Several uniformed police officers attempted to seal the two entrances to Vida Nueva, despite a plea from church representatives to take no action until a legal recourse (an appeal) could be filed with the city, Covenant News Service was informed. The accompanying two photos show several officers in front of one of the church entrances, with a closer view of the seal placed on one of the doorways. Other photos are available at Vida Nueva.
“What to do?” writes a missionary with the Evangelical Covenant Church in an email this morning. “Today our lawyer prepared a recourse, but by the time it was ready the mayor’s office was closed. We asked the police to wait until tomorrow to give us time to present the legal recourse first thing in the morning.”
The two policemen called their supervisor who arrived a short time later. “He in turn consulted with one of the political authorities, but to no avail – ‘orders were orders’,” they said. “They were going to seal our church.”
The missionary eventually contacted a friend who works with a different religious organization who also is a lawyer. “He told us to present the prepared document at the Post Office and to plant ourselves at the (church) entrance, saying that by constitutional right we oppose their sealing of our church. The police sealed one entrance, but not the second – we planted ourselves in front of the second entrance.
“We still have access to our church,” the missionary continues, “and legally, after presenting the recourse through the Post Office, seem to have a strong case to at least buy us some time. Praise God!”
The missionary requests that concerned Christians be in prayer for a positive resolution to the situation, and especially for the continued consultations with the attorney and interaction with municipal officials.
