Dear Posse,
 
Recently I met a lady whose husband and son were murdered a few months ago at their place of business in Juarez.  The wife and other family members fled into the U.S. the same night, with only the clothes on their backs.  Their home was ransacked and they will never be able to return.  She could not even bury her dead husband and son.  Since that time another son has been murdered and a nephew is missing. 
 
A friend asked me to minister to these broken, grieving people.  As I held this precious Mexican lady in my arms, she kept repeating, "I don't understand why, I don't understand why."  All I could say was, "I don't either."  Honestly, my prayers seemed flat as I struggled to express the Lord's compassion for them. 
 
Before we departed from our meeting place, I saw a 16-year-old boy in a wheelchair.  While visiting his girlfriend in Juarez two months ago, he was shot four times in the back as he stepped outside.  He doesn't use drugs.  He is not part of a gang.  He has no idea why he was shot or who shot him.
 
It is imperative that we are alert to the encroaching violence as we prepare for the days ahead.  Ten years ago when Sam and I founded New Day Ministries International, we placed a framed scripture picture of Psalm 91 in the entryway of our home and declared it was our New Day Psalm.  It is one thing to know those days are coming.  It's another to know they are here.  
 
These are not days to be feared.  The Lord frequently tells me that all around me night is falling, yet He assures me these are the days when His light will shine all the brighter in the darkness. 
 
Isaiah 60:1-3 is so precious.  "Arise, shine; for your light has come!  And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.  For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, AND HIS GLORY WILL BE SEEN UPON YOU.  The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
 
In these days, we all have different ideas of what is coming and how we are to prepare.  A few months ago a dear friend who is involved in the Patriot movement said, "Pammy, I can't wait until we come out with guns blazing!"  I am concerned about anyone who thinks this is the answer.  It's pretty obvious that in a situation like that we will not come out alive.  What will happen if a contrived or natural situation causes many people to be rounded up and placed in detention/relocation camps?  If Christians take this stance, who will minister to the people in the camps?  What if we have neighbors or families that need us in a crisis?  We may think we will be better off dead, but if we have prayed for a great harvest of souls, why would we want to hasten our departure when so many are going to need us in the days ahead?  If we are taken out of this earth, who will tell them Jesus loves them and He weeps for them? 
 
Yes, my prayers felt flat.  I didn't have answers for such grieving hearts.  But I have arms to hold dear ones who have suffered so much.  And I have learned that just because my prayers felt flat does not mean they did not touch the very heart of God.  In fact, the Intercessor Who lives in me grieved for them.  When we met again a couple of days later, the countenance of the three family members seemed to be lifted, and I thank the Lord for His faithfulness.  They have a long road ahead of them.
 
Rusty Fleming, author of Drug Wars: Silver or Lead, stated in the docudrama, "This (corruption and violence) is what's driving the mass exodus of people coming across our border and if they were from any other country on earth they'd be called REFUGEES!"

Lord, we ask You to "comfort all who mourn...give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..."
Isaiah 61: 2, 3
 
Though Juarez averages seven murders per day, a record twenty people were killed during the 24-hours from Monday at midnight through Tuesday, Oct. 6.  The number murdered in Juarez since President Calderon's crackdown on the cartels began in January of 2006 is more than 14,000.
 
During a law-enforcement briefing last July, it was made clear that the situation in Tijuana is expected to get much worse (it's already bad) in the coming days.  It's just a matter of time.
 
This is a quote from the newsletter of Crossing Borders, a ministry whose focus is the poorest people in colonias across the border.  "Whole communities are being held hostage in their own hometowns by all the violence that's made any sort of 'normal' life impossible.  The horrors even the youngest children are being subjected to are beyond our comprehension.  What would you do if your child saw a mutilated body dumped at the bus stop?  Nobody feels safe even to talk about what nightmares they've witnessed for fear they will be targeted next for execution.  Shop owners, schoolteachers, and more are kidnapped every day now and held for ransom, hopefully to be returned to their families alive.  But that's not always the outcome.  How they need our prayers!" 
 
For years, many intercessors in Texas have known their cities were going to be cities of refuge.  If we are to provide refuge, where do we think the refugees will come from?
 
Refugee is defined as "One who flees, usually to another country, for refuge especially from invasion, oppression or persecution."
 
A former Chihuahua state public security secretary has publicly alleged (by posting a letter on www.grajeda.com.mx) that high-level politicians, government officials, national and international businesses, and members of Calderon's political party, PAN, are involved in a sea of corruption that extends from the senate to city governments.
 
