Disappointment in Colombia: a sect was waiting for the end of …

After several days of waiting for the supposed second appearance of Jesus Christ in the country proclaimed by a religious sect settled in a rural town north of ColombiaIts nearly three thousand inhabitants awaited “the end of the world”.

The unusual episode occurred in Isabel Lopez, a rural town in the Caribbean department of Atlántico, where parishioners of the Evangelical Congregation of Berea announced that Friday was the day of “Judgment“.

The congregation was born from the biblical message of a religious pastor from the city of Barranquilla who summoned people to meet in a precarious building in the city to await the second coming of Christ.

The news, which circulated two weeks ago throughout the city, was known to the authorities of the municipality of Sabanalarga, to which the Isabel López farm belongs, who immediately appeared on the scene, even with the intervention of the Colombian Institute for the Protection of the Family, who took the seven miners who were inside the temple.

Members of the same family

One of the characteristics of the parishioners gathered in the Berean Church it is that they are part of the same family groups because if they do not share their faith, they are pressured to leave their relatives to leave their mother’s home.

“I have two aunts and a nephew in this church, in addition to my wife, who was recently kicked out because they told her she was infected because my son did not profess his faithJohnny Angulo told Efe when he told of the city’s concern for what members of the congregation can do.

Angulo expressed concern over the decision taken by several of his relatives to sell their belongings because they believed they would no longer need them and noted that throughout the city they feared some misfortune could arise among the members. from the church of Berea.

The representative of the Municipality of Sabanalarga, Luis Fernando Moreno, who has been accompanying since the moment the case was known, affirmed that, while respecting religious beliefs, the authorities must guarantee the safety of those who are part of the religious congregation.

“In general, they are well and it is our duty as representatives of the prosecution to guarantee their rights,” said Moreno, explaining that medical care had been provided to some people who needed it.

In Colombia, personeros are public officials responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, among other things.

Vigil in front of the church

Since the day before, a large group of people have taken up positions in front of the house which serves as a temple for the evangelical congregation of Berea, whose members had fasted for more than two weeks to “cleanse themselves” and that in the “new arrival of the Messiah“were free from sin.

Police, officials from the Colombian Institute for the Protection of the Family (ICBF, which takes care of children), and a large number of neighbors and curious gathered waiting for the result of a story that began at the end of last year.

Pastor Gabriel Alberto Ferrer Ruíz, professor of linguistics at the Universidad del Atlántico, presented his letter of resignation in front of the presbytery of the institution where he said he had “a direct order that the Almighty Lord gave me”. From there he devoted himself to preparing the parishioners for what should happen today.