Incident at Casa Cielo

Well after a couple of extended phone conversations with Evelyn and a firsthand account from Jeannie, I think we now have a pretty good understanding as to what happened in Cacao (I have probably miss-spelled this. It is the general village/area between Sambo Creek and Jutiapa).



Mama, Papa and Joy Jones



First let me recap the who and where of this incident. For those of you who have been with us to Belarie, you will remember Papa (Leonard) and Mama (Marie) Jones of the Casa Cielo Orphanage (http://www.casaderoc.org/). You should also recall the Jones’ daughter Joy and their daughter Jeannie and son-in-law Del Sambucetti.  



Jeannie and Del Sambucetti



Whereas, Leonard, Marie, Del and Joy’s focus is primarily on the children of the Orphanage, Jeannie is the person most responsible for the bilingual school that is across the street from the current location of the Orphanage. She is the person most capable of relating the events of last Saturday. Her powerful testimony follows:

“As I woke up Saturday morning, all I could think of was the list of things I needed to get done at the school, and all the e-mails that were stacking up on me.  I never knew that April 2nd would become a day I would never forget. As I arrived to the school I started on all the tasks I needed to get done printing tickets for the school’s barbeque, responding to e-mails, and going over plans with my mom for my birthday party.
 
A day prior we had a meeting with the parents of the school to find a solution because the classrooms are so hot. One of the ideas was getting air units for the classroom, and we had scheduled for Saturday to be the day to get the price quotes for them.  We were raising the money to purchase them by having a barbecue the next week.  I received a call from Jessy, one of the student’s mom, she had told me she would be arriving in 15 minutes to pick me up. She had picked up the money from the treasurer, who was suppose to go with us, to put a down payment if we saw something affordable.
 
My mom was trying to finish telling me all the details, and to go ahead and take advantage of the trip to La Ceiba to pick up the piñata and cake for my birthday.  After I kissed my mom goodbye and warned Joy that she better finish her homework, I walked out of the school to head for the truck.
 
I opened the back door thinking the Treasurer of the PTA would be in the front seat, but at the last moment she had decided she couldn’t go. I went around the truck to get in front, waved and smiled at the bodyguard in the back of the truck. My smile was the last smile Kenneth ever saw.
 
As I got in the passenger seat of the truck, I started to look at the paperwork with her to make sure I didn’t forget anything. Something caught Jessy's attention; she turned around and saw a truck that had started opening fire on us. While she was getting her child on the floorboard of the car she started screaming, “They are shooting at us, they are shooting at us.” I immediately started to repeat the name of Jesus, and started to pray for protection. I slouched as low as I could in the passenger seat and continued to pray as Jessy screamed for her daughter, who was in the back seat. I looked into her eyes, and told her, “We are going to be ok.”  I thought they were never going to stop shooting. Glass and bullets were flying in the car.  By this time all I could see out of the front window was a shadow of a man with a gun, the window had shattered and it was very difficult to see through it. I thought, “ Now they have come to the front to shoot.” I started screaming the name of Jesus even louder.
 
The back door opened in the car and Jessy started to yell, “ Not my daughter” over and over again. By this time, I could hear they had taken something with them, and I thought they had taken the little girl. I thought, “Ok, God I’m ready” as I thought they were going to open my door next, they didn’t though. They opened Jessy’s door, and that is when I realized her daughter was still in the car. They had taken her purse and when they opened her door they wanted mine. I quickly passed the purse to them. Seconds had passed when we didn’t hear anything, as I turned around I noticed they were closing the doors of their truck and backing away.
 
 As soon as they left we ran into the school with Sofia, who was bleeding severely from several different areas. As her mom fell to the floor of the school my mom caught her, and started praying for her. As I took Sofia to the bathroom, I started to examine her. Her head was bleeding from the glass that had shattered, and their was a bullet hole in her back. As I opened the door of the bathroom, I looked at the floor and could see the locks of hair that had fallen from her hair.  I’m assuming it was from the glass that was flying in the car.  As I went outside, the bodyguard was laying face down, in the font of the truck. My mom was screaming for someone to help. Joy was frantically calling my dad and Jessy was calling for someone to pick them up to take them to the hospital.  All I could hear was screaming, Jessy for her daughter, and my mom mom who was now praying for life for this 20 yr. old boy.
 
