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When Lutheran clergyman Paul Wee first visited Guatemala, he was appalled by stories of brutality. He vowed to help bring peace.

Later, as assistant general secretary for the Lutheran World Federation, he convinced opposing sides to meet on neutral ground to discuss prospects for peace. Accords signed in Oslo in 1990 provided groundwork for later negotiations.

Six years later, peace accords were finally signed in Guatemala City amid celebration and hope. Military hostilities ceased—but hopes for peace remain unfulfilled, and threats, assassinations, poverty, and discrimination continue as the government fails to make changes and various factions of the military seek power.

The video juxtaposes U.S. missionaries, journalists, professors, and anthropologists alongside Guatemalan priests and pastors, a former guerrilla leader, government officials, and poet Julia Esquivel.

"By 1979," Esquivel says, "I desired, from my impure sense of justice, that the guerrillas would give the army a good lashing. This is what the army had done for years to the indigenous people. But around 1983 I realized that war is not the way."

Sandwiched between scenes of worship in various churches are comments from various faith groups addressing how they try to advance the cause of peace. Speakers include Mennonites, Pentecostals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and members of an independent "health and wealth" church. One Pentecostal church has placed itself in jeopardy by supporting a community of squatters in an adjacent illegal barrio.

The progressive faction of the Roman Catholic Church in Guatemala tended to side with the revolutionaries during the war. Concerned with land grabs (from early Spanish occupation to modern agribusiness ventures) and the poverty and repression of Mayas, they helped set up cooperatives and community organizations.

They still see peace as a goal. Roman Catholic Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini of San Marcos, says "A country that professes to be 90 percent Christian should manifest fruits of justice, solidarity, and true peace."

News reports indicate that recently elected President Oscar Berger plans to include more indigenous people in government. This is a sign of hope. But last year was the most violent since the peace accords were signed.

The video comes with a group study guide to encourage Christians to discuss problems and search for solutions.

One question in particular poses the challenge squarely: As part of the global church, how are we to respond to challenges to Christianity throughout the world?

Jeanette Hardage is a freelance writer. Precarious Peace: God and Guatemala is available from Vision Video at 1-800-523-0226 (www.visionvideo.com) or Maryknoll, 1-800-227-8523 (www.maryknollmall.org).

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today.Click for reprint information.

Precarious Peace is available from Christianbook.com and other video retailers.

More Christianity Today articles on Guatemala include:

Three Military Officials and a Priest Jailed for Killing Guatemalan Bishop | Since the 1998 death, six witnesses, a prosecutor, and a judge have fled in fear of their lives. (June 14, 2001)

Three Military Officials and a Priest Jailed for Killing Guatemalan Bishop | Since the 1998 death, six witnesses, a prosecutor, and a judge have fled in fear of their lives. (June 14, 2001)

U.S. Investigators Asked to Help Solve Mystery of Nun's Death in Guatemala | What initially seemed to be auto theft gone wrong now has overtones of politics and persecution. (June 01, 2001)

United Nations Asked to Protect Judges in Bishop's Murder Trial | Death threats and attacks common in case against military officers and priest. (June 01, 2001)

Almost Three Years After Bishop's Death, Five Go on Trial | Threats of violence continue as military officials stand trial in Guatemala. (April 11, 2001)

Guatemala's New Government to Probe 'Loss' of File on Murdered Bishop | File empty, reports Christian news agency. (Jan. 31, 2000)

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July 2004, Vol. 48, No. 7