The Book that Helped Us Understand

Thanks to our friend and brother in Christ, Keith Kaufold, we want to share with you a book that helped us better understand religion, politics and rebellion in Chiapas. Because of some work he did in seminary at PTS following a mission trip to Mexico, Keith found a book that really offered great insight into...

• The history of catholicism and missionaries in Chiapas
  
• Why the Presbyterians distance themselves so much from the catholics in Chiapas
• Why the Presbyterians here do not consider catholics in Chiapas to be Christians
• Why the Presbyterians so adamantly oppose any alcohol consumption
  
• Why many Presbyterians reject Liberation Theology
• Why many Presbyterians were leery of the Zapatista Rebellion
• Why persecution of Protestants in Chiapas is part of their past and part of their present story

The book has alternating chapters...chapters that tell the story of one particular little girl (Pasquala) who experienced persecution....interwoven with chapters of factual information based on the authors' research. And just so you'll know...Pasquala is a real person...alive and well and sharing her story today. John and Keith met her in 2006.

For those of you who are eager to learn and understand more, I strongly encourage you to read The Cross and the Sword: The Rebellion and Revolution in Chiapas, Mexico by Carl Lawrence and Benjamin Rule. The book is apparently out of print but can be bought new or used from one of several Amazon partner book sellers. Thanks for sharing, Keith!