ten years of violence came to an end. But not before the religious- political-civil war left between 200,000 and 300,000 people dead. Even to this day violence still continues in some areas of Co lombia and almost daily there is news of killing in one place or another. During these terrible years, the Christians realized they need ed to work together if they were going to survive the Roman ex termination campaign directed against them. Therefore, they or ganized an evangelical church federation and as soon as the violence officially came to an end, regrouped their forces and again started to evangelize Colombia. Biola graduate Ed Murphy was in Colombia only a short time before he realized that here was a ripe harvest field. Ed chose Cali, the second largest and fast est-growing city in Colombia, as the center from which he and his team would concentrate their ministry. For the past year and a half the main thrust o f the Overseas Crusades team has been local church mobilization cru sades. First came the lengthy prepa ration o f the believers for the crusade. Dozens of prayer cells were formed in homes and churches. A week of united meet ings instructing believers in per sonal work followed. Although Ed and his team utilized their own gifts of evangelism, their big job was to stimulate the church so that each believer would wit ness to his unbelieving neighbors. One o f the most effective ad vertising campaigns ever seen in Colombia was carried out. Every conceivable legitimate means was used to awaken the city to the coming meetings. Large cloth banners, thirty to seventy feet long and ten feet high announcing the crusade were hung across the city streets. Christians posted sixteen thous and beautiful posters on walls and telephone posts. Two hun dred and thirty thousand hand- THE KING'S BUSINESS
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Choir leads first evangelical parade ever held in Colombia.
“ ^ 0 many new converts are ■ finding their way into our churches we don’t know what to do with them. In one area we have enough new converts to start two new churches.” Who said that? It was not spo ken by the pastor of some Gospel- receptive area in Canada. I quote a Mennonite Brethren mis sionary in Colombia, S o u t h America. His statement is all the more remarkable when you re call that in no country in the Western Hemisphere has the Christian community suffered fiercer persecution. History is repeating itself. Two thousand years ago, Jesus stood on the spiritually-barren soil o f Samaria and said to His disciples, “ I sent you to reap” (John 4:38). To Christ’s follow ers no country appeared farther from a spiritual harvest than idolatrous Samaria. Yet those very disciples saw a multitude from the city o f Sychar “ turn to God from idols.” An equally remarkable harvest is being gathered in Colombia to day. On second thought, the word remarkable is not strong enough. M
Considering the facts and the growth of Ifhe church and the harvest that is being gathered, it is nothing less than a “mira cle.” The first Presbyterian mission aries went to Colombia in 1865. In the following seventy-five years, the church was only able to establish its testimony in half a dozen o f the larger cities of Colombia. Not until the Liberal Party took over in 1930 were missions allowed to enter the country freely. Between 1930 and 1948, the leading missions now working in Colombia began their ministry. They had hardly laid the foundation for their work when La Violencia swept the na tion. Between the years 1948 and 1958, the infant church o f Co lombia passed through a blood bath. Many Christians gained the martyr’s crown. Hundreds of churches and schools were closed and destroyed. To escape the vio lence, believers were forced to leave the countryside and flee to the big cities. With the fall o f the clerical dictatorship in 1958, the terrible
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