Missionaries Face Violence

I received a message (below) from a missionary to Mexico a few days ago. I am withholding his identity, and I am not publishing the pictures he sent for the same reason.

I don't know Nancy Davis, but I've "shook & howdied" with the man who wrote this, and I believe we share common convictions about Biblical principles as they apply to the socio-political scene. May God protect him and all who are laboring for Christ's kingdom in Mexico.

Many of you have written me the past few days about the tragic shooting of Nancy Davis, a missionary to Mexico. The truth is, the situation we live here is drastically different from our prior years. The irony of the Nancy Davis tragedy is that she and her husband were traveling on the major federal highway to the border. We have traveled it many times. This major artery was blocked by armed bandits. No one in the US would ever have known of it were it not for Nancy's tragic death. But it was there! A bold action by dangerous thugs. 

In a similar way, all kinds of things like that happen here with regularity in the [name of city deleted] area. I have often thought of mentioning them, but thought the hetter of it since I had no photos of them. Just for an example, as I sat down to write, and I say this with all seriousness, there was a tremendousmachine gun battle going on. [names deleted] and I stood by the back door and listened to the chaos some 4 or 5 blocks away. Will it make the news in the US? No. Probably won't make it on the news here, either, because the reporters would fear for their lives. But did it happen. Indeed it did. 

I have included two photos that require a little explanation. The photos are of a police sub-station a few blocks from our house. Many of you may remember it if you ever came here on a mission trip. However, there are two differences. In the first picture, you can see two new turrets that have been added and that are "staffed" by machine gun toting police. The reason for the addition of these turrets is that these substations are frequently attacked by the "narcos." I could hope that they are attacked because they represent the threat of justice to the narcos, but, sadly, my guess is that they are attacked because they are "in" with the other side.

The second picture shows the same station but a little different angle. The police have sandbagged the entrance like a WWII bunker.

I include these photos simply as a reminder to you of the very out of control violent situation that presents itself here on a regular basis. Please pray for our safety!