Prayers at Majomut
The eleven-member delegation, supplemented by four team members,
held a service of repentance and prayer Sunday morning, July 23,
at an Army base in the highlands of this southern Mexican state.
After confessing their collusion in violent systems, participants
invoked Isaiah's vision of a "new heavens and a new
earth," in praying for a just resolution to the conflict and
an eventual safe return of the over 10,000 internally displaced
residents of Chenalho county.
| The CPTers invited Mexican soldiers at the Majomut Army base, the region's key military installation, to join them in the service. About twenty uniformed onlookers observed and listened to the bilingual service a "safe" distance from the prayer circle, part of which was on base property and part on the highway shoulder. One of the invited soldiers called a higher-ranking officer to the scene, and he negotiated with the group's spokesperson. Meanwhile, the service went on. |  |
Leonard Janzen, Virgil, ON, confessed
"that I have been quiet even when I knew of occurring around
me or in the world. I also confess on behalf of Canada for not
acting on injustices that the government is fully aware of."
During the service Duane Ediger, Dallas, TX, who had been
communicating with the military official, shared with the
gathered worshipers the official's feelings, that the group's
presence on base property made him uncomfortable and in his view
showed a lack of respect, and his request that the group move to
the shoulder. Under protest but out of concern for the feelings
of the official, the group moved three feet over onto the
shoulder.
Ron Friesen, Loveland, CO, reflected that "We met the
domination powers on their own ground and made them feel
uncomfortable, which was what we intended."
"I hope the Mexican Army stationed around the displaced
communities in Chenalho will follow our example the next time the
members of those communities tell them that their presence is a
source of something more than discomfort," said Ediger.
In the days leading up to the service the delegation had visited
members of three communities of displaced people in Chenalho. In
X'oyep, some 250 members of the community gathered at the chapel
to greet the delegation and share stories of their displacement
by paramilitaries starting three years ago this summer. A woman's
reference to Isaiah 65 provided the scriptural framework for the
service.
Delegation members are Fred Bahnson, Brevard, NC; Grace Braley,
Yonkers, NY; Duane Ediger, Dallas, TX; Ron Friesen, Loveland, CO;
Joel Douglas Harrison, Los Angeles, CA; Leonard Janzen, Virgil,
ON; Murray Lumley, Ancaster, ON; Matthew Pflederer, Goshen, IN;
Allan Slater, Lakeside, ON; Muriel T. Stackley, Pawnee Rock, KS;
and Shirley Way, Wallingford, PA. Team members participating in
the service were Lynn Stoltzfus, Ann Herman and Dick &
Gretchen Williams.