So what do you do when you’re in a mostly Christian village and the local witch is causing chaos?
The answer: Call a town prayer meeting!
Download a PDF of this June, 2015 Newsletter
We just had the opportunity to bless the community of Tzanembolom. You can visit this Tzotzil village by taking a long drive on rough roads in the County of San Pedro Chenalhó, Chiapas, Mexico.
There are as few as 377 habitats in this village. Only 20% of them can read or write.
The good news is that 80% of the community is Christian and 2/3rds of the Christians are part of our ministries church.
The Persecuted Church
But the community is no stranger to persecution and suffering.
On Oct 15, 1997 the Zapatistas entered Tzanembolom and began to cut up Indian residents with their machetes.
Diego Rodriguez was strung up to a post and prepared to be killed. However, while his friends were being massacred he managed to escape with his life. Read more in this article I wrote in December of 2008.
A few years after Diego’s friends were killed at the stake he became pastor of the village church.
Attacks continued a short time ago when the town witch began a war against the Christians.
Pastor Diego was the primary target. He became deathly sick. The doctors couldn’t provide any explanation for his sickness. Pastor Diego told us that the witches had placed a curse on him and then he asked us to come in and pray.
Praise God, when we prayed for him he was set free and is now healthy.
But the opposition hasn’t given up.
The witch thought he was invincible and believed that he could do whatever he wanted in the community.
He passed the line when he cut down a large protected tree on public community property. The tree was so valuable that it was protected with large consequences… A 5000 peso fine (About 370 dollars).
$370 may not seem that large to you and I, but when you consider the minimum wage in Chenalho is 65 pesos a day ($4.37 US Dollar) it would take 76 days work to pay the fine. However 45% of the economically active population earn less than the monthly minimum wage. Economical problems are compounded because 16% of workers in Chenalho do not earn an income and in Tzanembolom most of the inhabitants simply barter and use crops or livestock for trade.
Because of his pride the witch opted not to pay the fine, so the local leaders put him in jail. In classic outlaw style, the witches daughter entered the jail during the night with a hacksaw and broke him out.
The leaders didn’t know what else to do but with some help from higher civil authorities were finally able to make him move to another rural area nearby.
However, the witch continued to cause chaos….
What Godly Communities Do When Faced with Opposition:
Pastor Diego called us up and said,
¨When we have had problems in the past we would come together in unity and pray. Would you come and pray for the town with us?¨
I was honored as they actually waited on me to arrive in Mexico to call the community prayer meeting.
One of Pastor Diego”s preachers is now the leader in the village.
He asked everyone come together in the public meeting place which also serves as a school.
Pastor Jorge preached and I prayed the Abrahamic blessing (Gen 12:2-3) and the priestly blessing (Num 6:22-27 ) over the community.
Im sure we’ll be able to follow-up this article with a praise report of how God has delivered this persecuted, but faithful community through prayer.
Below are more pictures of the town prayer meeting.