Peacemakers commemorate Global Baptist Peace Conference

At the Global Peace Conference in 2019 peacemakers planted a tree, surrounded by stones painted with flags of different nations, to represent their commitment to growing peace.

Translated by: Rubén David Bonilla Ramos
Edited by: Erica Saunders

On January 22, peacemakers met to celebrate at the Baptist University of Cali, Colombia, to discuss experiences and memories of the Global Peace Conference held there in July 2019. It was a space for participants to recognize and reconnect after 5 years with the aim of listening to peacemakers in their constant commitment to peace rooted in justice.

At the meeting, faculty from the Baptist University, pastors, leaders, activists, directors of organizations, and students expressed the different challenges we face daily as a society, especially after five years in which we have experienced significant moments for Colombia and the world. These events include the pandemic, the national strike in April and May 2021, and the presidential elections in Colombia in 2022. These important events produced significant social and structural changes in Colombian society, especially in Cali.

We reflected at the meeting from provocative questions. What memories do we have of our 2019 global peace conference? What moves us as peacemakers today? What lessons did the 2019 global conference leave us? These questions called us to reflect on the importance of continuing to maintain care spaces for peacemakers in the region. Simultaneously, we deeply reflected on the importance of setting aside dogmatic processes and talking more about "peaces," understanding that peace is not singular. These conversations motivate us to continue moving forward together in building a world free of violence and full of peace. They also help us forge a path of peacemakers who work every day from a commitment of faith and spirituality convened towards different peaces rooted in justice.

In addition to meeting and reflecting, we participated in liturgy at the peace tree we planted on the Unibautista campus during our conference in 2019. We symbolized the movement with colored veils, thinking that our path is a path in motion and not static, an open path which grows over time, adding new people, experiences, and projects.

In the tree of the cross, there is life and peace.
Behind suffering, there is transformation,
From there, Jesus invites us to create community.
And to be part of his resurrection
— Red Crearte, Collective Creation.

We remember each person who participated in our Global Peace Conference 2019 and remember each of the people who today are not with us in body, but we know that their work for peace continues alive in communities.

The feet of the world today walk through paths of asphalt and violence,
but the heart of the humble is stronger than cannons and bombs.
Peace for humanity
will not come from outside,
nor will it be built with nuclear weapons,
nor will it arrive by agreement of governments.
It is present
in the heart of the universe
and all things
walk towards peace.
It will arrive like the dawn for this battered and almost tired world;
and it will come by the hand of the simple,
of the humble people,
of the poor of the earth,
and will be announced by the mouth
of children,
and to the sound of music
of brave youths.
— Latin American Psalm for Peace, adapted from "Seeing reality, hearing hope,” Consultation of Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1993