Army guys- Prayer request

The violence between Drug Cartels has increased markedly in the last month. The Mexican Gov't has sent an additional 2000 army guys into Tijuana to patrol, weed out and either kill or arrest the Drug Cartel leaders.

Since we've been in Mexico there have always been Army guys doing "Random" searches of every 10-15 cars (usually new pick-ups and SUV's) and I've been stopped once and searched, but it was no big deal.

Yesterday I was on my way to classes in the Eastern Colonias of Tijuana when I was passed through an army checkpoint with hummers like these ones pictured here. As I turned off pavement onto dirt- there was another checkpoint- by 2 guys. There were several other soldiers in a nearby house and a hummer driving around. The soldiers asked me to get out of the truck and searched quite thoroughly my vehicle and questioned me about what I was out in this poor area if I lived so far away. after about 10-15 minutes they let me go.

And my 1991 Ford Explorer wouldn't start. It was dead. Nothing. I had forgotten to bring my cell phones ( a big no no here) and was stuck about 1km from the church in a not so safe to walk in area. The soldiers told me to open the hood, so I did (they had large sub-machine guns- I did whatever they asked) and one of them proceeded to hit my battery posts with his gun and then told me to try to start it. I did, and, praise God, it worked. so off I went and off the soldiers went to their next place.

Please continue to pray for our safety. There have been 100 murders in Tijuana in the last 3 weeks. The usual number for a year is about 300+ the same as cities like Washington Dc, New Orleans and many other US cities. But this year the battles between drug cartels and police and army has escalated the violence exponentially. Almost all of these murders are rival drug cartels battling each other or police.

Recently it's become a little closer to home with 2 people we know having had their cars stolen at gunpoint this last year and a teenage daughter of one of our pastors almost kidnapped. There was a police killed on the road in his own car only about 5 minutes drive from us and now- the army's heavy presence in the areas I work. It is fueling a bit of insecurity on our part and could use your prayers for wisdom, discernment, guidance and protection.

Thanks for standing with us in prayer!

McDonald's in Mexico