There is an ongoing debate about whether some of the violence and abuse of the Mexican people is perpetrated by the military (government).  Escalating reports indicate the military is being used to terrify and silence those who speak out.  Under cover of, or parallel to, the Drug War in Mexico there seems to be a systematic crackdown by the military on dissidents -- people who speak out against corruption or the government.  People are routinely picked up and tortured.  Once they give names, those people are also tortured and killed.  I have been told that activists with the ability to influence people or who know the law and can advise people of their rights are tortured at the military installation in Juarez.  The Mexican government denies abuse by the military. 
 
November 2010 is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, and there is concern that people who are tired of the corruption and violence might rise up on the anniversary.  Some people believe the government of the United States knows about abuses by the Mexican military and chooses not to intervene because of concerns that any kind of uprising would interfere with our trade/economic relationship with Mexico.

We declare that "nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light."  Luke 8:17
 
A Chihuahua state human rights investigator, Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, who has publicly stated he has evidence of Mexican army abuses, was taken into custody Thursday night, October 15, 2009 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at a local port of entry.  They apparently wanted him to seek political asylum for his safety, which was a highly unusual move according to his attorney, Carlos Spector (a speaker at the El Paso Border School).  Hickerson spoke publicly two weeks ago about being able to document 170 instances in which Mexican soldiers extorted, kidnapped, tortured and beat, or killed innocent people while deployed in the state of Chihuahua.  None of those cases are being prosecuted by the Mexican government.  Hickerson, who has broken no laws, was asked if he was afraid for his safety.  He answered that he was afraid but did not want asylum.  Spector is concerned that U.S. federal officials want Hickerson to seek political asylum (which is currently being denied even in many very deserving cases) that will later be denied.  As soon as a person asks for asylum at the border, they are put in Immigration detention, often for months.  Sadly, those with children are sometimes separated from them.  Hickerson has worked for the Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission for more than four years and has been an advocate for human rights for thirty-seven years. 

Hickerson has now been released.  Pray for his safety as he continues his work with the Human Rights Commission in Mexico.  
 
Let's have a little history lesson:
 
South America's political history is filled with civil wars, unrest and the repression of political dissent.  One of the better-known examples is the nation of Argentina.  Wikipedia tells us: "The expression 'national reorganization process' was used to imply orderliness and control of the critical sociopolitical situation of Argentina at the time.  Forced disappearances, often based on unsubstantiated accusations, became common.  Armed soldiers arrived at randomly selected people's houses to rob them.  The police would pull over cars for no reason, beat the occupants senseless, and leave without explanation, as part of a program to intimidate the populace and decrease its willingness to protest against the government.  Government spies were dispatched to infiltrate the universities; students who openly professed even slightly leftist political opinions would simply disappear.  Official investigations undertaken after the end of the Dirty War documented the 'disappearance' of about nine thousand persons, noting nevertheless that the correct number is bound to be higher, since many cases were not reported and the records were destroyed by the military authority; unofficial estimates by most human rights organizations place the number closer to 30,000."    

Also according to Wikipedia, "Operation Condor was a campaign of political repressions involving assassination and intelligence operations officially implemented in 1975 by the governments of the Southern Cone of South America. The program aimed to eradicate alleged socialist/communist influence and ideas and to control active or potential opposition movements against the governments... the precise number of deaths directly attributable to Operation Condor will likely never be known, but it is reported to have caused over sixty thousand victims, possibly even more...Condor's key members were the governments in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil, with Ecuador and Peru joining later in more peripheral roles."

Since this information was researched, newspaper articles have indicated that top leaders from that era are being held accountable.  The former dictator of Uruguay, for example, was just sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in disappearances and murders during.  I include this information about Condor to make clear that what we are seeing in Mexico is part of a much bigger picture of violence and corruption throughout Latin America. 

Why are these issues so prevalent?  Cathe Halford of Pray Texas partially explains it:
 
"Some differences between North American and Latin American cultures are foundational.  When you study the history of what is now the United States, you read about explorers and settlers.  The settlers came for a variety of reasons, but most came as families to establish homes and communities.  They built a nation of farmers and shopkeepers.  Though there were inexcusable atrocities committed against Native Americans, especially during the era of Manifest Destiny, the founders' goal was to create safe towns where families could flourish--not to exterminate or subjugate the native population or to acquire riches for European rulers. You will not see the word conqueror in any account of our colonial history.
 
In contrast, when you study the history of Latin America, it is all about conquerors, conquistadores, from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America.  For the most part the Spanish conquistadors did not bring their families to the new world.  They came as soldiers and adventurers looking for riches to take home to their rulers.  Acquiring those riches required the subjugation of the indigenous people.  The tactics used were rape, kidnapping and massacres-the same techniques used by terrorists today, including government-sanctioned death squads in many nations.
 
