Violence Against
Latin American Adventists
Adventists Added
Aug 24, 2010, Under: Headlines Violence Against Latin American Adventists Not many people in States even hear about it By Greg Szymanski, JD GRANADA, NICARAGUA — In neighboring Guatemala, a rash of
violence against 7th Day Adventists pastors and church members has virtually
gone unreported in the States. According
to onlookers of the worldwide religious scene, Adventists are “the last of
the Christians” to make a pure stand against Rome, “the Beast in
Revelations”, bent on creating a one world religion based on anti-biblical
principles. The
Vatican itself has admitted in many of their formal writings the battle lines
of Christianity will come down to the Sabbath, saying either you follow 7th
Day Adventists and worship on Saturday, the seventh day, or follow Roman
Catholic tradition and worship on Sunday, the first day of the
week. Although
the day of the Sabbath seems meaningless to many modern day “Christians”, the
issue according to uncompromising Bible scholars is paramount, pitting
God’s Commandment and law set forth in both the Old and New Testament against
man’s authority touted through Roman Catholic dogma and tradition. This
will be the final clash, says internationally known 7th Day “Adventist
speaker, Professor Walter Veith. adding Rome will
demand its authority through a Sunday law be recognized. Those who refuse, Veith continues, will be classified as heretics and will
face the long standing Roman Catholic punishment of death. Whether
the string of violence against Adventists in Guatemala is related to the
above struggle is unknown, but it should be considered, according to numerous
true Bible believing onlookers, especially when looking at how Rome has dealt
with true Bible believers in the past. Here
is a story that appeared in 2009 after an Adventist pastor was gunned down in
Guatemala: In
Guatemala, Adventists mourn murdered pastor
Church
members, community affected by increasing violence as Mexico cracks down on
drug cartels 4
Mar 2009, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Seventh-day
Adventists are mourning the loss of a minister after he was gunned down in
Guatemala’s southern region February 26. Erick
Cerritos, 33, a native of Guatemala, was traveling in his car with his family
when he was intercepted by another car and shot several times. Cerritos,
who had spent more than a decade serving as a minister in the neighboring country of Honduras, is the latest victim in
a string of escalating violence the church in Guatemala has experienced. “This
is a terrible tragedy brought out by the unstoppable violence here in
Guatemala hitting our Adventist family these last few months,” said Juan
Lopez, Communication director for the Adventist Church in Central Guatemala. Investigators
believe the incident might have been a case of mistaken identity, Lopez said. He
reports that more than 120 Adventists have been affected by violence since
the beginning of 2008. “There
have been 12 church members murdered, 100 extortions and 10 kidnappings by
gang members and drug traffickers throughout the country,” he said. Lopez
explained that the Mexican government has recently intensified its fight
against drug trafficking. Many cartels have crossed the southern border into
Guatemala and brought their operations and violence with them. Church
leaders and members gathered for a memorial service in Guatemala City the day
after the murder. Cerritos’s body was later
transported to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where hundreds gathered on Saturday,
February 28 for a special service. “We
are still in shock in Honduras,” said Walter Ciguenza,
Communication director for the church’s Mid-Central American region,
headquartered in Honduras. “This
has hit our church very hard,” said Ciguenza, who
explained that in the more than 10 years he has served in Honduras nothing
like this has ever hit the church so hard. More
than 800 people crowded the Comayaguela Adventist
Church in Tegucigalpa during a Sabbath morning memorial service for the late
pastor. More people followed the radio broadcast of the program. Cerritos was
remembered for his dedicated pastoral leadership in the districts of Rio
Grande, La Hacienda and La Era in Honduras. Winston
Simpson, Ministerial Association secretary for the church in Mid-Central
America, spoke of the great loss to his pastoral team and offered words of
hope to those mourning. “We
are saddened for losing Pastor Cerritos,” said Simpson. “We must continue in
faith in finishing the work God has called us to do.” Cerritos
pursued his theology degree from the Adventist University in Costa Rica and
obtained a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from the Inter-American
Theological Seminary in 2007. He is survived by his wife and three-year-old
daughter. Meanwhile,
leaders in Guatemala continue to be concerned with the safety of their
members. Just a day after the memorial, a pastor who had finished preaching
was violently assaulted and treated for a cut to his head requiring 10
stitches. Lopez
said that churches in Guatemala are planning to organize a nationwide march
against violence in the coming weeks. -Juan
Lopez contributed to this story |