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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Just Trying to Go to Church, Sir!
Steve, Kent and I were on our way to church on Sunday. We crossed the border into Mexico and promptly received a "red-light" which means we have to pull into an inspection station. The border patrol agent looked into our vehicle for a few seconds, and then said we could go on. We went on about 200 feet, and encountered a military unit, which waved us over and told us to stop. A soldier leaned in Steve's window and let loose with a barrage of Spanish, which in essence meant, "Get out of the car, we're searching you for drugs, bombs and weapons!" In light of the fact that we were in their country, (and they appeared to be armed and dangerous, as it were), we exited the vehicle and let them have at it! :-) 3 of them searched in every nook and cranny, every drink holder and storage area, and under the seats and dashboard. The rest of them stood faithfully beside us, with their machine guns and AK-47s, lest we make a break! Our dearly beloved family and coworkers, the Sankeys, were traveling in their van behind us, and simply ignored us in our plight, pretended they didn't know us, and drove ahead. :-) But, not wanting this great event to go undocumented, Melodie took this picture. It was taken through the van window, so it is not the best quality, but I think you get the idea. The soldiers, upon finding nothing of interest, except our Bibles, kindly released us and we made it to the church on time!
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26 comments:
That feels really funny doesn't it? The last time I was in Mexico as a teen, we were leaving to come home in the middle of the night because some of us were sick . . . We were out in the middle of no where and they pulled us over and gave us the full inspection/search with AK 47's . . . It was a particularly turbulent time there anyway.
Obviously, brought back some memories.
Well, take care!
Lizzy
WOW! I've been a little nervous to go over there. But I guess if you have nothing to hide - not much to fear!
That would have been a little nerve-wracking! Glad you guys came through unscathed!
That had to be unsettling. Did they think you all were a new breed of drug smugglers? I wonder what they said after you left and not being able to find anything. Glad you came away okay. Take care now :)
Oh my word! That looks SO scary! Glad you are fine. It's nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humor...
Just trying to preserve the moment for posterity!
Looks great...and you can be sure my dear sister wouldn't let that one go. **Go, Mel! We wanted to see!** 8-)
Okay - I didn't mean the situation looked great....I meant the picture looked great...in case anyone would misunderstand. haha
I got pulled over for speeding on the way to church in Kentucky one time,,,,,guess thats not a good comparison, huh? :-D The MP asked what I was doing and I said "on the way to church",, he said he couldn't give a ticket to someone going to church,,, so I drove away, and feeling quite shaken, turned around and went back home. Do you think I owe Fort Knox MP station a restitution?? :-)
Oh my! That gives me whole new appreciation for trying to get to church...sometimes everything seems to go wrong. I guess it's all relative! ha! Hope that you all are doing well!
Well, Beth you brought laughter to a potentially very unnerving story! I pray you all won't have to go through that again!
I remember seeing similar sights in Northern Ireland when I was there. It's a bit un-nerving to see soldiers patrolling the streets with tanks and machine guns in the evening. Makes me thankful for the USA!
And how sweet of your sis-in-law to snap this picture ;) But ya'll do look like you're taking it all in stride!
That's so funny!(?) Wish I'd have been there.... in the OTHER car! :)
I just knew there was something fishy about you folks! You definitely look like drug dealers to me. =)
Yeah, I was gonna say it too -- if you didn't look so suspicious, so shifty and sly, so devious, maybe you wouldn't have such problems!
Ha ha, right?
I remember when we first arrived in Guatemala and went to the bank with someone (your dad, Beth?) and saw soldiers armed with automatic weapons standing guard both outside and in . . . it's a real dose of culture shock!
Once, on our way to Mataquescuintla, we were stopped by a soldier for an inspection. A missionary with us told him that we had nothing of interest with us except our swords, which really made the guy search fervently. Finally the missionary told him that he meant our Bibles. Later we learned that there had been a murder in the town and they were looking for the killer(s)!
OK, Beth, I don't have a "going to church" story to match that one. Glad you guys are ok, except for the scare!
Hey, people come to see me here looking for drugs with their own bombs (I wish I was kidding)! You guys are nuts, but that's why we love ya'! Just don't make us pray any harder for you than we already do and keep your camera ready for the eventual Sankey moment.
Okay... I had to laugh because a sudden thought of what would happen if WE were stopped by anyone to search OUR van. Even though we only live about 7 minutes from church, We still wouldn't be ON TIME! You all are great! You know you are doing good if you can STILL make it on time! :-D
WHEW! Sorry for that scare...I know that wasn't fun. Since we don't have a vehicle here yet, we haven't had any thing like that happen. Glad that they didn't find any drugs...and that you made it to church on time. =D So nice of Melodie to snap a pic, but not stop to help get ya'll off of the hook. HA! (No, I realize that in that kind of situation, they would NOT appreciate some one else stopping to "help".)
Love, Heather
Beth, thanks for commenting on my blog. Love "having you on for the ride" even if we don't go very fast (that means blog very often)! I enjoy your posts. This is such a neat way to stay connected.
Your blog made us feel like we were there -- well, sort of! What an experience! Have you started a book -- or maybe you should just compile your blogs and you'll have a great one!
Happy Birthday Tia.
Beth, I hope that you have a Happy Birthday today, Sunday, Feb. 10th!
Appreciate y'all!
Heather and family! =)
Bless your heart!! Not many people have that kind of experience on the way to Sunday School, eh?! Glad everything turned out ok.
Thanks so much for your kind comments on our blog It's so nice to have you stop by! Trust you are enjoying a good day. God bless!!
Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog...Danny and I decided that "BTW" must be texting script and that we will learn this kind of language when we have teenagers! ha! Happy Valentine's Day to you and your family!
Hi, Beth, I saw that you found my blog. You must live a very exciting life down there!!! God's blessings and protection be upon you!!!
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