Everyone knows what this word means, but thanks to my small town roots in Franklin, NC, I never actually had to experience it. I was never affected by it, and I never really feared it. All the violence I ever did see on the news was detached from me, and it usually ended with someone being brought to justice.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras is no Franklin, NC (obviously), and in the area where God has called me to work, Los Pinos, violence is a daily reality. For the past couple months, the area where I minister has had many more "incidents" and has become more and more dangerous. Every time I visit, the conversation inevitably turns to who was recently murdered. Just in the past few weeks, I've heard way too many stories of violence that have happened in just one sector of one neighborhood in one city in the country of Honduras.
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The man who was shot in the head because he was mistaken for someone else, who now has severe mental problems, who has a temper that is a ticking time bomb, and will never receive mental health care.
Two women killed because they wore leggings - a clothing decision that is now prohibited by the gangs, along with dying your hair certain colors.
A young man tracked down, followed, trapped, and killed after dropping off his girlfriend - a story explained to me by the 10 year old who witnessed it.
The gang member, probably about my age, killed over a turf dispute. His death was more celebrated instead of mourned.
A young woman who is to be killed because of anger towards her husband, who had to make a decision in three days to leave everything she knows and take the risky trek through Mexico to the States to find refuge from the gang.
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Every time something like this happens, people stay in their homes a little extra, they talk about the events only in a whisper to prevent retaliation (especially if they know who did it). Very rarely will anyone be brought to justice for the taking of a life, but even if they are, there are countless people who step in to take their place in the gang and continue their agenda. What is shocking is that these deaths just become normal, nothing changes when someone dies. No one is outraged, no one protests, nothing changes to prevent history from repeating itself. Life goes on. The gossip about who, where, and why goes on for a week or so until the next person is murdered. As a gringa from the States, the hard part to come to terms with is that very few people in the world know that this is happening, and even fewer care. Countless people are born, abused, murdered, and forgotten without the world knowing. There is no closure, no justice.
Especially when the casualty is a gang member, there is no mourning. It's one less trouble maker to worry about, right? That's what I was told, and for a bit, I'm ashamed to say I shook my head and felt a bit of relief that the victim wasn't someone I knew, another innocent person killed for no reason. I believe that realizing my mistake in that led me to write this blog in the first place. The young man was probably about my age, and was not born a gang member. He was carefully formed, created, loved by the same God who formed, created, and loves me. He either believed the lies of protection and brotherhood and joined the gang, or he was threatened and really had no choice but to join or run and leave his family, community, everything he knew. His death should not be celebrated. He is a victim.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12
The fight is not against the gang, the gang members, the murderers. The fight is against Satan, against the spirit of violence, against pride and abuse of power. There is really no better way to describe the problem in Los Pinos and in countless other areas than "spiritual forces of evil." There is oppression there, and people are oppressed differently, both the ones who are violent and those who are victims of violence.
God has done a lot of work on my heart lately during my prayer times before I do visits in Los Pions. I pray the night and morning before I visit not only to be prepared for ministry, but essentially to ask for permission to go, and to pray for safety and God's hand hiding us as we go in. I ask that God decides when and where I visit, not fear or my own common sense. He encouraged me with so many verses about not just His power, but specifically the power He has given me.
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. - Luke 10:19
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. - Mark 16:17-18
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. - Matthew 10:8
For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ - Deuteronomy 20:4
What I never realized in these verses, is that through the Holy Spirit, God gives ME, gives US, the power. My prayer doesn't have to be "God heal," or "God get rid of the spirit of violence." I have the power to speak against these things. That's pretty incredible. God hasn't called me to sit at home and pray that God fixes all the crap in Los Pinos. He has called me to go in a speak directly against the evil, against the spirit of violence.
I don't specifically minister to gangs, although I know a few absolutely incredible people who use every bit of strength they have to love and minister to this group of people. However, while ministering to women and children in Los Pinos, I am in the middle of all of this violence and gang politics. It only affects me indirectly so far, but if God has placed me in a place so oppressed by a spirit of violence, it can only be expected that part of my ministry is to speak against all of this. After all, God has given me that authority.
Please pray for this country. Pray for those who lose their life to senseless violence, pray for those who live under constant threat of violence, and pray for those whose hearts and minds are consumed by violence. Understand that just because you might not hear about the lives that are lost, that you might not see protests inspired by their death, please understand these things happen on a daily basis. This is not what God wants for His children. Pray with me!
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