We worked all day and all night Friday preparing for La Marcha de La Paz (The March for Peace) set to take place the following day. We did not go to bed until one or two in the morning. We did not fall into a deep sleep until after 4 am when the church musicians stopped practicing. (This month we are sleeping in a room above the sanctuary.) By 6 am Saturday morning, we were all dressed and ready for one of the longest but most rewarding days of our lives. The first order of business for the day was prayer.
Slowly, people arrived at the church early in the morning, young and old, to pray for the peace of the city. Recently there were elections all over Peru, just like in the United States, and the race for office in the city of Huanuco was really close. In fact it was so close that they are having a runoff next month. Currently, the citizens of Huanuco are really divided, just like we are in the United States. Many people here feel as though they cannot trust the governing of their elected officials. Again, many of us have a similar sentiment in the United States. Watching people here deal with political turmoil gives me hope for when I return to the U.S. (I will arrive home late summer of next year, right as the stage lights up for the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections.) The Church (the churches of the city came together to organized this rally) in Huanuco didn’t tell the people to give their trust and money to one side versus the other, they declared, “Amistate Con Dios!” which literally means “Be acquainted with God!” .
During the days and nights leading up to the rally, we spent hours painting signs, and talking to people in the streets, in the parks, in the restaurants, and at weeknight church services telling them that while we should participate in the governing of the city by voting, we cannot expect peace in the city to come through any one man or woman. We spread the word that we must continue to put all of our trust in the Lord and call on Him to guide our hearts and the hearts of the elected officials to bring about fair governance and peace.
After the 6 am prayer service that lasted 2-3 hours, we continued to organized and prep for the march that began at 3 pm. We marched for miles around the city, with signs, songs, and chants that said to put our hope in Christ. People of all ages were marching through the main streets of Huanuco. There was an elderly man in front of me holding a sign, and he was clearly in a lot of pain due to what I assumed to be arthritis in his legs. He walked with a heavy limp yet he went the entire distance with his sign, calling out to God. He believed so strongly that he endured the pain.
I have no doubt that there were people with different political affiliations marching side-by-side. There were people who did not attend church and perhaps didn’t even believe in God marching alongside us. When the moment came at 6 pm for us to ask for help, all of those people, young and old, believers and nonbelievers, didn’t storm the office or the front lawns of the government officials. We did not go on the news and slander political candidates and ask for money to promote further slander. When the moment came to ask for help in promoting peace and equality in our everyday lives, we got down on our knees in the city center and in the nearby streets and prayed.
Can we do this in the United States for the upcoming elections in 2016? Can the churches come together and at least agree our help comes from the Lord? Before we throw our money into promoting slander can we first humble ourselves on our knees and pray and invite God back into our lives? Can we once again acknowledge His wisdom and sovereignty in all things?
Whether we like it our not, the United States is considered by rest of the world to be a Christian nation, though we have separation of Church and State. “In God We Trust” is written on our money, yet how often do we pray before spending our money on politics? I have worked for a political campaign and whole-heartedly support political fundraising. However, when we fund a campaign do we pray that our money goes to promoting peace and do we actively participate in that campaign to ensure that it is run with compassion in a manner pleasing to God whether the candidate is a believer or not? Participating in the March for Peace this weekend caused me to re-evaluate my habits as part of the electorate and in every part of my life.
How different would the political climate in the United States be if we as the Church, united in Christ, regardless of political affiliation, first went to God humbly in prayer and asked Him how to vote for and govern our great nation?
Can we unite as a Church in the United States and turn our eyes to God? Can we finally own up to “In God We Trust”?
I will leave you with this. One of the pastors said to my squad mate when we first arrived in Huanuco, that we would have more open doors and opportunities here than we did in the Untied States. It seems impossible to find more opportunity outside of “the land of opportunity”. However, how many cities are there in the United States where the churches of the city unite and pray to God for both sides of the aisle and seek His guidance first before taking a unified stance during an election?
Photo by Kaili Taniguchi
