A young man and I (Angie) have been working in the community and with youth since my arrival here in Juarez. A member of the center recommended that I talk to him because of his involvement with the youth and adolescents in the area. He, his wife, and I all enjoyed soccer and with that he started a local soccer tournament in the neighborhood of which we live. A few weeks back on the first day of the tournament, there was gunfire in the area, and a woman was killed. Last sunday after the tournmanet had ended he was kidnapped from his home. Those that kidnapped handled negotations for his release with the family, they requested 150,000 pesos for his ransom. The family paid his ransom and he has since fled from Juarez becuase he and his wife are in so much danger. This is so sad because he and his wife are some of the most amazing people I have met, and they were friends of mine. Finding out that he had been sequestered affected not only his family, the church, but myself and the community that he works in. The kids we work with are heartbroken, and confused because it makes no sense, serves no purpose, and there is nothing they can do about it, they just lost friends of their community. The gentleman and his wife rightfully and wisely are choosing not to return to Juarez, not even to gather their belongings from their house. A very large amount of people have been taken, secuestered, or murdered, it is the reality that people around here deal with every day.
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