What if There Were a True Cost of Discipleship?

Back in 2011, we drove to the village of Tabaa with our three youngest kids and our (then) new recording technicians, Diego and Luz.  Diego and Luz had dubbed the Jesus Film in this variant of Zapotec, and we accompanied them to show the movie and also to deliver some audio Bibles to the folks out there.

That trip was memorable in several ways, not the least of which was the fact that our Suburban chose that day to develop a fuel leak.  We smelled gasoline all the way out to the village, but once we arrived, the remaining fluids drained themselves from the vehicle, displaying an undeniable problem.  We spent the night on sleeping bags on the church floor, eventually returning to Mitla on a chicken bus.

The believers in Tabaa impressed me with their devotion to Jesus and their willingness to sacrifice in order to follow the Lord.  Back then the town officials were levying a fine equivalent to a year’s salary (for some of the folks) just for joining the evangelical church.  What amazed me was the fact that people were actually paying it.  Somehow I can’t imagine American Christians putting up with such a thing.  Many would forsake the Lord if it cost that much.

This past week we revisited Tabaa in order to get the current phone number of the pastor.  That is a whole other story in itself how we ended up essentially touring the entire Villa Alta region of Oaxaca taking a “short cut” from one village to the next along unpaved unmarked roads.  In all, we drove over eight hours covering very few miles, but in the end, we succeeded in getting the pastor’s phone number.  It turns out that the pastor’s father is close to heaven’s gates, and many family members were gathered to say their final farewell.  With that little situation, we departed and returned to Mitla the same day, having gleaned a bit of new information.

Sadly the church members in Tabaa are still under the town rule that requires them to pay the huge fee for joining the church.  Already fifteen families have paid the $30,000 pesos in the past seven years, bringing the church membership up to 40 families.  Soon we will return with audio Bibles for the new families, but in the meantime, we have taught the pastor to use the Bible app on his phone to read and listen to the scriptures in his own language.  Others can download the audio Bible onto their phones, too.  That is the good news.

Then again maybe all of our towns should grow "richer" when Christ's church grows stronger?  I would take comfort in this if it weren't for my skepticism that town leaders are not often known for their integrity.  

• Pray against corruption at every level of government in Mexico.  
• Pray that townspeople would notice a true heart change in the new believers.  
• Pray that many more would risk losing their financial gain in order to walk openly with Jesus.  
• Pray that new disciples would find great joy and peace in their sacrifice. 

Pray for the believers in Tabaa

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  

 John 8:31-32 ESV

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The Problem of Persecution

Persecution is a topic you may never have seen me mention in print - certainly never online.  Hopefully, it won't come back and bite me, but I think it is time to bring it to light.  We need to pray for our brothers and sisters right here in Mexico who are being threatened, tortured, and deprived of water, electricity, and economic gain just because they call themselves evangelical Christians.

In one Zapotec village, for instance, the town authorities levied a tax equivalent to one year of income to anyone who leaves the Catholic church to join the evangelical church in town.  Yet still, people take this risk, pay the fine, and align themselves with the less popular church in town.  (Without mentioning the name of the town, I can verify that we took our family there in 2011, and received this report directly from the local pastor.)

More recently (last month), I met this precious Zapotec saint in the photo, who told me her testimony of personal suffering and unbelievable persecution when she became a true Jesus follower in a different village many years ago.  She was thrown into a dark prison-type cell with several other believers, all women, and deprived of food, water, and bathroom facilities for two days.

Anyone caught trying to smuggle them so much as a glass of water was likewise thrown into the tiny cell.  All were threatened with hanging from a nearby tree if they did not renounce their "new" religion.  None did.  The second morning the local authorities set them free.

When I translated this story to our visiting short-term team, they could not understand how this still occurs on a regular basis throughout rural regions of Oaxaca.

