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Mexico

• Evangelical Villagers Expelled

  Image of Huichol Christian from Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Fresnillo, Zacatecas

  Evangelical Huichol Christians are being forced to flee their homes in the village of Agua Fria, near Mezquitic in the Mexican state of Jalisco, after refusing to take part in some of the activities being labelled "traditional rites," including drinking liquor and using the hallucinogenic peyote.  According to an August 31 report from Compass Direct, community leaders have told the evangelicals that they are free to return if they are willing to participate in the activities.

  Mezquitic authorities consider the issue a land dispute.  They maintain that the Huichol community rules require participation in the native rites in order to remain in the community.  The first seventy refugees left on August 14, walking twenty hours across the state border into Tepic, Nayarit.  They left with a single change of clothing and were forced to abandon land, crops, homes and personal possessions.  The total number of refugees is expected to reach 300.  They come from Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist and Apostolic churches.

  According to reports in the La Jornada newspaper, the evangelicals fear that they will be burned alive, particularly in the context of an incident last February when the home of Hermelinda Vazquez de la Cruz was set on fire.  She managed to escape, but is now confined to a walker because of the severe burns.  The refugees are being temporarily housed in the Seventh Apostolic Church of Tepic.

  Pray for safety for those living under threat.  Pray for provisions for those forced to leave and pray that they will be allowed to return to their homes.

  For more information on the difficulties facing Christians in areas of Mexico,click here.

• Evangelicals Unable to Bury Their Dead

  When Alberto Iturbe died at the age of thirty-eight, his family began plans for his burial which, by law, had to take place within twenty-four hours.  However the family encountered one barrier after another as every authority refused them the right to bury their loved one because he was not a member of the traditional Catholic Church.

  According to a June 15 report from Compass Direct, the Iturbe family lives in a mostly indigenous colony in the city of Puebla, the capital of Puebla state.  Burials have been under the control of the secular Mexican government since 1859, but recent changes have given indigenous communities the right to invoke "use and custom" over regular civil laws.  The Iturbe family appealed to the municipal president, the local Catholic priest and finally to the local district attorney.  Everyone turned down their request for burial.  They were finally forced to use cremation.

  Although Mexico has freedom of conscience and religion, local authorities have frequently imposed upon the freedoms of evangelicals.  As a result of this situation, evangelical leaders in the state are pressing for a change in the new law for indigenous communities.

  Pray for the Iturbe family as they face their grief along with these difficulties.  Pray for Christians in various communities in Mexico who are facing similar pressures from local authorities.

  For more information on the difficulties facing Christians in Mexico,click here.

• Mexican Evangelicals Face Arrests and Possible Expulsion

  Ever since 1997 when the Fountain of Heaven Church was started in Cuateceometl, Hidalgo, Mexico, members of the church have spent short periods in jail because local authorities who are opposed to the presence of any non-Catholic church.  According to Compass Direct, the pressure against the Fountain of Heaven Church recently increased as the town council decided to rid the area of all non-Catholics.  Pastor Francisco Sanchez Gonzalez reports that the council imposed a fine of 1000 pesos (approximately $115 CDN) on every member of the church and informed them that they must renounce their evangelical faith.  If they do not comply by the end of May, their homes and church building will be destroyed.  On May 15, police arrived at the church and arrested Pastor Gonzalez and another church member, Raul Bautista.  Pastor Gonzalez was released that evening but Bautista was not released until the 1000 peso fine was paid for by a relative.

  Government authorities have said they will intervene before May 31.  Pray that this intervention will happen and that these believers will be free to worship in peace.  Pray for the continued outreach of this church in Cuateceometl, the only non-Catholic congregation in the region.

  For more information on the persecution facing Christians in areas of Mexico,click here.

• Christian Implicated In Fight; Faces Imprisonment

  Literacy work with the Zapotec Indians is an on-going endeavour.  In January 2003, the translation of the New Testament was completed by SIL. To see an example of the Zaptec language and listen to the Lord's Prayer, click here. (Picture from Bethany Bible Fellowship)

  Sources for The Voice of the Martyrs in Mexico have asked for prayer for Macario, a Zapotec Indian in Oaxaca State. He was in court on May 31 for supposedly being involved in a brawl where a man lost his eye. He is facing nine years in prison. According to sources in the village, one of his companions was actually involved in the fight and not Macario.

  In the last few years, Macario has befriended and was directly involved in bringing Christian foreigners into this village which was previously closed to any foreigners. He has even gone so far as renting his home to them. The foreigners have been in the process of learning the Zapotec language and beginning the process of putting the language into a written format and developing literacy materials.

