Toni

"Britney, mataron a Toni! Mataron a Toni!" (Britney, they killed Toni! They killed Toni!) These were the words that I heard at exactly 3:02pm on Monday afternoon. Bobby and I were sitting in a coffee shop in San Salvador enjoying a complimentary cup of coffee and finally starting to relax some after having been stressed out for a while over numerous things, including some health problems that Bobby has. At 3:00pm my phone had beeped signaling that I had a message. The message was from Alejandro (the young man with the heart problems that I previously blogged about) asking me to call him. Alejandro had been faithfully attending our church ever since his friend Toni brought him for the first time several months ago. Toni was always bringing new friends to church.

The message from Alejandro made me smile. I laughingly told Bobby, "he is probably calling just to make sure that English class is cancelled today!" I normally teach English classes on Mondays, and Alejandro is in my basic class. I had cancelled classes that day because Bobby was scheduled for a CT scan and had an appointment with his pulmonologist. On occasion I have to cancel class and Alejandro always hates it! He always calls just before the time that class would normally start just to make sure that class is still really cancelled. Due to his heart condition he spends a lot of time inside, so he has been excited to be a part of the music and English classes that we offer in the church.

When I called Alejandro I, at first, tried joking with him by speaking to him in English, "Hello Alejandro! How are you today?" It was then that he said the words to me that I wrote above, telling me of Toni. I just sat there in silence. It was like I heard the words, but refused to understand them. I looked at my husband sitting beside me and I wondered how I would tell him. We love all the youth in our church, but Toni was a favorite.

That evening as we sat in Alejandro's home talking with his parents we learned of the events surrounding Toni's murder. Toni worked at the bakery that Alejandro's parents own. He sold bread for them every morning on a bicycle. Every morning in the wee hours of the morning many "bread boys" can be found riding their bicycles up and down the streets with large baskets on the front selling fresh baked bread. Toni had worked selling bread for 2 years. He was an only son and his income supported him and his mother.

That Monday morning Toni left on his bicycle, as usual, to sell bread on his regular route. When he didn't return at 7:00 they thought it strange. When he wasn't back by 10:00am they knew that something had happened. He wasn't answering his cell phone. Unfortunately, in this country, many bread boys are killed by gang members. At 11:00am the police came to the bakery. The bodies of two local bread boys had been found in the river. The river that runs just below our house. Alejandro's dad, along with the owner of the other local bakery, were asked to come and identify the bodies. It was Toni. The other boy that was murdered had visited our church for the first time 2weeks ago. They had been murdered with machetes.

Alejandro's dad went on to describe details of Toni's body and the murder scene that are horrific. I didn't want to hear him, but he felt like he needed to tell them...so we listened. I eventually went outside and sat with Alejandro. Toni was his best friend and they were together every day. I have a vivid memory of Toni carrying Alejandro piggyback. We were out walking one day and Alejandro got tired, as he does after a few blocks, so Toni just carried him. He was that kind of friend.

Yesterday was Toni's visitation and funeral. We met with some of the youth at 7:30am and went to the visitation and stayed there all morning. Visitations here are very long. Toni's had begun at 4am and lasted until the funeral, which began at 2pm in the afternoon. His mom chose an open casket. Toni had been killed with a machete and had been cut across the cheek and through his nose. It had been hastily sewn back together and then covered with makeup. Some of our girls came with armfuls of flowers which were beautifully placed around Toni's casket. In this culture florists aren't called to bring arrangements to funerals, people usually just bring their own fresh cut flowers and then place them in vases or cut-in-half 2 liter pop bottles around the casket. The funeral was short and then the casket was placed in the back of a pickup truck. The pickup drove slowly through town and everyone walked slowly behind it. This is typically how funerals are done here.

In the cemetary the grave had been dug that morning by some of our youth boys. It is the responsibility of the family to find someone to dig the grave. That morning while at the visitation, Toni's mom's pastor had asked Bobby if he and some of the boys could go and dig Toni's grave. Bobby said yes but when they arrived at the cemetary they were surprised to already find some of the youth there already doing it.

Toni's graveside service was short and his casket was lowered into the ground and then covered with dirt. After it was over everyone left, except for our youth. No one really wanted to leave.

I have always felt like the days following a death are the hardest. It's the little things like running across his phone number in your telephone and not knowing what to do with it. Having pictures of them on your digital camera that you haven't downloaded yet.

This Saturday will be our first service without Toni and it will be hard. We celebrate the fact that he is with the Lord, but we are sad because we will miss his joy and huge smile. We know that God will be glorified through Toni's death and we believe that Toni did leave a legacy. His legacy is Alejandro, Cristobal, and Jose. Three boys that now attend our church because Toni brought them for the first time and encouraged them to keep coming. I like to think that when Toni met our Lord face-to-face that he received a crown for each of these boys and that our Lord said to him, "well done my faithful servant."


Toni was an active member of our church, played drums for our church worship band, and was a part of the guys discipleship group that Bobby leads on Wednesdays. He was always smiling, joyful, and was a great friend, especially to Alejandro. We look forward to seeing him again soon.