Arriving at the church today in the Reynosa prison I was greeted by Juan smiling from ear to ear. He was excited and wanted to be the first to inform me about the meeting with the rogue group and cartel boss this past Friday. He told me there was no meeting, but really couldn’t give me all the details. Victor (our prison pastor) took me in the office to give me the details.
Friday morning came and everyone was waiting at the church for the forth-coming meeting. As time passed they grew progressively anxious not know what to expect. It is sad that a group calling itself religious would go to the cartel to mediate what they felt was a spiritual problem. Some have asked me what I felt the boss would do; if he would do anything. All I know is that this is the same man that just about beat Victor to death a year ago for not allowing the cartel to use the church facility to store their illegal contraband. NOW HE IS COMING TO THE CHURCH TO MEDIATE A FACILITY USAGE DISAGREEMENT! There would be no reason for him to come unless he were planning to take some type of action.
As time passed nobody showed up. A little after noon Victor was outside the church when the cartel boss passed by and just lifted his hand to Victor as if to wave to him. Victor thought it strange that he would do so, but learned later that evening that the boss had gained his freedom and had been released from prison! It was as if the boss were telling Victor bye before leaving! Though there wasn’t any relationship that had developed over this past year after Victor’s beating, the cartel has gained some respect towards Victor for not breaking down when he was beaten. As one cartel man said; “We tried to break him, but Victor would not break”. Pastor Victor remained faithful to his God, and true to his godly principles. We thank the Lord for the resolution of this matter. The new boss; though he is what he is, has somewhat of a respect for religious things, and it is believed that he will pretty much leave the church in peace. The Lord truly knows how to work things out in His own way.