Missionary Experience – Gempaz 2007–2026
This article was written by Cristina, a Lay Member of the Assumption who is part of the Gempaz group. I have also been a member of this group for 16 years, but I felt it was important for others to contribute to this sharing with the Congregation – Sr Blanca Marina
In 2007, the Little Sisters of the Assumption, together with a group of Catholic and Evangelical women, helped to establish and launch an Ecumenical Women’s Group for Peace: GEMPAZ. The aim is to reflect and move forward together, in a spirit of ecumenism, towards building peace, dialogue and reconciliation.
For GEMPAZ, reconciliation is understood as a path towards rebuilding relationships that have been severed by conflict, whilst acknowledging that religions bear some responsibility for the multiple causes of the endemic war afflicting Colombia; just as in other parts of the world, this war is being waged between brothers and sisters, between daughters and sons of the same God, created in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26–27).
This network of women peace-builders is currently active in three departments of Colombia: Cundinamarca (Soacha and Bogotá), Valle (Cali and Mondomo) and Sincelejo (Sampués). It also continues to expand into other parts of the country.
Several initiatives of varying scales have been proposed to promote peace-building and reconciliation in Colombia: Ecumenical Circles, efforts to counter hate speech in everyday life, and the strengthening of the social fabric.
An ecumenical and celebratory spirituality: through dialogue, listening, and communal celebration, whilst drawing on biblical and theological foundations, it is possible to nurture a liberating spirituality in the pursuit and building of peace, in a prophetic stance that denounces injustice and proclaims the Good News.
Sisterhood: it is the union of the efforts made by these women, belonging to different expressions of faith, that has the power of reconciliation capable of bringing about profound transformations.
Self-care and psychosocial and spiritual support, forgiveness as an act of liberation from the trauma caused by conflict, reconciliation as an alternative for transforming conflicts, and peace-building from a women’s perspective constitute, from a theological standpoint, the ideal framework for restoring a relationship between God and human beings, between people themselves, and with all of creation; by incorporating concepts such as justice, peace, restitution, restoration, truth, love and mercy.
For many women participating in the Ecumenical Circles, Gempaz has become their key ecclesial space where they deeply experience a spiritual, theological and fraternal journey with profound implications for their lives and for their collective and individual endeavours, thus becoming a place where the one called to build the Kingdom takes on the face of a woman.
Cristina,
a lay member of the Assumption