Peace.

This word carries a lot of weight around this time of year. It’s an idea that we seek after, something we know is coming, and a concept difficult for us to grasp. We have no trouble singing about it in Christmas carols such as O Holy Night, Hark the Harold Angels Sing, and Silent Night. We toss it around in church: peace be with you, and also with you! This whole season is wrapped around the idea of the Prince of Peace being born in a manger. As some get sucked into the hustle and bustle of the holiday, they still long for a peaceful season. Others focus on creating this peaceful season—bringing family together after a long year apart, taking time off work, building a fire in the fireplace, and playing in the snow.

But what United Statesians (generally) take for granted is the idea of a peaceful society. Here in Dabeiba, we have been celebrating the Christmas season a little differently than I am used. Namely, not at all. My host mom whipped out some top-notch, worthy-of-a-Macy’s-window-display, decorations one night while I stood with the hot glue gun and some sticks I’d found in the street in hand, staring in amazement. I heard mention of Advent in church on Sunday. But in my little town of Dabeiba, there are no vendors selling cinnamon-roasted almonds, no Christmas carolers, no Advent wreath at church, no frantic present shopping, and no children’s Christmas musical. In fact, there has been no change, other than the random Christmas decoration, between September and December. It’s still hot. It still gets dark at 6 and light at 6. There are still mandarins to be picked at the farm and we can still paint the outside of a building. And yet, there is still talk of peace.

It will be of no surprise that Colombia is a country that has seen violence. La Violencia raged through Colombia about 50 years ago and still affects lives today. I cannot pretend to know the details of this period, but I have been able to see, although small, some of the ripple effects. I have seen individuals torn apart and I have seen these individuals’ efforts to work toward peace.

“The work of peacemaking is not about ending conflict, it is about approaching conflict in ways that are constructive instead of destructive.”

David LaMotte

Since arriving in Colombia I have had the opportunity to travel to different peace conferences and see individual Colombians fighting to bring their nation to peace. Colombia has not seen peace in decades and will likely not see peace for decades more. Many Colombians have never lived a day in their life in a society devoid of military presence, displacement of farmers, and land mines. But the citizens are not discouraged. They take steps, they talk, they fight for a country that they can comfortably call their home.

By far the most creative approach I’ve seen is a program designed after award-winning international film Los Colores de la Montaña. Set in the mountains of Colombia, this film accurately describes the haunting brutality of La Violencia. This program, named Los Colores de Mi Escuela, travels to rural mountain schools advocating for peace. After devotions and songs, the students are given a piece of paper and coloring supplies and asked to draw a picture representing their future. Psychologists are there to judge the winners of this coloring competition, but also to help those students who reflect suffering from conflict within their drawings. We play games with the students, we host a talent show, and we show the students that the hope for peace begins within each of us, but it must not end there.

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

As we were sitting on my front porch in September, enjoying the breeze and looking forward to the bike ride we had scheduled within the hour, my site coordinator here in Colombia, Sarah, passed out a piece of paper entitled “The Emotional Stages of a Service Year.” I scanned through it quickly and being somewhere in between the phases of “fear/anxiety about what the coming year will bring” and “initial excitement of arrival wears off,” folded it in half and stuck in a folder. The very folder that never made it out of my suitcase. My emotional stages were not going to be defined by a piece of paper. During our Thanksgiving retreat, where the other two YAVs, Sarah, and I met in Bogotá, Sarah asked us to pull it out again and see what we found.

The “Survival Phase” lasts from September to December and is full of new awareness of ourselves and our failures to create the change we envisioned, frustration with community members, and an understanding of the depth of injustice in the world. As of late, I am feeling far from peaceful. Attending peace conferences and visiting displaced farmers has me up in arms, although unsure where to turn with my new fiery passion. I feel even more unsettled as the holiday season is approaching and all businesses and clubs are shutting down for vacations. I spend the large majority of my days reading. When I ask for work and find nothing but a lazy trip to a farm I am annoyed that I am not changing the world. Although I can communicate with others and have almost worked up the courage to answer the home phone when no one is around, I am now able to recognize how far my Spanish is from being perfect.

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

I find comfort with the Israelites. Although my situation pales in comparison to the years spent waiting, I find that I am able to understand the boredom, the hopelessness, the frustration, and the directionless passion they must have felt. And yet we are reminded to rejoice, for the covenant of peace will never be removed.

May we all—from the United States to Colombia and everywhere in between—during this Advent season, be reminded that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. From activism to candles to books to laughter, may we find in our hearts the peace of Christ and may we have the courage to share this with others.

May the peace of Christ be with you all.

Attending a Presbyterian women's conference in Eje Cafetero, the coffee region

Eating coffee ice cream with friends!

Milking a cow at a friend's farm

Learning how to make cheese

Colombians pick out the bad coffee beans and send the perfect ones to the US and Europe, but it sure it delicious!

Feeding a calf!

Was able to join a group of Peacemakers from the US as they travelled to different communities

Spent the Thanksgiving season in Bogotá, so grateful for jackets, pumpkins and mini ovens!

So wonderful to spend time with the other volunteers and our coordinator in Bogotá

Visiting the ocean again with the ladies of the Health Club--we helped some fisherman bring in their catch