Lynchings continue, move of prayer needed

SOLOLÁ — Walking through the market Thursday afternoon, nothing seemed amiss, but the relative peace belied the morning’s violence.

Only hours earlier, townspeople had seized and killed two suspected thieves in the market, beating them and dragging them down the hill to the cemetery where they set them on fire. One survived for a while in the hospital, but he died later the same day.

When I attempted and failed to buy a newspaper from the central park vendor this morning, a mob of people was surrounding him, pushing, shoving and reaching for a paper. Within minutes, he had sold out. Everyone was eager to see the photos and read about their notorious actions of the prior day.

Less than two weeks ago, townspeople here beat a suspected kidnapper to death. Several versions of that story surfaced, leading me to wonder whether they got the right guy.

I was out of town during yesterday’s disturbance, traveling to Guatemala City to renew my visa. On Wednesday, folks in a town along the route to the capital killed another man, a suspected thief, beating and dragging him through the streets.

So far this year, there have been 33 so-called lynchings in Guatemala, 16 in the last month. People don’t trust the authorities here. Maybe I should underline that sentence. Right or wrong, the mob administers justice here with impunity, and the sad statistic continues unchanged: Just 3 percent of murders are solved.

The news is troubling. Did they get what they deserve? Have I gotten what I deserve? God is rich in mercy and slow to anger, but he does not hold his anger back forever.

The Apostle Paul wrote Timothy that followers of Jesus Christ ought to pray and give thanks for all men, beginning with those who are in authority “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence,” I Timothy 2:1,2.

It seems to me, those prayers should continue even when leaders fail us with ineptitude, incompetence, malfeasance or worse. I remember when George W. Bush became president, many evangelicals felt a surge of hopefulness, and many signed up for the so-called “Presidential Prayer Team.”

I wonder what would happen if people would put Paul’s admonition into practice? What if believers across Guatemala, the U.S. and elsewhere began to pray for their countries, for their weak, failing, troubled authorities and for the advance of God’s kingdom?

I hope and pray a prayer movement begins in the churches. The Scriptures say God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” and Paul calls on men to “pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting,” I Tim. 2:4,8. Why don’t we pray? Perhaps we doubt the power of God or his willingness to hear our prayers. Thanks be to God, Jesus tore the door wide, giving us entrance into God’s presence, Hebrews 10:19-24. Draw near to the Prince of Peace!

*****

The Prensa Libre version of events indicates just one man died, but TV news last evening reported that the second died later.