On Friday I am driving down to El Paso, Texas, where I will wait for my friends to pick me up and we will cross th border into Juarez. It is a “normal” visit for me I suppose. There will be music and time with friends and leaders I have been working with now for several years. However, Juarez has been suffering greatly with drug violence, and though I do not expect it to effect any logistics, it has certainly effected the lives of my friends with Dios Con Nosotros, as they are forced to stay in their homes almost constantly. I will post an entry reporting on how the trip went, but here is a recent note from Claudia, one of my friends in Juarez:
Our city has now become a place where people are not comfortable spending much time outside their homes if its not for school or work. Many public venues have suffered economic loss due to the decreased numbers of people assisting to shows, the movies, restaurants etc. Sadly, some people have grown insensitive to the issue and have become used to the news of 10 people being shot or appearing dead every day.
We need to come together to pray. Several prayer campaigns have been launched in the city to exhort people to pray. However, they are all sponsored and sustained by this one congregation or the other. And it becomes the effort of that congregation.
We want to launch a faceless campaign. No names, no congregation behind it. Just the message of praying. We want to invite everyone who will dare to do something for the city to pray. We want to pray these verse over Ciudad Juarez three times a day, at 6 am, 12 pm and 6 pm.
Numbers 6:24-26
24 The LORD bless you, and keep you;
25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’
27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”
We want God to manifest Himself in Juarez, we want him to shine his face upon us, we want Him to grant us peace. We believe that he is real, and we believe that what is impossible for us is possible for him. The local authorities are useless, as matter of fact many of the murdered are policemen and people in power.
