Ask, and I will give the nations to you

Stewart (far left, yellow shirt) at a youth activity. Ironically enough, two of the boys setting on the steps in this photo have also been murdered. 

So, a couple of Sundays ago we attended another funeral. Another funeral for another youth who had been murdered. Stewart, the young man who was killed, had been part of our church when we first arrived to Nejapa.  Ironically, his father was murdered 3 years ago, and his funeral was the first funeral that we attended here in El Salvador.  Since then, in the 3 1/2 years that we have lived in Nejapa, we have attended 6 funerals, 2 of which were for individuals who had passed away from "natural" causes and the other 4 have been victims of murder.  With a murder rate of 66 per every 100,000 people, El Salvador has the second highest murder rate in the world (click here to read the full article).  In the States everyone knows a family that has been affected by divorce. It's common and, although painful, divorce has lost the sting and stigma that it once had. The same is here for murder. Every family has been affected. Some multiple times.  And, it's starting to lose it's sting. 

So, where do we go from here? What do we do?  For many of the youth that we work with, hope has been lost.

Recently we learned of a young lady who had moved in with an MS-13 gang member and tattooed herself accordingly.  This story is all too common here. Young ladies from poverty-ridden broken homes seek love in "all the wrong" places and end up getting into a relationship with gang members. The girls may not actually join the gang, but they move into their homes and tattoo themselves to show loyalty and believe that this guy, and his gang, will provide the family/love/protection that she desperately desires.  The reality is that she will end up in the same place as her beloved....dead or jail.  If she tries to leave her boyfriend at some point, then she will be killed. Or, the most likely thing that will happen, is that she will be killed by the rival gang. Rival gangs love to kill the "other guy's" girlfriend.  In this situation, the difference with this particular young lady is that she used to be an active part of our church. She is a face, a name, someone that we loved, and now she is gone.  Gone in the sense that we have no access to her. Gone in that there is no way out in our worldly eyes. Gone in that there is nothing that we can physically do. We can't exactly go marching into their territory, ask to see this young lady, and then advise her to get out. That would be a death sentence for us. We are to live our mission without fear, but we can't be stupid either. 

So, what do we do?  We pray.  We pray without ceasing.  We pray for things and answers that we cannot see.  Our battle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). 

God can, and will be, gloried. His arm isn't too short. He knows better than we do what is going on in El Salvador. He loves this young lady, and every youth, more than we do.  He is sovereign, He will be exalted, and He will be glorified. He is the God of the impossibles.  He is the God of hope.  He is God. It's really that awesome and it's really that simple.

The day before Stewart's funeral Bobby and Elias went to Stewart's mother's home for the visitation (visitations are often held in the families' homes). While walking to her home, they were confronted by 3 gang members who angrily told them that they had entered into their territory and then demanded an account of who Bobby and Elias were and where they were going. After a lot of questioning, they were allowed to go.  God is still in control.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9

We ask that you would pray for us, and this ministry, today.  We need your prayers. The youth need your prayers. A nation needs your prayers. Not just a little "in passing" prayer. Prayer that is unceasing, persistent, united, penetrative, desperate prayer.  The prayer that takes hold of God and will not let Him go. Let us pray. 

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.  1 Samuel 12:23