Just like any other day...Until

Just like any other day, I was walking to class when I noticed that there was a large group of people standing outside the school. It was obvious that something was wrong but I couldn´t tell quite what was going on. I finally got closer to the school and looked inside to see two dead bodies. One was a man and the other was his child. That was the first time I had seen a dead body but unfortunately it would not be the last.

Just like any other day, I was with my family walking back to our house. All of a sudden, we heard what sounded like fireworks going off. Here in Perú it is common to have festivals where fireworks go off and so I thought there was a party going on. I asked my dad if we could go but he acted kind of strangely and made us hurry to the house and stay there for the night. In the morning, I went with my sister to go find where the party was and see if there was any candy on the ground from throwing it out the night before. We went to the center because it sounded like it was coming from that direction and that was a common place for celebrations to happen. When we got there we saw an image that will forever be ingrained in my mind. There were what seemed to be dozens of dead bodies strewn around everywhere. Many of the bodies were so bloody and torn apart that you could barely even tell that they were human bodies. We also smelt what I later learned was acid that the terrorists had used as a weapon but also to clean some of the blood and bodies from the streets.

Just like any other day, I went to get a hair cut at my friends salon in the center. I was sitting with my head in the dryer when all of the sudden there was a loud explosion and much of the building caved in. The salon was across from a police station that had been destroyed with a car bomb. We were all wandering around the salon trying to find each other which was hard through the haze and our ears were still ringing from the explosion. Then, four armed military personnel came running in and asked us who we were and what we were doing there. It should have seemed pretty obvious from the state of my hair but I calmly answered their questions because I knew that one wrong answer could lead to my death. They brought us all to a dark cold room and kept us there for almost 3 days. Meanwhile my family was at home thinking the worse. After I didn´t show up that night they were worried but when I didn´t show up for two more days they thought for sure that I was dead. I was fortunate that day that the soldiers did let me go. Many in my same circumstance were not so lucky.

Sorry if I scared any of you but these stories are obviously not stories that happened to me. They are, however, true stories that I have heard from friends and other people here in Ayacucho. Beginning in 1980 there was a communist party called Sendero Luminoso or "Shining Path" that failed to get recognition or into positions of power and so they resorted to terrorism. The government then sent troops to the area of Ayacucho to fight against the terrorists but they often resorted to blindly killing people in an effort to wipe out all the terrorists. One person was even quoted as saying "about 1 in 100 people we imprison or execute are most likely linked to Sendero Luminoso". Between the years 1980-2000 there were a reported 69,280 people dead or missing, of those, about 50% was attributed to Sendero Luminoso, 35% to the armed forces and the remaining deaths from smaller guerrilla groups, local militia and people fighting back against Sendero Luminoso or the Military.

I could not even begin to imagine what these people went through. I have pulled out two well known verses to show both what a response from the people may have been and one of the hardest verses to read with events like this in mind.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, and am not silent.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;

you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust;

they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved;

in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by men and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

“He trusts in the Lord;

let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb;

you made me trust in you

even at my mother’s breast.

From birth I was cast upon you;

from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Do not be far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is no one to help.

Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

Roaring lions tearing their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted away within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs have surrounded me;

a band of evil men has encircled me,

they have pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones;

people stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them

and cast lots for my clothing.

But you, O Lord, be not far off;

O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

Deliver my life from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dogs.

Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;

save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my brothers;

in the congregation I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised or disdained

the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him

but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied;

they who seek the Lord will praise him—

may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

will bow down before him,

for dominion belongs to the Lord

and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;

future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness

to a people yet unborn—

for he has done it.

(Psalm 22)


“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.(Luke 6: 27-36)

Peace,

Brandon