News and Prayers of Lament

A Tragic Loss In this time of strife, we unfortunately come to you today with sad news. Albeiro Suárez, a partner of the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia, was assassinated last week. He appears in this photo across from PPF Executive Director Emily Brewer in January 2020. Albeiro was an ex-combatant of the FARC and leader of a community in central Colombia. PPF had been in communication with Albeiro about accompaniment in his community and he said "We would be safer with unarmed international accompaniers than we are with armed guards." Due to the pandemic, all in-person accompaniment has been on hold since the global outbreak. We continue in relationship and prayer with our partners in Colombia during these hard times and assess the possibility and need for in-person accompaniment when it is safe again to do so. Read PPF's full statement on the assassination of Albeiro Suárez.  Rewritten Lamentations 5 During this time of quarantine and protest; of rage and frustration; of confusion and fear, the Bible provides for us a much-needed resource: lament. Six centuries before the birth of Christ, the Babylonian Empire ransacked Jerusalem in Ancient Judah. They forcefully removed thousands of Hebrew people into exile. Yet, many were still left behind. The Empire deemed those in the pillaged land as worthless. As the story goes, the Prophet Jeremiah stayed behind and is said to have written Lamentations. The Book of Lamentations mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the uprooting of livelihoods, and the absence of God. How can we not lament this moment, our moment? PPF Executive Committee member Timothy Wotring has written a version of Lamentations 5 for our time: Remember, O God, our devastating situation; look upon our anger and rage! Thousands are dead, and those who call themselves leaders are more like enemies. We feel powerless and lost, a directionless people. Keep reading on our website. Upcoming Events on Zoom Post-Election Coffee Hour  Friday, Nov 6 - 1:15pm ET Share your feelings and reactions in community Register here  Coffee Hour: What Are We Learning About Defunding the Police? Friday, Nov 20 - 1:15pm ET Discuss what we're learning in Action Circles and elsewhere Register here Vote! Have you voted? Have you gotten everyone you know to vote? Have you volunteered? Keep pushing in the final days of the election! If there is a contested election, we sent out some excellent resources for defending democracy last week. You can access and share that email here. There was also this training for people of faith on how to use nonviolent civil action after November 3 while the votes are still being counted. The online training was October 28 but the recording is online for all now. Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 845-786-6743 | presbypeacefellowship.org Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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