Attack on All Saints Sunday

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.   Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Mathew 5:11-12 (ESV)

These words from the Gospel appointed for All Saints Day proved particularly significant for us on November 6, the Sunday after All Saints Day. We knew that our building project would attract attention, perhaps not all of it welcome. Many people wondered where the money for the construction came from, and we explained to all that we had received donations from individuals, congregations and societies interested in the growth of our mission. Nevertheless, we knew there was the risk of a robbery attempt as there would be those who would not understand that the funds for the building did not come from a stash of cash under our mattress. But we were not prepared for the brutality and malevolence of what occurred.

Before sunrise, five men armed with pistols and knives forced their way into our home. First they threw poisoned chicken over the wall to kill our dogs (our remaining cat ate of the poisoned meat and died, too). I felt worse about this later when we learned they poisoned all the dogs on our block to eliminate any alarms. It soon became clear that we were not the random target of desperate people seeking money. Several times they threatened to torture me (by cutting off my fingers and toes) and kill me. Ostensibly they wanted to know where I kept my stash of U.S. dollars (which does not exist). But underlying that motive was a desire to intimidate and humiliate me on a personal level. After they had gathered all the money and items of value that we had in the house, they bound, gagged and blindfolded me. Before they left, at least one of them urinated on my alb. Based on these actions and many of their remarks, I have to say that this was not simply a robbery, but an expression of hatred and contempt for our mission and what it represents.

Where does this hatred and contempt come from? One could talk about the current political and economic situation: the shortages of food and medicine, the skyrocketing inflation, and the rising level of street crime. You could seek to explain the proximate causes of these things. But something more underlies this opposition to our efforts to help people and offer them the hope of eternal life in Christ.

Our Lord warns His discipĺes thus in John 15:18-22, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.  But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.   If I had not come and spoken to them,  they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin." 

St. Paul exorcised a slave girl possessed by an unclean spirit, and that angered her owners because they profited from her as a medium or "channeler" (Acts 16). The silversmiths of Athens  staged a riot against St. Paul, because he preached that it was no use praying to silver figurines and that threatened their business (Acts 19). Here in Venezuela there are those who profit from the growing social disorder and the spiritual darkness. We tell young people that there is a better future for them than lives of drug abuse, sexual promiscuity and petty crime. There are those who would rather see them enslaved by those things.

Thanks be to God that, although we lost some material possessions, we now are safe and sound (although now we are taking additional measures to secure our home). When I first arrived in La Caramuca, there was no fence enclosing the property. Now we are talking about installing a security camera system and an electrical fence around the perimeter of the property. We are concerned not only for our own safety, but also the safety of those who seek shelter with us.

The Gospel reading above offers Christians comfort in the face of persecution, "for your reward is great in heaven." Later that afternoon we observed All Saints Day in the Divine Service. I had a gun pointed to my head and was asked, “Are you prepared to die?” By the grace of God I was able to answer, “Yes”. For that reason, our epistle lesson, Revelation 7:2-17, also resonated with me. “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”.

Wild, wild west

The west is still wild in Venezuela. Luz Maria was robbed at gunpoint while traveling back to Barinas to deal with some personal business.

She assured me when she left that she would be okay traveling by herself because she has in the past traveled alone across the country many times. However, this time somewhere on the highway between Caracas and Barinas robbers stopped the bus and took everyone's valuables. They struck some people with the stocks of their guns, but not Luz Maria. She also did not lose all of her possessions because she hid her shoulderbag under the seat and the robbers did not find it. They took her watch and 10,000 bolivares (about $5) that she was carrying in her pocket.

She was so shaken by the experience that when she arrived in Barinas, a doctor prescribed some sedatives to help calm her down.

The issue that I have to face now is that she probably would have been in more danger if I had been with her. As a North American I am more of a target for thieves because the general perception is that North Americans have a lot more money and other valuables than Venezuelans. This attitude, of course, has much justification. In fact I have been carrying a laptop computer and digital camera with me everywhere I go and, aside from the issue of personal safety, I could not easily afford to replace this equipment.

Luz Maria has asked me to travel by airplane rather than by bus the next time I go to Barinas. This would be one solution to the security problem although it is, of course, much more costly to travel by air and you don't get to see as much of the country. I now have to decide whether the advantages of traveling by bus are worth the risks, especially going west from Caracas.

It seems there is more danger in western Venezuela than here in the east, although I couldn't tell you exactly why. One theory is because of longstanding conflicts between Venezuela and Colombia, lawlessness increases the closer you get to the western border.

Last week, before this incident, we took a pleasant trip together on the bus to San Antonio de Maturin, a lovely town up in the mountains north of Maturin, with houses and streets in the Spanish colonial style. The members of la Iglesia Luterana El Redentor (Redeemer Lutheran Church) in San Antonio had heard of the success of the vacation Bible schools in Quebrada Seca and Rio Chiquito, and decided they wanted organize their own vacation Bible school. So Luz Maria took some of the educational materials left by the volunteers from Minnesota who helped with VBS last month and gave them to one of the women in San Antonio.

On September 3, Miguelangel Pérez, a deacon from Cristo es Amor Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto traveled with Luz Maria and I to Quebrada Seca. He enjoyed himself a great deal, both from sharing the Gospel with the people there and being able to talk with us about a lot of things on his mind.

The church in Barquisimeto is a focal point for the current leadership crisis in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela. Miguelangel confirmed what I had already heard: Sunday morning attendance at Cristo es Amor has slid from about 80 people per week to about 15. He also told the rural missions in Carora and El Onzo that I visited in April 2003 have been closed because the Barquisimeto church is no longer able to support them. The reason for all of this is the current pastor has taken sosme controversial positions and actions that many people in the church do not agree with.