Fearless in the face of danger

Q: How can I pray if I’m in a dangerous situation?

A: I was on a two-week service trip in Guatemala when I found myself in the middle of a frightening situation on what started out as a normal afternoon bus ride. Every day after teaching English at a school my friends and I took the public buses back to the city where we were staying. Traveling with the locals proved to be extremely culturally enriching and most days we enjoyed a combination of soaking in the Spanish language and listening to the wonderful music.

One day, though, as my group was on the bus nearing our final destination, two men boarded, then separated from each other, with one sitting next to one of my group leaders, and the other coming back to join my friends and me. We began a conversation, and the man managed to utter a few sentences in broken English. Then, all of a sudden, seeing the GoPro camera we had with us, the man mistook us for undercover cops, and started to accuse us in a very aggressive tone. After a few sentences, he even made a death threat. Because the music was loud and the bus crowded, no one else could hear what was going on. Panic descended on our little group, as our peaceful day of service and love quickly turned into something dangerous and frightening.

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