Cause of Embarassment and Shame...on us!

This ugly or startling monument, is meant to be just that. It's name is the Pillar or Column of Shame. It was donated (?) to Mexico for it's dubious "honor" of deserving it for the horrendous massacre of 45 Tzotzil Indians, mostly women and children, on December 22nd, 1997, in Acteal, Chiapas. It actually puts most of the blame on the Mexican state and federal governments for their abusive treatment of the Indian peoples, but since it is also a tool of Marxist propaganda, it doesn't mention the crimes of the Zapatista Movement against other Indians whose lands they took by force, or expelled. Nor does it mention, while it blames the Mexican government for the murders, that those arrested and sentenced arbitrarily were also Tzotzil Indians, neighbors and even family members of those who were killed, or more especifically, that 40 of the them were evangelical Christians, who insisted that they were not only innocent, but had alibis for that day. Because of the horrible nature of the crime, and the war of continuous propaganda the Zapatistas have waged using it, very little attention has been paid to the plight of the 40 or so innocent evangelicals. There have been those faithful few ministries and brothers in Christ who have stood by our brothers and their families...but I repeat... a few. Mention these brothers in Chiapas, where it makes anyone feel uncomfortable, or around Mexico where it is more likely to be ignored... and you begin to feel as if the Body of Christ is embarassed and ashamed to acknowledge these men as brothers, or their families as ours. It is sad enough to recognize that the State and Federal Mexican governments were somehow involved in, and covered up what happened that awful day. It is shameful that the advocates for liberation theology and Zapatismo have manipulated their religion or political philosophy to maintain hatred and an atmosphere of tension alive after 11 years, but that is nothing...compared to the shame of the Body of Christ leaving these prisoners and their families uncared for, forgotten, or ignored...because they make us feel uncomfortable. Spiritually and physically abandoned for lack of funds, time, and or love. Let these brothers know that God has not turned His back on them... that the Body of Christ does care about their welfare, and that of the families who been left behind for 11 years now. Pray for them and their families, and then DO something! Send a postcard to a prisoner! to his family! Send an email to President Calderon of Mexico telling him, "Christians do concern themselves for these people"! Be polite, Pray for him and for wisdom in his office. Send an offering for their needs, or travel expenses for a spiritual advisor. BUT DO SOMETHING! ************************************************************************************* Matthew 25: 40 Judgement of the Gentile Nations: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, inasmuch as you have done it onto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church: November 9th, 2008

Highlands' Vacation Spot? Peaceful Mountain Getaway? or Idyllic Mountain Site? Howabout: Site of Horrendous & Savage Massacre? or, How many Victims after the passing of 11 years? Believe it or not, this rather gorgeous piece of God's earth was witness to one of the worst incidents of mass murders in the modern history of Mexico. And, is one of the most complicated and outrageous cases for the mishandling of information and evidence both before and after the fact. It's called the Acteal Massacre, or La Matanza en Acteal. On January 1, 1994, Indian rebels in the southern state of Chiapas, in what is called the Zapatista Movement (EZLN), and under the leadership of Subcommandante Marcos (a non-Indian) burst with force onto the Mexican scene, and practically toppled the economics of the country in one fell blow! Several years later, after having invaded and confiscated federal and privately owned lands, even of fellow tribesmen, in their "attempt to better the condition of the Indian peoples in Chiapas", skirmishes were still common between the rebel forces, the federal army, and paramilitary groups that had formed, to protect their own communities or political party interests. Evangelical believers were caught in the middle and were unwanted, for being the minority, and for not agreeing with the marxist anarchists manner of achieving their goals. Ambushes were common between the groups, with evangelicals often being targeted. In spite of all the testimony of what actually occurred by the survivors of the savage, frenzied attack that left 45 dead, principally women and children, on December 22nd, 1997, the evidence does not square up with the several versions that have been suggested by survivors, the rebels or by the government. The case was so badly mismanaged from the start from both a forensic and judicial viewpoint, that the result was 90+ Tzotzil Indians rounded up by the PGR, indiscriminately for questioning, pre-emportorily detained, accused and sentenced , even though most did not speak Spanish, many had alibis, and through the years the evidence has not clearly substantiated their guilt... The rebels ,who have gained a cause celebre in unlimited (foreign) support producing propaganda for the massacre of what was supposedly a pacifist group of Indian simpathizers, the liberation theology advocate who maintains his people agitated instead of preaching Christ's gospel of love and forgiveness leading to healing, and the state and federal governments have made the 40 or so evangelical prisoners who profess their innocence into "political prisoners" and scapegoats for whoever is actually responsable for the massacre. At least 18 of the imprisoned who were paramilitaries, confessed proudly that they partiicipated for revenge. Our brothers in Christ have lost 11 years of ther lives so far, and will have to serve another 15 years, if justice is not attained for them, and the families they left behind. Please pray for all those who were victimized by the massacre: the survivors, the falsely accused, and their families left behind. Matthew 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake, for they shall be satisfied!

