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Written by Jim Guffey, June 20, 2005
"The leader of these "ladrones" or thieves comes to my window which is down and places a machete at my
throat and begins demanding our money."
We are home in Panajachel to regroup after a very eventful few days. We left Thursday afternoon for Santiago to show
a movie to a young peoples group that evening. We planned on leaving from there the next morning. When we arrived it was
raining steadily, flooding the streets in torrents. We had too much stuff in the truck and much of it was in the back getting
wet so we immediately looked for a "hospedaje" for the night. We found one and I had some pictures but when we
got robbed (more on that in a minute) my camera was taken. Suffice it to say at six dollars a night it was not a really nice
place. But that's OK, we were getting ready for sparse accommodations anyway but this was interesting. The room was wet
and damp as was the bedding. The pillow I would describe as stuffed with graham crackers, and wet graham crackers at that.
The bathroom; let's just not go into it. At least I had somewhat hot water. Both of the girls only had cold. Off to a good
start!
We left the next morning and went to breakfast. Lucy remarked that she didn't know why she had brought two pairs of shoes,
especially since we were supposed to take only the necessities. But we seemed to have plenty of things. We tried to buy
extra time for our cell phone but could not find a place that carried the right brand so we passed. As we left town for our
first stop some 30 miles away we were in good spirits, anxious to see what would come of the day. Nothing could have prepared
us for what was about to happen.
As we drove down the dirt road with Hector driving it was obvious that there had been very serious rainfall as the road
was washed away in several places with deep ruts. At one point it got so bad I asked Hector if he wanted me to drive and
he said yes so we changed seats. I put it in four-wheel-drive and we went up the hill, having some fun (at least I was)!
After being jostled around Hector pointed to the seat and showed me that my credit cards had come out of my pocket onto the
seat beside me so I picked them up and put them into my shirt pocket. We began handing out some candy and toys to the kids
we met along the way. Christine was having fun with them and I took some pictures but alas, someone else has them now.
At this place in the drive we hadn't realized that we had passed the turn off to our destination. The jungle is lush
and beautiful and everything is growing so nicely. Lots of trees going up the volcano on the one side and down to the lake
on the other. It is very beautiful. As we crested a hill we came upon two men sitting by the side of the road. Nothing
unusual. A few seconds after we passed them I see ahead of me a man dressed in green with a mask covering his face holding
a shotgun do a jump from the Hill into the road. He is holding a shotgun and is crouched as though to shoot. He is maybe
20 yards in front of us and we are driving very slow because of the condition of the road. A glance in my rearview mirror
and sees several more similarly dressed men behind with shotguns as well and then several more appear at our windows. Hector
and I look at each other and Hector says "No problem Jim," but I say to Hector in Spanish "I think this is
a problem."
The leader of these "ladrones" or thieves comes to my window which is down and places a machete at my throat
and begins demanding our money. I tell him no problem and we begin to reach into our pockets to give him our money. I have
only 200 Quetzales (about $30US) and promptly turn it over. Hector has about 3000 Quetzales (about $400 US) but it falls
in the seat and he quietly pushes it into the crack. He gives him the change from breakfast which is only a few dollars.
The leader is not happy with this and promptly tells us so. He tells me so by sticking the machete into my throat harder.
He reaches into my pockets, removing my keys to the house but then puts them back when he doesn't want them. He demands Hector's
wallet and when Hector tries to take the money out to give to him he grabs the whole wallet. Hector protests and asks for
his wallet back because it has his documentation and license. I'm amazed when Hector is given his wallet back. He opens
the glove compartment and takes the cell phone, along with the chords. Hector tells me he is asking for my glasses so I turned
them over. Later, Hector tells me he also told me give him my tennis shoes. I'm grateful I didn't understand. Christine
was not so lucky. They took hers.
Things are happening very fast, as they are very nervous about taking too long. I try to assure them that's all the money
we have but they want more. They see my camera and demand I give it to them and I do. At this point he removes the machete
from my neck for which I am very grateful. He begins to back away from my window towards the front and I realize he has a
shotgun too, aimed right at me. I think for a moment he is going to shoot me but he just yells at the others to hurry. I
am now aware that they have moved to the back seat and they're going through the pockets and belongings of Christine and Lucy.
The guy at Christines window has taken her shoes and went through her pockets several times. At one point he took her
glasses and hat and then dropped them on the ground. He picked up the glasses and handed them back to her, saying "I'm
sorry". He already had her shoes and she gave him a flashlight. Lucy on the other side was going through a similar
treatment. As the thief went through her belly bag he would open the zipper and look inside, removing the items. After deciding
he didn't want them, he would put them back and even zippered the bag. Nice guy! He demanded her jacket which she gave him
and he went through all the pockets. When he finished she put out her hand to take her jacket back and he gave it to her.
While all this was going on I saw the Bible tracts from Chick Publications that we were handing out on the dashboard so
I picked one up and began telling the men we were friends, missionaries. I asked them to take the tract. Several of them
just ignored me, or uncomfortably looked away. But one on Hectors side looked me in the eyes and actually took it from me,
and said "Muchas Gracious"! At that point they said we could go and they disappeared into the woods. We wasted
no time departing the scene.
When it was all said and done we lost less than $40 US, a cell phone, a camera, sunglasses, a hat, a pair of shoes, some
crackers and a few other miscellaneous items. In the back of the truck we had DVDs, an $1800 movie projector, several thousand
dollars of related equipment and lots of other goodies they never even touched! Not to mention the money and credit cards
in my shirt and in the seat.
As we drove away we were all quite shaken. No one tried to be a hero, and everyone was the better for it. They didn't
get much and some of what they got was unexpected. As we drove I told Lucy, Christine and Hector that if any or all of them
wanted to go back to Panajachel, or even to the United States I would see to it and not blame them at all. After all, it
was a very unnerving experience. But they all said they wanted to go on, that God had protected us even through this situation.
