The South American Region hosted the first conference on displaced persons 17-20 March in Bogota, Colombia. A total of 36 participants attended the meeting with representations from all 10 countries of the region.

This workshop was organized by the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) of South America and was attended by two guests from NCM global who are specialists in the field: Brandon Sipes, disaster response and humanitarian crisis consultant and Mikayla Shockley, disaster response specialist.

The conference included days of intense and fruitful training as well as fellowship, reflection, and challenge for the ministry of local churches with displaced people.

“The countries of the South America Region have been places where migrants and refugees seek new opportunities and security for their families,” said South America Region NCM Coordinator Chad Dickerson. “People from the 10 countries of South America came together to receive training, hear from the experience of others, and to develop a strategy for their contexts.”

Sipes and Shockley guided the participants in coming up with a vision and developing strategies for the Church of the Nazarene in this region.

“This was one of the most committed groups I've ever worked with in terms of training and planning,” Sipes said. “They were very keen to learn content about displacement but even more committed to developing plans to better support displaced people.”

According to data published by UNHCR, between 2012 and 2020 there was an increase from 42.7 million to 82.4 million displaced people in the world. For its part, South America is the recipient of a large number of Cuban, Haitian, and Dominican migrants, but there is also displacement in the same region, especially of the Venezuelan population.

Displacement in South America, whether due to disasters, violence and instability, or political and economic crisis, is a reality. For this reason, it is urgent and necessary for local churches to be prepared to serve and welcome those who leave their countries in search of a better future.

As part of the training, a field visit was made to a Iglesia del Nazareno Mosaico and Iglesia del Nazareno MTI, two churches that work and serve Venezuelan immigrants. This was a moment of enormous impact, as people heard the moving stories of those who had been welcomed by the two churches. The Venezuelan participants in the conference were deeply grateful for all the work that this church has been doing with their compatriots.

Claudia Masías, part of the Bolivian representation, said she hopes the church in South America "becomes a church that impacts people, that is known for selfless and compassionate love towards our neighbor."

--South America Church of the Nazarene