assaulted by Ruth Bivens     Find out more about the ministry of Free Will Baptist Home Missions by visiting their website www.homemissions.net.

PASTOR ROGELIO PEREZ AND HIS WIFE ISABEL were assaulted at gunpoint in their own home Sunday morning Feb. 11, 2007. Throughout the ordeal they prayed and God wonderfully honored their prayer.

When Rogelio unlocked his front gate that Sunday morning, he was preparing to go to the market to pick up fresh flowers for the church. Three young men waiting outside the gate asked him for a drink of water. As he went for the water two of the young men followed him to the front door.

When he returned with the water, the men shoved him back inside while brandishing a pistol. One knocked him to the floor, grabbed his wife, and forced her to lie beside him. Placing the gun against Brother Rogelio’s temple, he cocked the trigger

As the second man dumped out drawers, turned over things and ransacked the house, Brother Rogelio and his wife felt a great sense of calm. They discussed the fact that Jesus prayed for his enemies and agreed that they should do the same. They began to pray loudly for the Lord to forgive the young men who were treating them with such disrespect.

Finding only two twenty peso bills (about four U.S. dollars), one of the men took the money, Brother Rogelio’s watch, and his wife’s cell phone, then phoned the young man who was watching outside the gate. He apparently told them to get out of the house quickly. The two yanked brother Rogelio and his wife to their feet, shoved them into the bathroom and ran out the door.

Brother Rogelio gave testimony of the miraculous deliverance they experienced when he spoke to his congregation the following Sunday. He wished to publish this story as a testimony to the power and protection of the Lord. A strong drug cartel is at work in the area, and a lot of petty thievery is drug-related. During face to face confrontations, it is rare that the person who is assaulted escapes unharmed, especially if a gun is involved.

Since the assault, Brother Rogelio’s wife has suffered a profound insecurity, bordering on panic. She is afraid to leave the home after dark, insisting that the house be completely closed and locked as soon as the sun goes down. Please pray for her.

Brother Rogelio Perez is an ordained deacon from the Betania FWB Church who founded and pastors the Bethel FWB Mission Church in the Lopez Mateo Colonia in Altamira, Tamps. Mexico. He also serves as the Director of the IBLAC Bible Institute in Altamira.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Ruth Bivens and her husband Bud are veteran missionaries to Mexico.