Shootings, kidnappings highlight need for prayer

SOLOLÁ — Once again, the need for Christ’s transformation within Guatemala’s institutions and society is evident in the reaction to a recent string of local kidnappings for ransom.

Last week someone here printed up a flier naming alleged local kidnappers, circulating it about Sololá. Saturday morning — less than 24 hours after an attempted kidnapping in town left one man dead and another wounded —, a Sololá man was gunned down by 22 bullets from an AK-47. The killers left a note accusing him of being an extortionist and kidnapper. Whether true or not, we don’t know.

Friends I spoke with expressed surprise at the accusation and assassination. “Panza,” so named for his large belly, was a big, hard-working man who had labored for years near the town market, yelling, “Guate! Guate! Guate!” telling people a bus for Guatemala City would be departing soon, or unloading the heavy cargo from trucks and buses.

People don’t trust the police, and friends say some locals have organized, deciding to initiate a vigilante-style “limpieza” or “cleansing,” ridding the community of those who are kidnapping and extorting money.

Over the weekend in Panajachel, a short bus-ride down the hill, two more people were kidnapped. The crooks targeted business owners, getting one but missing another and nabbing a friend’s uncle instead. The uncle was released after paying a ransom.

Please pray for peace in this community and for the authorities (I Timothy 2:1-8). May Christ’s kingdom come.