[Individual articles from the Fall 2017 issue of Intersections will be posted on this blog each week. The full issue can be found on MCC’s website.]
MCC’s partnership with the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in accompanying internally displaced people (IDPs) is an example of a multilayered approach for dealing with the practical and personal aspects of forced displacement. With its presence both in Colombia and Canada, MCC connected the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogotá with churches in Canada to take advantage of Canada’s Source Country Class Program to resettle some IDPs to Canada who faced protracted threats from armed groups in Colombia. The uncertainty of this process required flexibility, discernment and patience in walking with displaced families through the resettlement process. Additionally, the church and MCC workers provided personal accompaniment, listening to families and paying attention to the emotional and spiritual elements of their journey.
While the conflict in Colombia is decades old, more IDPs began fleeing to Colombian cities such as Bogotá in the late 1990s, making the conflict more visible for people in the capital city. In an early effort of accompaniment, members of the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogotá supported IDPs who occupied a government building as they demanded their rights. These early church initiatives quickly turned into accompanying IDP organizers whose lives were threatened. The church eventually developed programmatic efforts to meet IDPs’ basic needs and to provide them with safety.
For some IDPs, fleeing to the city was insufficient to guarantee their safety, as armed groups operated across the country, threatening and killing persons who could incriminate them. In 2000, with more displaced families becoming a part of the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church community, the congregation made an intentional decision to accompany IDPs by forming the Justice and Peace Committee. At the same time, Canada’s unique Source Country Class (SCC) allowed IDPs in Colombia to apply for resettlement as refugees without leaving their country of citizenship. While Canada provided government selection and support for thousands of refugees who applied directly for resettlement at the Canadian visa office in Bogotá, Colombian IDPs could also be nominated for resettlement and sponsored through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program.
At first, the Justice and Peace Committee of Teusaquillo Mennonite Church contacted Mennonite congregations in Canada directly to see if they would sponsor families identified by the committee as in need of resettlement. In time, a partnership was forged with MCC Canada’s Refugee Program, in cooperation with MCC Colombia. MCC Canada worked through the network of refugee program coordinators in the five provincial MCC offices in Canada to find sponsoring churches for IDPs identified for resettlement by the Teusaquillo congregation.
An important component of this work was the placement of an MCC worker to accompany and support the Justice and Peace Committee and assist IDPs identified for resettlement. The MCC worker also functioned as a liaison with the MCC refugee coordinators in Canada. This coordinated effort of the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church, MCC Colombia, MCC Canada and Canadian Mennonite churches helped over 70 families resettle in Canada between 2002 and 2015.
While the mechanics of this project came together, IDP accompaniment did not always lend itself to obvious answers. All parities faced challenges. For the Teusaquillo congregation, the decision to open its doors to the newcomers came after much discernment. Some in the church feared that the displaced population that would meet in the church building for prayer services and lunch once a week would bring threats from armed actors to the church. Others sensed that the church was giving more attention to displaced families at the expense of traditional members.
For the church’s Justice and Peace Committee, the process of accompaniment and of determining the threat level and the appropriate response for IDPs were not always clear. The capacity for resettlement depended on MCC staff in Canada convincing congregations to take on this ministry of resettlement. The Justice and Peace Committee often helped families move to different locations within Colombia, providing IDPs with food and help finding temporary work. In Canada, the lengthy processing time meant churches struggled to maintain motivation and funds. Preserving hope along with keeping expectations realistic became a critical factor in the collaboration between MCC and the churches in both Colombia and Canada.
The multilayered partnership between MCC and the Teusaquillo church not only refers to the variety of levels of project coordination but also to the personal attention given to victims of forced displacement. Such personal accompaniment was an important component of the program, because it touched not just those resettled to Canada. Colombian pastor Peter Stucky and his brother, the psychologist Paul Stucky, often reminded the Committee of the emotional and spiritual aspects integral to any accompaniment offered by the church. This included understanding the impact of trauma on displaced families and the importance of providing opportunities for healing. The church needed to be a spiritual guide, providing a sense of safety in community and newfound meaning even amid the ongoing traumatic stress of forced displacement.
This accompanying aspect of the work was perhaps the one of the most important and personally rewarding parts of this project. As I reflect on accompanying displaced families in Colombia, I fondly remember the simple act of sitting and listening deeply to the sadness and hope of resilient people looking for another opportunity at life. This personal attention and sense of human connection made MCC and the church’s accompaniment truly holistic and suitable for addressing the complexity of forced displacement and resettlement.
Nathan Toews is Seed program facilitator for MCC in Bolivia. He previously worked as a psychosocial accompaniment worker with MCC in Colombia.
Intersections 