Don't Answer the Phone!!!

I recently received an email from Jack Eans, who is the VP of International Child Ministry for us at Mission of Mercy. This is a situation that exists in Honduras, but also in a number of other countries in Central and South America. After this email hit our offices, another member of our international staff, Yolie Lalama, also shared specific instances, as well. I hope this message will encourage you to keep these countries in prayer... - Mark...

At times it’s hard for us to imagine the different types of stress and pressure the kids, families, project workers and our own field staff in the various countries are under in their personal daily lives.

The following is just one example from one of our countries that needs our prayers.

Imagine your telephone ringing and like you do any day, you answer it but this time on the other end is a stranger who threatens to kidnap your son or daughter unless you pay them thousands of dollars within 72 hours. You have no idea what to do because you don’t know who called. Somehow they know you. You can’t go to the police because they either don’t care, couldn’t do anything anyway or are involved themselves. You start calling family members asking them to loan you money. Pretty soon every sister, uncle and cousin is aware and trying to pull the money together. Eventually you manage to get the money and you stand by your phone waiting for them to call again to give you further instructions. I know this is true because it just happened to a family member of one of our project workers.

This is the latest way the gangs in Honduras are using to extort money from innocent people. It usually happens in the poorest communities where the gangs run rampant. People are afraid to even answer their phones for fear of it being a call like this. And their fears are well founded because people have indeed been kidnapped and even killed for non-payment. They don’t have time to make a “pay no ransom” policy. They just pay and pray.

In these economic down times where everyone is focused on Wall Street, layoffs, interest rates etc. I always find it interesting and yet heartbreaking how poor people are rarely worried or preoccupied with these issues, rather they inevitably have some issue of fear or survival to deal with. We don’t always understand why they can’t just do what we need them to do quickly and right the first time. That person we’re waiting on may have to take a taxi downtown to an internet café (after it took them a week to get approval to take the cash to pay for both), plus run a dozen other errands for the project, all on their day off from their regular job while at the same time scared to walk down their own street or get home when its dark, and then assuming they are locked safely inside their house – afraid to even answer their own phone.

Please pray for each person somewhere out there working on behalf of the sponsors and children that they will be safe, have their own needs provided for, and feel encouraged that what they are doing for pennies is reaping a major investment in the Kingdom.

Thanks and be blessed!

Jack