Colombian pastor to speak on his country's conflict

In Colombia, says Ann Legg, 40 years of civil war have killed thousands and displaced nearly four million people. By anyone's standards, the narcotics-fueled violence and human rights abuses constitute one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes this side of the Atlantic.

Legg has seen this beautiful South American country with her own eyes and grieves for the people of Colombia. That's why the Woodstock resident wants the rest of us to know what's going on there.

So does the Rev. Diego Higuita-Arango, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, who will be in Crystal Lake today to talk about ministering in the midst of the conflict. Invited by Legg, the pastor will speak at 7 p.m. at Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, 8505 Church St., and the public is welcome.

Last Sunday, the congregation also heard from the Rev. Milton Mejia, another Colombian pastor who escaped serious death threats by relocating to the United States. Mejia spoke about negotiations to end fighting between the government and guerrilla insurgents.

"I want more people to know about what's going on in Colombia," Legg said. "I want them to be mobilized to contact their members of Congress to oppose the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement and try to get Colombia to respect human rights.

"We give Colombia quite a bit of money in aid," she said, "and the majority of that aid is military." She said she hopes the U.S. will increase humanitarian aid instead.

Legg serves as a humanitarian herself, having spent a month in the Colombia Accompaniment Program. This is a church initiative in which trained U.S. citizens, just by their presence and access to media outside Colombia, help safeguard other Presbyterians in vulnerable communities.

"The (denominational) leaders feel that that presence gives them a measure of protection," Legg said. "We in our country typically think we have to go someplace and do something, but the object there was not to do, but to be."

You can find out more by attending tonight's program at 7 p.m. Or come early for supper - just $5 per person - at 6 p.m. For more information, call the church at (815) 459-1132.

Welcome Wollard: Springbrook Community Church is welcoming a new associate pastor this month, and he's a man who had become rather used to the role of senior clergyman.

But that doesn't bother Pastor Richard Wollard, formerly of Meadowland Community Church of Johnsburg.

"My gifts and talents and abilities just lent themselves well to the needs here at Springbrook," he said.

Wollard will be focusing on strengthening the Small Group ministry for the Huntley congregation. Typically meeting in members' homes, Small Groups have been gaining ground for a few decades now, but Wollard said they have become "exponentially a bigger deal with Rick Warren's '40 Days of Purpose.'"

"I think that was probably a catalytic shift in moving people from simply attending church to getting involved with their neighbors," he said.

People like belonging to peer-led Small Groups because "it's a great opportunity to ask questions and learn more about God and the Bible," Wollard said. "A lot of people have questions but didn't always have a place where they could get their questions answered. There's a limited number of 'experts' available."

From a pastoral perspective, the groups also serve another purpose - identifying, investing in, developing and multiplying leaders, Wollard said. He himself was a leader in the business world, an executive with Baxter Healthcare who never envisioned himself standing in a pulpit.

"I always believed in God," Wollard said, "but I came to understand my need for a relationship with Christ and realized how many people did not have that."

That realization led him out of the office and into seminary. After graduation, Wollard and his wife, Carolyn, planted churches in Antioch and Johnsburg before accepting the invitation to serve at Springbrook.

Need some prayer tips? Help with focus? Ideas on praying longer than a few minutes at a time?

Christians of all denominations are invited to Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2700 W. Highland Ave., Elgin, for "Prayer Life - Learning to Pray in a Distracting World, a seminar from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The speaker is the Rev. Bob Allums, an area pastor and special sales manager for Crossway Books and Bibles in Wheaton. Crossway recently rolled out its long-anticipated ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible, which is being hailed with all kinds of superlatives: "most important," "extraordinary," "finest study tool," "dream come true."

Those endorsements are from Christian leaders like J.I. Packer, Joni Eareckson Tada, Jerry Bridges and John Piper, but you can draw your own conclusions. A copy of the ESV Study Bible, along with lunch, is included in the $30 fee for the prayer seminar. For more information or to register, call the church at (847) 695-0311.

• What's going on at your church or synagogue? Do you have an interesting program, new staff, big plans? Someone who deserves recognition or something a little out of the ordinary? Contact "In the Spirit" at cmchojnacki@yahoo.com.