Copyright © 2000 NLThomas
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CHIAPAS, MEXICO - An eleven-member Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation, supplemented by four Chiapas Team members, held a service of repentance and prayer Sunday, morning, July 23, 2000, at an Army base in the highlands of this southern Mexican state. After confessing their own collusion in violent systems, participants invoked Isaiah's vision of a "new heavens and a new earth," as they prayed for a just resolution to the conflict and an eventual safe return of the over 10,000 internally displaced residents of Chenalho county.

The CPTers invited Mexican soldiers at the Majomut Army base, the region's key military installation, to join them in the service. About twenty uniformed onlookers observed and listened to the bilingual service a "safe" distance from the prayer circle, part of which was on base property and part on the highway shoulder. One of the invited soldiers called a higher-ranking officer to the scene, and he negotiated with the Duane Ediger, the group's spokesperson. Meanwhile, the service went on.

Leonard Janzen, Virgil, ON, confessed, "I have been quiet even when I knew of [injustice] occurring around me or in the world. I also confess on behalf of Canada for not acting on injustices that the government is fully aware of."

Murray Lumley, Ancaster, ON, confessed, "I am aware that military vehicles like the Humvees used in Chiapas to intimidate local people are manufactured in London, Ontario and I haven't done anything about that."

Allan Slater, Lakeside, ON, repented "as a Canadian for buying many products from Mexico so cheaply that workers and farmers in Mexico cannot receive decent wages and incomes."

Muriel Stackley, Pawnee Rock, KS, confessed, "I have been less than welcoming when I see Hispanics on the streets of my hometown."

During the service Duane Ediger, Dallas, TX, who had been communicating with the military official, shared with the gathered worshipers the official's feelings, that the group's presence on base property made him uncomfortable and in his view showed a lack of respect, as well as his request that the group move to the shoulder. Under protest but out of concern for the feelings of the official, the group moved three feet over onto the shoulder.

Ron Friesen, Loveland, CO, reflected, "We met the domination powers on their own ground and made them feel uncomfortable, which was what we intended."

"I hope the Mexican Army stationed around the displaced communities in Chenalho will follow our example the next time the members of those communities tell them that their presence is a source of something more than discomfort," said Ediger.

In the days leading up to the service the delegation had visited members of three communities of displaced people in Chenalho. In X'oyep, some 250 members of the community gathered at the chapel to greet the delegation and share stories of their displacement by paramilitaries starting three years ago this summer. A woman's reference to Isaiah 65 provided the scriptural framework for the service.

Delegation members are Fred Bahnson, Brevard, NC; Grace Braley, Yonkers, NY; Duane Ediger, Dallas, TX; Ron Friesen, Loveland, CO; Joel Douglas Harrison, Los Angeles, CA; Leonard Janzen, Virgil, ON; Murray Lumley, Ancaster, ON; Matthew Pflederer, Goshen, IN; Allan Slater, Lakeside, ON; Muriel T. Stackley, Pawnee Rock, KS; and Shirley Way, Wallingford, PA. Team members participating in the service were Lynn Stoltzfus, Ann Herman and Dick & Gretchen Williams.