pray for the Barranca elections that they may result in serving the people better.  Shalom,           Jim Soup kitchens for elderly poor like this which they work for the city to support.