GUERRILLAS! by Angela Crichton
Angela has been a missionary in Colombia for almost 30 years. For some of the time she was working with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) as well as various other mission organisations. She now resides in Wanganui. Here she shares with us one of her many experiences of God’s deliverance. At the time of writing, Colombia had been in a civil war for just on 50 years. It is a beautiful country with much to offer. But it is sad, because of a minority group, both the reputation of the country and the people have suffered greatly. After having spent a number of years in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, working with YWAM’s street kids’ team, together with a friend (Enith), we offered to “spy” out the land for beginning a new work both in Medellin, and a town on the north west region, Montelibano. Our first stop was supposed to be Colombia’s second largest city, Medellin, but something unexpected happened on the way. The bus on which we were travelling came to a sudden stop. As we looked out the window, we saw armed men dressed in soldier’s uniforms. Their footwear revealed their identity: FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Gumboots are used instead of the normal army boot. I had often heard of kidnappings, extortions and killings, but this was getting a bit close to home! Enith, who is of a darker complexion, turned pale, not for her sake, but for mine, a foreigner. Enith, a rural nurse, had been kidnapped by the FARC on various occasions to attend to the wounded in their bush camps. She was well aware of what these people were capable of. One of the rebel soldiers, armed with an AK-47 machine gun, came on to the bus to order us all off. I was busy stuffing my money and ID into my shoe and praying fervently at the same time. The first miracle occurred when women were not required to show ID, therefore not revealing my identity as a foreigner. (The obvious danger is that foreigners are kidnapped and held hostage for ransom). Shots were fired in the air as we were herded up the road to join others where vehicles had also been stopped. A large articulated truck and trailer had purposely been jack-knifed across the highway to stop traffic in both directions. The goal of the FARC was twofold: Firstly to stock up on supplies through raiding and, secondly, to demonstrate their power among the people by instilling fear. It worked!
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