MEXICO 2011 - Bad Boys, Bad Boys. Whatcha Gonna Do?

Culiacan, Mexico
Sunday, September 18, 2011
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Bad Boys, Bad Boys. Whatcha Gonna Do?

Had our first experience with the police in Mexico these last couple of days. First on the drive from Pesqueira to Culiacan one of our vehicles was stopped by the police as we were fueling up. Maria was driving and had a few of the other girls from our team with her. After the rest of our caravan had waited for ten minutes to see if the problem she was having with the police would just take care of itself, we got the call in on the walkie-talkie for either Jesse or I to come over and help out. I went over to talk to the police. They seemed friendly enough and I remained calm the entire time…but what they were trying to give Maria a citation for was in question…and they were holding her driver’s license and not giving it back to her. At first they wanted to see the registration and insurance for the Suburban and the trailer. Then they were saying that she drove illegally behind the gas station. They were asking Maria for a lot of money but when I asked them how much the ticket was they said about 250 pesos (or $25 U.S.). We asked them if we could pay them the fine right there and get a receipt, but they said that they couldn’t issue a receipt for the ticket right there. They said that they could take us to an office about five minutes from the gas station. I agreed and hopped into the back of their police car and asked Maria to accompany me and have one of the other vehicles follow us. As soon as they saw that we weren’t going to pay a bribe, they let us go.

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Then as we approached Culiacan, which we found out later is in the middle of a major drug war, we got lost. As Pastor Arnoldo from Rio de Dios tried to guide us in we noticed a fleet of Federal Police with guns drawn pass us on the main road. We were supposed to head straight but the Federal Police pulled into a parking lot just ahead of us with lights flashing and guns drawn. It looked like there was going to be a shoot-out. We quickly stopped and turned around on the main road. Just then, a man in a white vehicle tried to flag us down. I asked if he was the pastor and he said, “No,” but still tried to approach the vehicles. We rolled up the windows, locked the doors and kept going, as we were already shaken up a bit from seeing the Federal Police performing drug busts. It was a scary situation. Come to find out, the man answered correctly. He wasn’t the pastor, but the pastor was in the car with him. I had the team’s safety in mind and accidentally ditched the pastor and his staff in all of the craziness. They were so patient with us. We finally met up with them, apologized, had dinner with them and then were put up into a hotel owned by a believer who attended the church in Culiacan.

 

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Our team ministered during the church service the following day at Rio de Dios with Pastor Arnoldo. We gave testimonies and showed “The Road to Tanzania” video. After the service our team prayed for people who came forward. Our team had some prophetic words for the church and for the pastor and his wife. There were healings and impartations. It was an amazing time in spite of our near run-ins with the police!

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Christian Young