MEXICO – Lutherans in Mexico are thanking God for the safe return of President Isaac Garcia of the Lutheran Synod of Mexico (Sínodo Luterano de México – SLM) and five other church workers after they were recently kidnapped.
On September 5, SLM President Garcia was travelling with another pastor and four deaconesses from Mexico City to Cacahoatán, Chiapas in the south of Mexico. “Our intention was to share a workshop with the brothers and sisters on Lutheran identity, to hold a class with the children, to conduct a medical and service brigade, and to finish with Divine Service,” President Garcia explains. “Unfortunately, about 750 kms from Mexico City and five hours from our destination, we were intercepted by two trucks with armed men. We quickly identified ourselves as pastors and told them the purpose of our trip, but they did not care.”
What followed was a harrowing experience. After stripping President Garcia and the others of their money, phones, and other belongings—including their rented van and items that were intended for distribution in Cacahoatán—they were taken off the road to a place where about 24 other people had also been kidnaped. “We were held there for approximately six hours, kneeling, with our eyes closed and some of us blindfolded,” President Garcia says.
“Despite all this, God was with us,” President Garcia continues, “and we were able to feel peace in the midst of the situation, knowing that our lives were in God’s hands, literally living what St. Paul says: ‘For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.’”
After about six hours, they were finally released. “At that moment, I was able to lead a prayer with all those who had been kidnapped,” President Garcia recalls. “Our intention was to share God’s love in one way” that day, he says, but ultimately “we were able to do so in a different way.” The group eventually made their way safely home to Mexico City.
“After reflecting on the situation, we simply ask God to continue being with us as we know He is,” President Garcia says, “and to keep leading us to those who need to hear, repent, and come to Christ. We pray for all missionaries around the world, that God may watch over and protect them at all times.”
“We are deeply grateful that God safely delivered our brothers and sisters in Mexico from this serious situation,” said Rev. Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz, General Secretary of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). “May God comfort them with His presence as they recover from this frightening ordeal and encourage them with the knowledge of His love and care for each of them. And may He continue to raise up courageous witnesses for Christ both in Mexico and throughout the entire world.”
The Lutheran Synod in Mexico is a member church of the ILC, a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran churches which proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of an unconditional commitment to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
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