2nd Chronicles 7:14: Escalating Drug Cartel Violence in Mexico

A young man on Godtube very innocently asked me how things are in Mexico. Since he is Catholic, we have discussed, sometimes heatedly, the cases of religious intolerance and persecution here in Mexico, which are normally, sad to say, Catholic against Evangelical/non-Catholic. I'll leave my response intact... my concerns and observations about the seriousness of the situation here, after 20 years being part of Mexico, are not an exaggeration... I tend to understate the situation. Please, as Mexico is celebrating her Patriot Days... September 14th,15th Independence Day... keep her and her people in prayer. "Dear Kyle...nice to hear from you...We of The Voice of the Martyrs in Mexico specifically encourage those who are being persecuted for being evangelicals, by the majority who would be what they call here traditional Catholics... it would be more accurate to say tribal Catholicism because of the mixture of pagan Indian culture and rites blended with the basics of Catholicism. I taught catechism for years so I can tell you it's a type that wouldn't seem too familiar to you. The archbishops in Chiapas are focusing ,by orders of Pope Benedict, on re-evangelizing the Indians, and calling for them to reason on a more civilized level in dealing with justice/punishment and those who choose to worship in a different Christian church. They really have to, because the rest of the evangelical world is drawing the federal government's attention to the religious injustice that happens here and the RC Church has come under attack for not doing more to correct and teach her people. I'm very sorry to say that the antagonism here in Latin America between Catholic and non- Catholic is rampant and very aggressive. The Voice of the Martyrs is interdenominational, and ministers that you must love and forgive others who hate you, as Jesus did. It's not a very popular part of the gospel to preach...and the Mexicans tell me it can't be done...I tell them we have no choice...we will be and are forgiven to the extent that we are willing to forgive others...that's what the Our Father's Prayer says right? As for how things are in Mexico right now, it's pretty bad...we are in the middle of a very violent war of opposing drug (narcos) traffickers ... the state I live in is one of the worst...people step back out of "respect" (that means a healthy fear) when I say I'm from Sinaloa...Our narcos were "fairly" civil... but are in a war with several other bands, principally backed by the Zetas( former military personel trained by US special forces in the fight against the drug cartels...) who especially like to torture and decapitate their victims. I live outside of ... yesterday there was a major shoot out on the principal highway, from which one of our pastors,only for the grace of God , escaped after witnessing a young man murdered before his eyes...There were helicopters, police, the army... big show. Two young men from my neighborhood were kidnapped(snatched/levantados) by an armed group outside of town Thursday, and were found decapitated along with 2 others not yet identified. They were our neighbors when we first moved here... little kids. Died at 21 and 26 years of age... a few of many in the past few months in Mexico who have been eliminated by one or other rival cartel. I'll go this afternoon to the wake... I can't imagine how their mother will survive this. It makes me sick and angry! We had a shoot out here in front of my house,last weekend... 11pm... I was chatting with my neighbor... one shot rang out... we didn't move. We're used to hearing it. At the 2nd, she shouted run for cover... and I tried to get in my daughters's house downstairs... so as not to draw attention to those shooting on the corner. I figured they were coming our way since the house in front of us is a local major drug supplier. Well, my son-in-law had already locked the door and gone to bed... At the 3rd shot.. .I hit the floor on the porch and kept on banging on the door for him to open the OOPS door. He almost died when he opened it and found me on the floor.. .he automatically went on hands and knees to grab his 3 year old son, and I went looking for my daughter... who was crying in the shower outside, because she got trapped in the patio when she heard the shooting... and then somebody jump over the wall with the police hot after them. We sat in the corner for awhile, until the police gave us word it was safe to come out. Had nothing to do with the narcos in front... was some guys smoking marijuana on top of one of the roofs, who took a pot (pun intended) shot at the cops... since dozens of cops have been tortured and killed in the last few months , they shot back... and I don't blame them. Everyone is responsable for what has been developing here for decades... My best advice is to start with: 2nd Chronicles 7:14 and go on from there... REPENT: one by one, NO ONE LEFT OUT... Silent protests don't work... tolerance and minding your own business don't work... It's repentance and changed hearts that are needed... Sorry to hit you so hard ... you happened to be the first that I was able to express my feelings with... Love in Christ, Linda in Mexico PS... This morning as I was getting ready to go and minister in the prison, I found in headlines on the front page an article about the decapitated head of a 30 year old policeman being left in front of the prison... he was "picked up" by a group of armed men at 11pm, and killed shortly afterwards... It's now more dangerous here than in Iraq. In two weeks there have been 24 assasinated in mass in Mexico City, 13 decapitated in Yucatan, 13 more decapitated in Chihuahua, 5 in Mazatlan, 5 in Michoacan, and an uncountable number of law "enforcement" officers liquidated... Pray for Mexico and it's people... 2nd Chronicles 7:14: IF MY PEOPLE, WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY, AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND I WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.

My Kind of "Kids"

These ARE my kind of kids! They were invited

guests at the second "Blessings Fiesta" in

Ocosingo, Chiapas for The Voice of the Martyrs

in 2006. Over 750 assorted children attended

from the host church, Casa de Oracion:Refugio de Esperanza (House of Prayer: Refuge of Hope)...

representing the church itself and it's 12o missions, with 12 Indian communities invited, and the 70 +/- children from the Kids at Risk Hope group. We later took small gifts for 250 children of the 80 evangelical Tztotzil Indians who were sentenced to 26 years for the Acteal Massacre in 1997...most of them innocent. The women and children in the blog title picture are also family members of the Acteal prisoners group. They are also MY type of people... And then shall the King say to them on His right hand,

"Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a

stranger, and you took Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison and you came unto Me...Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me..." Praise the Lord, with one fiesta in a small southern Mexican town, the Lord allowed US to be blessed in being able to share His love with these children, and their parents, who have suffered much in following in the footsteps of Jesus... He also considers each one of them to be HIS kind of people too! Check it out yourself:

Am I My Brothers' Keeper? Matthew 25: Judgement of the Gentile Nations