Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: April 26, 2025
Today marks one year since a group of Protestant Christians were forced from the villages of Coamila and Rancho Nuevo in Hidalgo State (Mexico).
They spent months living in an overcrowded sports complex before an agreement was finally reached with village leaders in September, which should have allowed the displaced Christians to return home.
However, the promises of the agreement were not fulfilled.
Upon the families’ return, villagers destroyed the doors of the church and several members’ houses, looting furniture and stealing the church’s electricity cables again. The families’ water tanks were pierced with machetes, their land was occupied, and a water well was appropriated.
Village leaders made it clear that they had no intention of honouring the agreement because they were the ones in charge of the community.
Unable to return home, and under pressure to leave a sports complex that was never meant to be lived in, the group of displaced Christians decided to move elsewhere to start again.
They’re now in the neighbouring state of Veracruz, where they have named their new community ‘Peace’. Please lift them up in prayer as they continue to rebuild their lives.
We also remember that violations of freedom of religion or belief have not ended in the municipality of Huejutla. A similar problem has arisen in Contepec, where three Protestant families have been pressured to participate in Roman Catholic activities or leave their community due to increased pressure, discrimination, threats and violence.
Please pray:
- For encouragement and provision for the group who were displaced from Coamila and Rancho Nuevo last year. May the Lord bring healing after the months of displacement, and years of discrimination and violence.
- For an end to the pressure, discrimination and threats facing the Protestant families in Contepec.
- That freedom of religion or belief would be respected and upheld for all in Mexico and across the world.