I first heard of Idia and her missing husband, Pastor William Reyes – of the Light and Truth Interamerican Church of Maicao, La Guajira – on the morning of September 27th a little more than 24 hours after the pastor disappeared on a rural Colombian highway. I was roused by an early morning phone call from the National Coordinator of the Peace Commission of the Evangelical Council of Colombia (CEDECOL), with whom I work; “A pastor has been disappeared. We need to tell the international family of faith; we need them to take action,” I was told as I mentally refocused my energy on this new pressing task.
We put out a call for urgent action the next day, asking the international community to contact the Colombian Attorney General’s office as well as the Governor of La Guajira – the northwestern province where Pastor Reyes had previously lived.
Unfortunately, Colombia continues to be a dangerous place to follow the Prince of Peace. In 2007 the Documentation Program of Justapaz and the CEDECOL Peace Commission documented 324 violations against church members. Colombia has over 4 million internally displaced persons – more than any other country – and 1,500 more are forced from their homes every day. Approximately 3,000 people die every year because of the violence.
Pastor Reyes ministered in a highly conflictive area of northern Colombia on the border with Venezuela where leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, Colombian military and police, narco-traffickers and smugglers make for a dizzying context of lawlessness, extortion, and violence. When Pastor Reyes did not return home on the evening of September 25, it was anybody’s guess as to who may have taken him. Both the local pastor’s association and his family had been targets of extortion requests and multiple death threats in the months prior to his disappearance; such are the costs of being a leader, religious or secular, in Maicao.
When I first met with Idia three weeks later, I came away impressed with her strength. She spoke of her gratitude for church members around the world who had responded to the alert and urged the Colombian government to investigate her husband’s disappearance. She shared that she found comfort in the words of Isaiah 51, and spoke of her faith that her husband was still alive. Was her mentioning of verse 12 an indication she knew this might no longer be the case?
I am he who comforts you; why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die, a human being who fades like grass (Isaiah 51:12).
Things took a turn for the worse in January of this year. On January 15, 2009, an unidentified man came to the church and asked for Idia. When the church receptionist told him she wasn’t there, he asked for her address and cell phone number, which she also refused to give him. He stated that it was “In [Mrs. Miranda’s] best interest to get in touch with him, than for him to have to find her”—hardly a veiled threat.
On January 21, 2009, Mrs. Miranda’s eldest daughter (Luz Nelly, age 16) was approached by an unidentified man on the street who told her if she wanted to see her dad she should come with him. When he attempted to grab her by the arm, Luz Nelly fled. On February 19, armed men entered another Christian church, just a few blocks from the Light and Truth Church, and forcibly removed a female parishioner who has not been seen since.
When Idia shared these disturbing new developments with me, she broke down and cried,
I wanted to stay… but this changes everything. They tried to take my daughter! They can torment me, but I can’t bear the harassment of my children. If something were to happen to them… I want to leave.
Unfortunately not much has changed over the past six months. Despite our repeated efforts, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office still reports no progress in investigating Pastor Reyes disappearance. As of our last communication, an investigator still had not been assigned to the case.
As the sixth month of Pastor Reyes’ disappearance draws near, we’re asking for your help once again. Please see this urgent action request. Just as the words of Isaiah 51 comfort Idia, may they challenge us:
Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord … Rouse yourself, rouse yourself! Stand up … (Isaiah 51:1a, 17a).
Michael Joseph lives in Bogota, Colombia where he works with the Peace Comission of the Evangelical Council of Colombia (CEDECOL). He serves as a missionary with Global Ministries (of the Christian Church – Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ).