Whenever we have mentioned situations like this one, people inevitably ask who are the perpetrators.  We hesitate to tell the truth, that usually they are the Catholics who initiate the persecution of the believers in any given village.  We are always quick to add that these Catholics are not like our sweet Catholic friends north of the border who fully embrace religious tolerance for those of other faiths.

No, these folks are what some refer to as "traditionalist Catholics."  Their religion is a mix of traditional animistic beliefs with the outer trappings of the Catholic church added to it, and they are not tolerant of any who do not participate in their festivals and drunken celebrations.  According to an article I just read, these traditionalist Catholics "invoke Mexico's Law of Uses and Customs - designed to protect the rights of indigenous communities to practice native rites- to force their practices on people of minority faiths."

Religious persecution is not tolerated in Mexico, at least not officially, yet we could give many accounts of believers who have been threatened, run out of town, had their water and electric supply cut off, thrown in prison, and shot or hung.  There are families who were exiled from their villages along with their whole church, whose children cannot enter public schools because their documents were destroyed, and they have no proof of prior schooling.  We know of others whose crops were destroyed, whose homes and churches were burned, and whose husbands were killed.  To our American ears, it seems beyond belief that these things can occur just south of our own border.

If you have ever traveled with us to some of these villages, you understand how remote they are.  Think of it like the Wild West, where local authorities could not always keep a rowdy bunch under control when the "big guns" were too far away to provide additional support.  Like the Wild West, many villages still have limited, if any, phone service to the larger cities, and lawmen from the cities have little desire to travel so many hard dusty miles on unpaved rutted roads to aid those who are being persecuted.

Jim and I make a policy of tip-toeing around the issues of persecution, not wanting to draw attention to the problem for fear of stirring up more trouble, and not wanting to put our host country in a bad light. However, I wonder if we aren't doing a disservice not to mention it since our fellow believers do need prayer.  Native missionaries and pastors desperately need prayer covering as they boldly (or tentatively) go into areas where the locals are very resistant to the gospel and fearful of outsiders.

Forgive me for stereotyping, but it seems most Americans prefer to phone their congressmen when they hear of human rights violations.  Calling in the big guns is our favorite mode of operation.  Please resist the urge.  The best thing you can do is to take this information and add it to your prayer list.  It is a spiritual battle for the souls of men.  Call on the REALLY big guns in the heavenlies, and let's wait to see things change in the remote villages of Oaxaca.

Far Beyond the Sun

On Monday Jim, Debbie, and I drove a friend to a Zapotec village not too far from here to pay our respects to a young pastor who had lost his 27-year-old wife after a 3-week battle against leukemia.  It was heart-rending to see the evident suffering on the face of this faithful servant who has already lost so many earthly belongings for the sake of the gospel.

Hugo has been beaten, thrown in jail, run out of town, and had his home and church burned along with the 15 or more homes of other church members.  Now he is left to raise three small children and to continue ministering among those who have wronged him, without his beloved wife at his side.

Only recently he and his family moved back to the village to rebuild their home.  A few months ago Jim shared a meal with Hugo's family in his parents' home, in the very room where his wife's coffin rested before being carried to the cemetery on the hill behind their unfinished home.

What grabbed my heart more than anything else was the way the formerly exiled believers were openly worshiping the Lord at the memorial service, singing of their hope of heaven, where their sister, Ruth, is now in glory with her Savior.  They sang about their trials on this earth and how they lack riches, but how Jesus had compassion for the poor, and has prepared a mansion for them in glory.  Then they sang "When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!" with gusto.

One positive result of this tragedy is that not only were the believers openly singing of heaven, but that the gospel was preached clearly to all the many nonbelievers who attended the service.  May the suffering of this dear servant of the Lord lead to many coming to Christ in his home town.  May the persecutors, like the Apostle Paul, find forgiveness and salvation.


This rendition of "Far Beyond the Sun" is not quite the way it was sung on Monday, but it gives you an idea.  "Home, beautiful home, far beyond the sun...."