As her husband arrived we jumped into the car.  Sofia started throwing up and was having seizures. I had one hand on Sofia, and one on Jessy as I was fervently praying for peace, healing, protection, and that God would reveal himself to them.  While we were in the car the Mayor and his bodyguard were looking back and forth to make sure no one was following us. I thought to myself, “Why did I get in this car?” but I knew that God wanted me there. Sofia had lost a lot of blood, and I had not stopped praying. Moments later we were at the hospital and Sofia was being looked at.
 
 At this point, I was settling down and could feel pain in my chest and back, I hadn’t thought to check myself for bullets. I quickly went into the bathroom to wash the blood off. I could not find one bullet hole in me, my only injury was a 2mm opening from glass that had hit my hand. I had just experienced a MIRACLE!!! As I sat in the emergency room I prayed until I knew Sofia was stable.
 
I had taken my mom’s phone, as mine was stolen, and called my dad to pick me up. Del was cancelling our credit cards and checkbook. At that point I broke down. I didn’t have to be strong anymore, as my dad was on the phone with me.
 
Only by God’s grace was I able to come out of that truck alive. Only by His grace was I able to keep it together for so long. I replay the incident over & over in my head, and have wondered how can I thank God enough. I’M ALIVE!
 
As my dad and the police inspected the scene, it was concluded that the truck was shot with an AK47 and another revolver. They had found over 22 shell casings, and people at the scene had picked many others up. The attack was meant for the mayor as an assassination attempt on his life.  It just happened that his wife drove his car that day.
 
I’m sharing my experience with you because I want you to know what Jesus did for me, and to say that He would do the same for you. As only 24 hours have past since this experience, I am gratefully eternal to God for protecting me through it all. Please, continue to pray for me as I deal with all the emotions that someone goes through when something like this happens. Also, for my mom and sister who witnessed what happened. We need continual prayer for our safety.
 


I pray that my experience touches others, so you can see how special we really are to HIM!”



The First Lady of Jutiapa



Again, those of you that have worked at the Clinica del Los Angeles will probably remember Jessy. She is the wife of the Mayor of Jutiapa. Since her husband owns the private clinic in Jutiapa, Jessy often helps our medical teams both as a nurse and as a source of medical supplies. She is a devoted friend to Evelyn and, by extension, to AHMEN. We are so very grateful that Jeannie, Jessy and Sofia survived the shooting and are expected to recover physically. And we pray that God will embrace each of these and grant them piece of mind and spirit in the days ahead.

At this point it is not known with certainty who or why the attack occurred. But there are facts that suggest a most probable cause. When Jessy’s husband was first elected as Mayor he initiated a campaign to clean out corruption in the local government. One of his first official acts was to fire several members of the established police force. To accomplish this, the Mayor called in Federal forces from Tegucigalpa. This was viewed by the bad guys as being an informant. It has been no secret that one or more of these individuals carries a grudge against the Mayor.

It is worth noting at this juncture that Jessy and Sofia were not in Jessy’s car on Saturday, but were instead had borrowed the Mayor’s vehicle. It is also important that the gunmen did not kill the women when clearly they could have. The general sentiment is that the Mayor was the target, and Jeannie, Jessy and Sofia were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Where does this put us? The world is a dangerous place, and we have for some time known that there has been an escalation of violence throughout Latin America. We must continue to be vigilant and security minded in our work and travel. We must also know that there is more need now than ever for us to be in prayer and action in Honduras. I am looking forward to being once again with our friends at the Clinica del Los Angeles and at the Casa Cielo Orphanage in June. I ask that we all pray for these wonderful people.

Amor en Cristo,

guf