May 20, 2002
City council closes Mexican church's new building
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___ZAACHILA, Mexico--The city council of a Mexican town has closed a thriving Baptist church there without explanation.
___Native Texans Jim and Becky Wagoner are Southern Baptist Convention missionaries working in the town of Zaachila, located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
___A sign reading "clausurado," or "closed," was pasted over the door to the simple church building after the city council voted to lock out members from their meeting place, the Wagoners reported. The sign also warns in smaller print that anyone who removes the sign will be subject to arrest and punishment.
PASTOR José Antonio Ramîrez and missionary Jim Wagoner stand outside the Jesus is Lord Baptist Church building, which has been closed by the city council in Zaachila, Mexico.
___Church members are allowed neither to enter the building nor to remove any item from the building.
___Jesus is Lord Baptist Church began two years ago with a small number of people and has grown to about 200 adults. About a year ago, the church bought a piece of property and began construction on a building, the Wagoners explained.
___"The people in the neighborhood where the new congregation is located have been against it from the beginning," the missionaries said. "They have their own religion, and Christianity is not welcome. They have attempted on several occasions in the past year to close the doors."
___Zaachila is a historical town that once was the capital of the Zapotec empire, an ancient civilization.
___Lack of access to their building has not stopped Jesus is Lord Baptist Church from meeting, however. The church now gathers behind a member's home in the shade of a tree, sometimes under a cloth top.
___"The people are responding with their prayers and their presence," the Wagoners said. "The church has to rent chairs each week, because the city even refuses them the right to enter the church to take out anything there."
___Although the opposition of the city council has hampered the Christian church, such discrimination is not allowed under the Mexican Constitution. "There is no precedent for this action," the Wagoners said. "The Mexican Constitution declares religious liberty to all Mexicans. The local city government does not have either the authority or the power to close down a church, but they did."
___Pastor José Antonio Ramîrez has told his congregation he will not force the matter with legal action against the city council because he fears that would present a bad witness.
___"The church will have to move or face continued opposition," the Wagoners reported. "This will be an expensive move, since the church has used all its funds on purchasing the present property and putting up the building. Jose Antonio believes God will provide these funds."
___Meanwhile, Jesus is Lord Baptist Church has been working with the Wagoners to establish a congregation in Jalpan, a small town near Zaachila where there never has been an evangelical Christian church.
___Jim Wagoner is an agricultural missionary. He works with local churches in outreach, and he also helps residents plant small gardens and provides vaccinations for their animals.
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