Persecution

I didn't really know that Christians were still being persecuted here in Mexico until April when we visited with a pastor in Puebla and he shared with us the story of trying to establish his evangelical church there about seven years ago. They dealt with months and months of having their car tires slashed, construction being torn down, equipment being destroyed, and anonymous threats to him and his family. The Christians in the town became scared and started going to church in other cities, travelling for an hour or so instead of going to his church less than ten minutes away. One afternoon he and some brothers were at the church working and he heard the Catholic church bell ringing like crazy. The next thing he knew a mob of about 1,000 people came with rocks and machetes. They were being led by the Catholic priest, who screamed at him to get out of town. He was given a boldness from God and refused to budge. He proclaimed the gospel to them and told them he wouldn't leave no matter what they did to him. Miraculously they just turned and walked away. He was sure he was going to be mobbed and killed! Since that day he has never been bothered.

During this same trip, our students were in the mountains in a church, when a mob of people came to the church and started throwing rocks at them and at the church, telling them to go away.

We even went to a friend's house in Puebla and there was one family member who refused to acknowledge our existence in their house. For those of you who don't know, this is a major thing in Mexican culture, you ALWAYS greet all the people in a room! He wouldn't even look at us or shake our hands or anything. He hates Christians... he's a good Catholic!

I have a friend in the US who basically refuses to believe that things like this happen in other countries so close to the US. She doesn't want to believe that the Catholic church here is any different than in the States. I wish I could convince her, but I don't know that it would do any good. Some people just want to have their blinders on.

I realize that I still haven't faced persecution like the Christians in the Middle East and other places, but I thought I would share that it is still happening here in Mexico. The government is Catholic, and the country is still run by the Catholic church (behind the scenes of course), so there are some anti-Christian sentiments under the surface. Keep your Mexican brothers and sisters in your prayers. May they stay strong in their faith and not back down!