Attack on church youth group a disconcerting shift in Mexico

(Cover photo by Alejandro de la
 Cruz. Story photo courtesy
 Compassion International)

Mexico (MNN) ― A gang of nearly a dozen armed people stormed into a church youth retreat near Mexico City on Saturday and went on an hours-long rampage of beatings, robberies, and rape.

Any connection between the gang and the drug cartels is still unconfirmed. However, Mexican authorities say that campers and hikers have been targeted in the past by common criminals, and the region is known for violent drug-related crime.

That said, the attack on children presents a disconcerting change. Tim Glenn with Compassion International says they have several projects in the region between Oaxaca and Mexico City. While none of their sponsored kids were victims of the attack, "I think it's a scary new venture in the active criminal activities. Historically, in the past they left the church alone, they left the kids alone. This new act of violence is a step in the wrong direction."

Because Compassion's Child Development Centers and other projects are in somewhat secluded areas, they do take precautions to prevent such attacks. Glenn explains, "One of the things we require of our church partners is that they have a safe place for kids to go so that they can learn, they can play, they can grow and be away from these type of things in their community."

Ironically, while the Mexico attack is a step in the "wrong direction," Glenn says the exact opposite is happening in nearby El Salvador. The country's two largest street gangs called a truce.

Up until now, the cycle of gang violence made the country the most murderous in the world last year after neighboring Honduras. Glenn says, "Part of that agreement was that they were going to stay away from the kids, agreeing that they weren't going to try to get kids to join. They were going to stay away from kids as targets of their violence."

Glenn goes on to say, "One of the things that came out of that truce in El Salvador is one of the gang leaders saying that they'd finally come to the realization that 'all we're doing is hurting each other, killing each other, and we're not getting anywhere.'" As a result of the truce, the homicide rate has been cut in half in just four months. In fact, police say the most dramatic change was noted on April 14, a day when El Salvador recorded its first 24 hours without a murder.

Glenn says El Salvador provides a great example that he hopes others will follow. "The sooner the gangs and gang leaders realize the affects they have on their own communities, the safer our own kids will be."

In the meantime, the Church needs a lot of prayer in Central and South America where gang activity is on the rise and growing increasingly violent. "Gang activity, sadly, is a reality in a lot of the developing world. Kids who have very little to cling to go to a gang for some source of acceptance and relationship."  

But, says Glenn, Compassion International is making a notable difference. Sponsorships help with education and more. The Gospel is what transforms the community from within. Getting the Gospel to the streets is the hard part. "All we can do is pray for the protection of our kids and communities, and bring our kids to the safe haven of that local church that Compassion partners with."

The church youth group that suffered Saturday's attack has a lot of healing to do emotionally and physically. Glenn urges prayer support for the Gospel workers who are on the front lines. "One of the first prayer needs that we have is for the church to be the Church in those communities, for the body of Christ to step up and say 'we're going to take these kids under our wings. We're going to give them a safe place. We're going to protect them  from this type of thing so that they don't have to look to a gang for relationship and acceptance."

Compassion's work in Mexico began in 1976. There are currently more than 20,500 children participating in 130 child development centers. Compassion partners with churches to help them provide Mexican children with the opportunity to rise above their circumstances and become all God has created them to be.

Sudan ponders a season of 'Spring'

(Cover photo by BBC World Service: File footage refugee camp.)
 [Story photo by Kids Alive International: Sudan boys]

Sudan (MNN) ― On Friday, thousands lined the streets of Khartoum and Omdurman demanding that the president step down as a result of the country's economic woes.

They clashed with security, which fired tear gas into the crowds in an escalating effort to clampdown on the turmoil.

The protests started June 16 at universities in the capital of Khartoum and quickly spread to other cities across Sudan. Demonstrators are calling for an of end Omar al-Bashir's nearly 23-year rule. They say recent budget cuts and tax increases are draconian enough to call for his ouster.

Could this movement be the Arab Spring moving south? No one really knows if the protests will gather the kind of momentum seen in last year's Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, but given the previous instability triggered by the secession of South Sudan, it might tip the balance.

Meanwhile, Sudanese and South Sudanese delegations are looking to resume talks this week after little progress over a buffer zone on the common border. Kids Alive International President Al Lackey says the situation remains tense because "the problem in the North right now is that they (the government) withdrew all the personal ID information from all the residents, and they (the residents) have to go back and reapply. As they do that, they have to identify what religion they are. Many of the Christians are fearful to do that at this time."

Sudan's history with Christians has been acrimonious, at best. The secession ramped up tensions, especially near the border areas. Although serving neither side exclusively, groups like Kids Alive International were caught in the middle. Lackey explains, "Like many non-profits, we were in the North and the South two or three years ago. A lot of our ministry has now moved to the South, so we're trying to plant that, develop that."

That meant personnel overseeing both projects needed to be able to cross the borders regularly. That's when the problem emerged. "They're more or less trapped because they can't use the airport. They may get out, but if they try to come back in, they could be denied."

Hostilities mean travel is difficult and the additional chaos will likely slow whatever paperwork needs to make its way through the government channels. Prayer goes a long way. Lackey says, "A lot of our focus in the South is to rescue more orphans and to care for the people that are moving in around us. It continues to grow daily." It won't be easy to do both, with the red tape disruption, but Lackey says their team is committed fully. "Our focus in the North is to maintain what we're doing and to be responsible to the children that we have."

An estimated 10% of Sudan's children are orphans. Over 1.8 million of them are now living on the streets or in refugee camps. "We bring children into small residential homes if they have no family, or if they're living in an abusive situation. They live in small homes of eight to ten kids, maybe up to 12, with house parents. And then, we educate those children and care for them all the way up until they're young adults."

Lackey goes on to say that their work doesn't stop with the rescue. "True hope is not just giving them all the things they need to exist in life. It starts with the Lord Jesus Christ, and then all those other pieces are the hope giving, and the development, and the kingdom building that we desire for each of our kids."

Protests, clashes, and chaos are creating a lot of disruption for Kids Alive International. They're still seeing new kids in need of rescue every day. It takes about $60 to really do the job right, and funding is what limits their growth the most.

Kids keep turning up in desperate need. Lackey says money helps, but prayer support has fallen off, too. "When Sudan was in the news, everybody was praying, churches were praying. But now that it has lost number one focus, people forget that there are still people in persecution, that people trapped in the North, and there's a huge exodus of people coming to the South."

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