Ridiculed and excluded from the community, a Christian family in rural Colombia maintains its Christian faith
Luís Alberto Alves / Hourpress
Rodrigo * learned in practice what it means to suffer for Christ. Since he and his family converted to Christianity, local authorities and indigenous leaders in his community in northwestern Colombia have pressured them to renounce the Christian faith. They were ridiculed, persecuted and ostracized to no avail.
Being the target of religious persecution is a very difficult experience to pass on to anyone who professes their faith, but in rural indigenous communities like Rodrigo's in the state of Choco, it is even worse than in any other social context.
Indigenous tribes function as cohesive social units in which everything is closely intertwined and relationships are closely woven around community values and ancestral beliefs. Turning away from ancient animistic rituals and converting to Christianity is seen as an insult to the entire community, an action that deserves punishment in the form of social and economic exclusion.
As they continue to profess their faith, indigenous Christians in rural communities in Colombia increasingly see how people close the door on them, depriving them of opportunities, jobs, commercial projects, education and even essential services and activities.
For example, Rodrigo and his wife can fish or wash their clothes in the river at the same time as everyone else. Finding food has become a daily ordeal, as salespeople refuse to sell essential products.
Rodrigo's repeated refusals to abandon his Christian faith have already had negative consequences. His work of selling fish to the community was hit hard by a boycott of local leaders who asked people not to buy from him.
Meanwhile, his wife was released from teaching at the local school, despite the fact that she is one of the few indigenous educators in the community with professional qualifications.
Then, Rodrigo and his family went through a terrible financial situation for a while. They had trouble paying the bills. This was until the missionary who was taking care of the pastoral care of Rodrigo and his family told the partners of Portas Abertas about his situation. The team immediately started working on a small business project for Rodrigo, selling fuel.
In an area of intense river activity like the one Rodrigo and his family live in, gasoline is an essential resource. People travel in boats on rivers and streams daily and, for that, they all need the fuel. Seeing the potential of the business, Rodrigo started selling gasoline in his community at a fair price, something unusual in a place where corruption and speculation are rampant.
Things were looking up for Rodrigo and his family. But then, with the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic, everything changed almost overnight. Traffic throughout the area has decreased dramatically due to confinement; nobody needed to buy gasoline anymore. To make matters worse, Rodrigo and the whole family contracted the virus; they were seriously ill for several weeks.
In the midst of all this, the pressure against Rodrigo, his wife and children intensified. The residents of their city saw their illness as a kind of curse that hit the entire community and blamed them for breaking the right balance with the ancestral spiritual forces.
“For non-Christian indigenous peoples, our religious belief is a nuisance, an unwanted obstacle to their rituals. When something bad hits the community, the first culprits are the Christians who live in their midst, ”said one of Open Doors' partners in Colombia. "They believe that Rodrigo was guilty of bringing misfortunes to the city and, according to them, the best proof of that was the Covid-19 infection and its commercial failure," he added.
But the recovery of Rodrigo and his family was quick. In two weeks, everyone was well and healthy again. He rebuilt his business to the point that he now applies for a legal license to increase the amount of gasoline he can sell. And his wife will resume her job after local authorities decide to rehire her to continue teaching.
Despite this turnaround, the pressure continues for Rodrigo and his loved ones, this time against the evangelistic activities for children that he started some years ago. This type of meeting has already been banned by local authorities, but despite this, Rodrigo continues to promote his Christian mission with a stronger faith than ever.
Persecution
Colombia is in 30th place on the 2021 World Persecution List, which ranks the 50 countries that most persecute Christians in the world. The country rose 11 positions compared to last year and the factors that led to this rise are the persecution faced by indigenous Christians who leave the traditional religion - as in the case of Rodrigo and his family - and the violence of rebel groups, including the return of FARC to guerrilla activities. In addition, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic affected many groups of Christians who were already vulnerable to guerrilla groups and criminal factions.
What has Open Doors been doing for Colombian Christians?
Guerrilla groups in Colombia are known to recruit Colombian Christian children. For this reason, the Abrigo Lar Cristão da Portas Abertas was created in Colombia as a place to protect children whose families have been threatened or displaced, and for those children or adolescents who are at risk of recruitment.
Portas Abertas also supports Christians in indigenous communities with Christian training and education for indigenous children.
The organization strengthens the Persecuted Church in Colombia by developing and delivering Bible materials, building Christian schools for indigenous Christians, providing education programs and providing emergency aid to persecuted Christians.
To learn more and how to help persecuted Christians in Colombia, access the link and learn more about the country.
* Name changed for security reasons
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