Another difference between the cultures is based on religion.  The priests who accompanied military expeditions into Latin America and the Protestants who settled North America shared the belief that the native population must be converted to Christianity.  Their methods of achieving that goal were vastly different.  The Spanish used the same approach with Native Americans as was used with Jews under the Inquisition, forced or coerced conversions, while Puritans and other groups in North America focused on evangelism.  To be clear, the Puritans also hanged Quakers and various settlements persecuted Christians with different belief systems, so we don't deserve a free pass on this issue and we won't get one from the Lord."
 
Journalist Diana Washington Valdez states:
 
"The Inquisition ended Spain's dominance and brought upon the country a curse, along with spiritual darkness.  Back in the New World, the pagan rituals with human sacrifices (approved by the government, such as it existed) ended with the conquistadores, but these also went about importing to the new world their corruption. The mestizos, the blending of the Europeans with indigenous people, for the most part were the product of wholesale rape.  The sense of shame created by rape, I believe, is what contributes to Mexico's low self-esteem as a nation.  It may also contribute to the subjugation of women in that culture.  Several Spanish families, including former President Vicente Fox, maintain their strong ties with European families and rule Mexico through corruption.  The Spanish Inquisition was marked by cruelty, and avarice is the peculiar corruption that marks the Mexican government influenced by the Spanish elite.  The cruelty of the Spaniards (not all of course) probably stems from the centuries of being under conquest themselves, especially the Middle Eastern conquest that lasted about 1,000 years.  What helped the U.S. in its early days was the influence of Bible-believing people.  Though not perfect, the light that entered the country through the gospel brought blessings to America...I thought it especially significant that Mexican President Calderon met with leaders of the Jewish community in Mexico City and apologized for the Inquisition, especially since he is Roman Catholic."
 
Dear Posse, it is imperative we get this right.  Regardless of our views on illegal immigration, this is a heart issue.  Have we hardened our heart against the alien?  I am not talking about people who come here with evil intent.  What do we have in our heart for those who come here out of desperation because their situation is intolerable?

Psalm 92:2 says, "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."  What about those who don't have the same source of assurance?  Are those of us who know our cities are to be cities of refuge an extension of our Lord in the earth, providing "refuge" for those fleeing violence and persecution?

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 
Psalm 139: 23-24

Dr. Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, e-mailed 8,230 California pastors to tell them about Border School.  It meant so much to me to read his statement, "This will not be a redneck reaction (let's keep 'em out) or a milk toasty lefty (just let 'em in) approach.  This will make you weep - literally - like the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, for your nation and for the nation of Mexico."

Sally Frahm, a friend and intercessor from Austin, shares this prayer:

Father, we cry out to You for mercy, for the stopping of evil that would invade at every point.  Mexico has a wonderful purpose, a call from You, that the enemy would try to stop, to destroy.  There is a purpose for Texas and Mexico together, for Mexico and the United States. 

Confuse the spirits of violence and intrigue, dear Lord.  Bring a wake-up call to those who love violence, an opportunity to repent.  You say in Your Word...

"The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence His soul hates."  Psalm 11:5

Lord, forgive us in the United States, where we have been self-righteous, full of pride, so sure our way is the best way.  Forgive us where we have failed to have Your heart for our suffering Mexican brothers and sisters and give us Your heart for the people You love.  May those who love You rightly represent You. 

We ask for comfort for those who have lost loved ones and for amazing ministries to them to be birthed "for such a time as this."  Help them not to hate, but to turn to You, to Your comforting arms.     

"You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me."  Psalm 18:48

We ask for You to move in...may we partner with You in prayer, and still recognize "the battle is the Lord's."  Raise up intercessors, Lord.  Help us see this is a new day and there is no time for complacency, for pleasure as usual.  Give intercessors from Mexico and the United States the prayers on Your heart.  May we be mighty during this hour; may we know how to stand in this time.

We speak freedom over the Mexican government, military, police.  May the spirit of fear and control be broken; may righteousness reign down from heaven.  Protect all those standing for justice and righteousness.  Give them favor and open their eyes to Your goodness, Lord, the beauty of Who You are.
 
Protect President Calderon.  We plead the blood of Jesus over him, asking for angels around him, that You will open his eyes to the angels.  Draw Him to Yourself and teach him Your ways.  Give Him wisdom, understanding and clear direction.

In Jesus' name,
Amen