  Christians in the village state that Macario has been implicated because he brought these foreigners into the village. Their presence is seen as a threat to the religion of the area. If he is imprisoned, it is very possible that this would mean the end of their work among the Zapotec.

  Please pray for Macario and the work of the Lord among Zapotec Indians. For more information about the situation facing Christians in Mexico,click here.

  The Lord's Prayer Isthmus Zapotec 

  9 Peru laatu la? sicarí nga lainí' né Dios:
  Bixhoze du ni nuu ibá',
  rinaba du gusisaca irá binni lii.
  Ne idxiña dxi guni mandar lu'
  10 ne gaca ni na lu'.
  Cásica raca ni ibá',
  zaqueca gaca ni ndaani guidxilayú.
  11 Dané laadu endaró tidi né du dxi.
  12 Bisiaanda ni ruché' né du lii,
  casi rusia'nda du ni ruchee né cabe laadu.
  13 Ne cadi udiiu lugar cuba yu binidxaba laadu,
  sínuque bilá laadu de lu ná be.
  Purti lii nga jma nandxó' lo'
  ne jma risaca lu que irá xixé,
  ne qué ziuu dxi guiaana dxí lu de guni mandar lu'.
  Amén.

  From SIL Mexico

  Click Here to Listen

• Evangelicals Ordered to Leave Town

  Pictures are members of the evangelical families expelled from Santa Catarina.

  According to a March 8 report from Compass Direct, eighteen families from the indigenous Huichol tribe, consisting of more than eighty adults and children, have been threatened with expulsion from a second community in less than two years because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

  The story of these families began in 1988, when a small group of converts from Santa Catarina began construction of a church building. Because of their faith, believers of all ages faced prison and torture, from seniors to a six-month-old baby. In August 2002, they were expelled from their ancestral community. Leaving all of their belongings, they sought refuge in Tenzompa, more than four hours away. In December 2003, they sought the right to own land for the building of homes and planting of crops. This request was denied and, to prevent any further requests, an order to expel them has been issued. This order of expulsion is to take effect at the end of this school year.

  According to Adolfo Garcia, who has been helping to defend their case, what is particularly unusual is that the expulsion order was not signed by the elders from Tenzompa, but by elders from their original homeland of Santa Catarina, making the expulsion order illegal.

  Pray that God will intervene in this situation and that these believers will be free to live in peace. Pray that this expulsion order will not be carried out. Pray for the work of Garcia and others working to help these poor Christians

  For more information on the plight facing Christians in areas of Mexico,click here.

• Evangelical Pastor Assassinated

  Mariano Díaz Méndez, 38, a minister of the Tzotzil Evangelical Church, was assassinated on October 24 near the town of San Juan Chamula in Mexico's troubled southern state of Chiapas.According to an October 28 report from Compass Direct, Méndez was near the village of Botatulán, on his way to a prayer service, when heavily armed men stopped his automobile around 3:00 p.m.

  According to witnesses, Méndez left his vehicle, attempting to evade his attackers, when they shot him to death with an AK-47 assault rifle. Mariano Díaz Méndez is survived by his wife, the former María Pérez Gómez, and a daughter, Rosa.

  

  Méndez is the second evangelical pastor to die in the past two weeks. On October 17, Jairo Solís López was killed in the municipality of Mapastepec. The circumstances surrounding Solís's death are unclear, but sources fear that this is a resurgence of persecution against evangelicals by local caciques, or powerful community chieftains. Caciques practice "traditionalist" religion, a semi-pagan mix of Roman Catholic beliefs and ancient Mayan religion. Over the past thirty years, scores of evangelicals have died and hundreds injured. About 35,000 live in ghettos around the district capital of San Cristóbal de las Casas, having been forced to leave their homes by caciques. Recently cacaques had issued threats in San Juan Chamula, saying that the evangelical leaders would fall one by one.

  Pray for divine protection for Christians living in this troubled area of Mexico. Pray that the authorities will provide protection and will be willing to prosecute those responsible for these crimes. Pray for Méndez's wife and daughter, as they grieve this terrible loss.

  
   

• Bishop Calls For End of Violence Against Evangelicals

  Earlier this month, the Catholic bishop of San Christobal de las Casas in Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas called on "traditionalist" Catholics to end their persecution of evangelical Christians. According to a report from Open Doors, Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel asked that there be no more "destruction nor house-burnings, nor skirmishes, nor the shedding of blood due to religious, political, cultural or economic differences."

  For many years, evangelical Christians in Chiapas have faced severe opposition. Despite this pressure, evangelical Christianity has continued to rapidly grow, now reaching thirty-five percent of the state's population.

  Pray that the words of the bishop will be heeded and that the persecution of evangelicals will cease. Pray for the continued spread of the Gospel in this troubled region of Mexico.