Peace Fellowship honors Colombian couple
By Kay Shively

Imagine being kidnapped repeatedly, threatened with death, persecuted for preaching conversion to Christ and for speaking against the international drug trade, and having members of your church killed. This is the real life of Angel and Jeanneth Pinto, 2009 recipients of the Peace Fellowship’s Peacemaker of the Year award.

The Pintos are pastors of the Church of God in Puerto Asis, Colombia, a country racked by violence. They say they were forced by their circumstances to take peacemaking seriously. Although church members have been kidnapped and even killed, the church has grown and is respected for its peacemaking. Their ministry includes providing food, education, health care, and spiritual nurture to children whose lives have been shattered by violence. Angel says, “Men who used to be my enemies have embraced me in Christ.” He adds, “We have to live peace. We are not going to fight with guns. Every day we must recommit ourselves to keep going.”

A version of this article appears in the Thursday, July 2, 2009, edition of the NAC roundup/09 newsletter.  To view the newsletter in its entirety, click here (1.24 MB). The document is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat in order to read and/or print it. If you do not have Acrobat installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here.