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Last updated on
Dec. 8, 2004
Javier Segura, 31, of Bogota Colombia, was our brother in Christ through our sister-church relationship with Sinai Mennonite. For two years we at PMC corresponded with Javier and his fiancee Liliana. At first, Javier was assistant pastor with Pastor Losada Islandes. In December 2002, we received a video in which we saw Javier baptizing a large group of believers.
Then, in January, 2004, Javier became pastor of a daughter church to Sinai—La Victoria, with 35 adults, 15 young people and 20 children. He wrote: "...it is a new congregation, barely in its beginning which constitutes a great challenge which I hope to fulfill with God's help. For this I ask your part in praying as you have done until now with Sinai."
Their letters were always a joy and an inspiration to us. They also challenged and encouraged us. For Petitcodiac's 25th Anniversary Javier sent us a greeting and wrote, "...we would also like to encourage you to keep on labouring in the Lord's work always keeping in mind the words of the apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 15:58: THEREFORE MY DEAR BROTHERS STAND FIRM. LET NOTHING MOVE YOU. ALWAYS GIVE YOURSELVES FULLY TO THE WORK OF THE LORD, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT YOUR LABOUR IN THE LORD IS NOT IN VAIN."
This week, we have shed tears over the tragic death of Javier. It was last Sunday evening (November 28, the 1st Advent), Javier had just left Liliana's home, where they made their wedding plans, and as he waited for a bus to return home to his elderly parents, a bomb exploded killing him instantly.
Our hearts go out to Liliana, to his parents, Pastor Losada, Ricardo and Sandra, Guillermo, and every member—young and older—of the Sinai and La Victoria church, in their pain.
Javier had been involved with Justapaz, the peace and justice organization, which began in 1994. In November 2002, he wrote us: "Together with other young men of the church we tried to find an alternative to the obligatory military service in our country—finding the answer in Non-Violence."
The letters from Javier, and correspondence of this tragedy, are compiled in a remembrance folder at Petitcodiac Mennonite Church.
Janet Plenert from MC Canada lived in Colombia this fall, and visited Javier in his church. She wrote: "Clearly I ask that you take this news to your congregation for prayer. Pray also for Javier's family, the church that is left grieving their pastor, the Sinai church that watched him come into his calling as a minister, the entire Colombian church community, and also pray for the people who planted this bomb." The Colombian Mennonite Church said that it "profoundly laments this enormous loss and prays that his death may be fertile and produce fruit."
The challenge for us at PMC will be to keep Javier's memory alive and become more involved in helping to bring peace to Colombia.
Irma & Peter Penner
Coordinators Sister-Church relationship
December 5, 2004
A single rose lay among the broken glass and debris. A symbol of life and love, of hope and beauty. The glass, a reminder of violence and death. As often is the case, they coexist, contrasting and challenging one another in a dance of power to see which would dominate the day.
The smell of roses wafted over me. The beauty of hundreds of roses dazzled my eyes and made me smile, but they could not erase the sadness of the occasion. Javier Segura Gonzales, a Mennonite Pastor in Bogotá was being honoured and said goodbye to. He was the only fatal injury in a bomb that exploded on the first day of Advent. He is the first Mennonite pastor to lose his life due to the violence in Colombia. The large church building had standing room only for the service that gave testimony to this young life. At only 31 years old, he had experience church planting in Quito, Ecuador, as a pastoral associate in his home church, and now as the pastor in a new church plant in south Bogotá. His fiancé read the eulogy, then wiped her tears and launched into a powerful testimony of encouragement to their congregation. ‘Javier didn't like to leave things half done, and it may feel to you like he has done that. But the church in not Javier's church. It is God's church and God will carry it forth." She spoke with enthusiasm and strength that surprised me. She spoke with a deep inner confidence that can only come from God.
After the service the coffin was carried, followed by a couple hundred mourners, dozens of placards and white balloons, down the streets to the location where Javier had died. There some of the flower arrangements were set up and placards taped to the building. Peter Stucky, President of the national church, gave a stirring testimony to all who could hear. This was an act of violence against a child of God. The church stands for life and for peace. And to combat some careless reporting in the press, and assuage the indignation of many present, he clarified that Pastor Javier was a man of peace and he had not, as the press suggested, set off the bomb. It had been salt thrown into the wounded hearts of the church to hear this accusation in the press. White balloons of peace were released into the air and a song of peace was sung. ‘I ask peace for my city. Lord I ask you to forgive my city.' Again, the church had taken the opportunity to use this tragic situation as a testimony of life and a call for peace.
The rose lay among the rubble. Glass and debris that had flown over the sidewalk when the bomb exploded. Blood was still visible on the wall where it had sprayed, and the damage to the cement wall was obvious. A hole in the sidewalk indicated where the bomb had detonated. And the colour and beauty of the rose lay in its midst. A reminder that, in the end, peace will overcome evil, and Jesus will come again.
I invite your prayers for the Colombian Mennonite churches, for Javier's family and that peace would come to this land.
Janet Plenert
Executive Director, International Ministries
Mennonite Church Canada WITNESS