Dear Friends,
It is somewhat difficult to appreciate the relative safety within
which we live, until confronted with the savage danger that oppresses
those of another place. Sometimes that danger can present itself through such a reckless and murderous act, that even a place accustomed to violence can be shaken to it's core. And shaken is how the village seemed on our arrival two weeks ago.
Generally we don't feel directly threatened by violence in the village; we are foreigners, we're uninvolved and detached from the darker dealings, and we're seen as good people. But as the details of what happened to Greg and his family (name changed) were told to us by various folk, the village didn't feel like a comforting place to be. On October 15th in the middle of the night, four men go to Greg's house armed with AK-47's. They know exactly where he and his family sleep, and they begin shooting wildly through the thin wooden doors of the sleeping quarters. These men leave and when the dust settles, the family shakily emerges and begins to assess the damage. The 32-year-old son is hit in the stomach. The bullet went in one side and blew out his intestines. Miraculously no one else is hit. The son dies 4 hours later.
We went to visit Greg and it was hard to imagine the horror that they had barely survived. He pointed out where they had been sleeping and how close the bullets had come. The doors to the two small houses they sleep in were riddled with bullet holes. Greg has three wives and he has a lot of kids. They had just bought a heap of used clothes and had piled the clothes up just in front of where the younger children sleep. The following morning they found close to twenty bullets buried in the clothing. The pile of clothes somehow saved the lives of his children and had acted as a barrier.
The AK-47 is an assault rifle and the drug trade has proliferated their distribution across Mexico, especially in the Sierra. We hear gunshots in the village periodically and you can't mistake the sinister sound of an AK-47. The attack must have carried on for minutes and must've sounded like a war zone.The whole village seemed to be in fear as it was obvious that this was not an attempt solely on Greg's life, but they had tried to wipe out the whole family, including the women and children.
Apart from Anne Marie, myself, and Barry, no one else had visited Greg.
Sympathy doesn't score very high in the Tepehuan psyche. Most are just
glad it wasn't them. Others talk about it like it was the latest movie and the majority cower and stay away for fear they might be next. I believe Greg was touched by our concern and willingness to sit with him during this difficult time. I mentioned to him that we were praying for him and his family and for their safety, which brought tears to his eyes. The police were not called into the village for fear that the murderers would target whoever was responsible. They did, however, come to keep the law for one of Mexico's biggest celebrations, "day of the dead". Essentially this is a time where people put out food for dead relatives and adorn their gravesites with decorations. The Tepehuan build altars and put out food for the spirits of the dead. It culminates in a festive night where all the men go around eating this food at each house. The police come in to help maintain order. I was sitting with Greg when the police walked by the house, but they never came over and never investigated the murder.
Greg believes the murderers were from the village, but were hiding out
in one of the outer ranches. While he says he knows no reason why they
wanted to kill them all and that he had done nothing to deserve this;
attacks like these aren't usually one-sided stories. The history in some cases can go back hundreds of years.
Friday night we built a fire outside to roast hotdogs. The governor came up to the house and said that Greg had received word that the murderers were planning to attack his house again, and this time wanted to kill them all. He had left the village the day earlier with his sons and now the women and children remained and wanted help escaping. The plan was that I would drive to their house, pick them up, and then leave the village heading towards Durango. Once we got to the gate at the edge of the village, I was to then turn around and head up past our house, and take them an hour down another trail. The idea was that the murderers who were believed to be hiding out and watching Greg's house from the forest, would believe the family had gone to Durango. The problem was that it placed us in an incredibly risky situation. For one, the murderers would find out it was my truck, secondly they would see the lights of the truck going back and forth and not fall for the deception, thirdly, Barry would need to come with me as the return trip alone would be risky. This would leave our wives and kids alone. On the other hand, we couldn't live with ourselves if something bad happened to the family. We suggested that the family make its way to a preplanned destination in the dark and then we would quickly help them out of the village. The governor agreed and said if the family agreed to the plan, he'd come back and get us. He never
came back, but we did find out that the family had left.
Our prayer is that Greg and his family will be safe wherever they are, and that one day they'll be able to return to the village. It was good to know so many are praying for us as we could definitely sense God's protecting hand over us, and God surely protected Greg and his family.
On a lighter note, we enjoyed our time out there with the people and the dental clinic was a great success. The dentist and John and Linda flew into the Milpillas airstrip and Barry drove there to get them. This meant they only had to endure a four hour drive as opposed to the twelve. This was the first time we had run a clinic whilst living out there. It took more planning with regards to food etc, but all went really well.
Overall we saw around 100 people in four days. Most of these were for
fillings which is a change from doing mainly extractions in the past. We distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste to all who came, and we are starting to notice overall an improvement in dental hygiene in the village. This shows that the previous six years of doing dental clinics are starting to bear fruit. Still, there were some rough moments. One lady endured two teeth being pulled from an incredibly infected mouth and the anesthetic had little effect. She grimaced but not a sound came from her mouth. She won the "tough trooper" award.
Barry had opportunity to teach English to the high school students in the school. Many are interested in learning English, and it shows we are willing to share our language. Candy once again ran a successful school for our kids and they are growing more accustomed to life in Lajas. We head out again on the 25th of this month and may try and stay a little longer. Thanks again for all your prayers. We and the Tepehuan desperately need them.
For Jesus,
Andrew and Anne Marie
...
November 2006 letter