I was so proud of the girls, and of Hector. In 27 years Hector has never been robbed.
We were all quite pleased when 15 minutes later we pulled into the town of San Pedro. To be around other people was very
comforting. We stopped and got some drinks and did some e-mails. Then we went on to the town of San Juan. It was beginning
to rain so we stayed there for the night. We found some rooms similar to the ones the night before but they were very clean.
Again, $6.50 a night. Hector talked to the maintenance man at the hotel and he said he was a Christian. We told him about
the movies and he said he would check with his pastor at lunchtime to see if they wanted one that night. We unloaded our
equipment and went for a walk through town. We handed out tracts until we came upon three guys on the side of the road, one
of whom said "Good afternoon" in English. Hector and I began talking to him about Jesus and he professed to be
a Christian, as were his friends. Lucy and Christine took the other side of the street and began talking to a woman from
New York who was working for the Peace Corps.
We decided to come back to Panajachel via a boat to purchase a new cell phone, camera and shoes for Christine. During
the trip it rained intensely and we were all soaked when we returned to the hotel. The maintenance man told us that the church
was having an anniversary service that night and couldn't use the movies. It had been a rather trying day so we decided to
set up the movie projector on the second-floor in the hallway where we settled in for the night after changing clothes and
watched "Ice Age" before retiring to bed. And so ended our Friday.
But why did this happen? Why, if we were all here doing "God's work", better yet if He was doing His work through
us why would He allow something like this to happen? Let's go to the Bible for perspective.
In Acts chapter 9 God is speaking to an Ananais concerning the apostle Paul and his conversion to Christianity and says
"Acts 9:16 For I will show him (Paul) how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." We must suffer? Is
this true of us today? How did Paul suffer? He was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, stoned and persecuted in other ways.
In II Corinthians he says:
2Co 1:8 For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were
weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9 yea, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God
who raiseth the dead:
10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver
us;
Matthew Henry explains this passage as follows:
It is not certain what particular troubles in Asia are here referred to; whether the tumult raised by Demetrius at Ephesus,
mentioned Acts 19, or the fight with beasts at Ephesus, mentioned in the former epistle (1Co 15), or some other trouble; for
the apostle was in deaths often. This however is evident, that they were great tribulations. They were pushed out of measure,
to a very extraordinary degree, above the common strength of men, or of ordinary Christians, to bear up under them, insomuch
that they despaired even of life (2Co 1:8), and thought they should have been killed, or have fainted away and expired.
2. What they did in their distress: They trusted in God. And they were brought to this extremity in order that they should
not trust in themselves but in God, 2Co 1:9. Note, God often brings his people into great straits, that they may apprehend
their own insufficiency to help themselves, and may be induced to place their trust and hope in his all-sufficiency. Our extremity
is God's opportunity.
How many of us are going through extreme situations in our life? Maybe you are not in Guatemala in the jungle being robbed,
but you're going through something difficult in your life. You need to understand that sometimes God must bring you to the
end of yourself for you to trust in Him fully. We say we trust in Him fully but we really trust in ourselves, our spouse,
our children or parents or some other thing (money?) which isn't God. Only when you find yourself at the end of your abilities
can you appreciate that only God can help; and He does. Friday morning we learned that we cannot trust in ourselves for we
have no real control of our lives. Neither do you, you just think you do. What is God doing to get your attention? What
will He need to do? How far will He need to go? That depends on you and on the lessons you learn from these experiences.
Pr 3:5,6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths.
It's that simple. If you don't understand read it again; you're not supposed to understand.
Some who have heard this story have asked "where was God when this was happening?" To which the four of us
have decided he was right there, protecting us and teaching us something we could have never discovered outside of this experience.
We discovered we all had our "extremities" that God was dealing with us on. It is summed up as follows:
Romans 5:3 And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting;
4 And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given
to us.
We came here Wednesday to show the Guatemalan people the love of God in our actions. His love expressing itself through
us. If we stopped because of this event our motives would be suspect. If we allow our fear to dictate our actions, our trust
in the Lord would be suspect. Truly, on Friday night Hector told me he wanted to go back over the same road where we were
robbed to the village we had missed on Saturday morning. That thought made me anxious; it made me fearful. Then I thought
about whether I really believed that God controlled the day and the events we had experienced. And I truly did. And we all
four agreed to go back the same way the next day.
At this point some of you think we are crazy, that continuing on we deserve something bad to happen to us. You say God
gave us a brain and we should use it. I say God gave us a brain so He could use it. So we will continue on. We will trust
Him and He will direct our paths. Because we trust Him.
Lastly, there is the possibility that something bad may happen. And if that is the case we believe God is in control.
He decides all things. Stephen was killed by stoning, Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified and many other martyrs died
many various deaths. Did this take God by surprise? I think not. Whatever may happen I believe I can speak for all four
of us when I say we steadfastly believe that God is in control. We trust in Him. Now more than ever. Especially, especially
after Friday.
Here is something that Lucy pulled out after the experience, from Spurgeon:
Spurgeon
172-The Lord Our Companion
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4)
Sweet are these words in describing a deathbed assurance. How many have repeated them in their last hours with intense
delight!
But the verse is equally applicable to agonies of spirit in the midst of life. The Lord has sustained us and kept us above
all real fear of evil, even when our spirit has been overwhelmed. We have been pressed and oppressed, but yet we have lived,
for we have felt the presence of the Great Shepherd and have been confident that His crook would prevent the foe from giving
us any deadly wound.
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. We are most fortunate to be here. Not to still be here, but to be here at all.
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