On May 7, 2009 Open Doors International released a report that two men had entered the home of church leader Jose Rodriguez and his wife Emilse Maria del Carmen. The men opened fire; Jose and Emilse did not survive. They left behind three children, Heidy (9), Ambar (2), and Juan (2mths). This is their story...
The small brown fingers of a nine year old girl dug their way into the moist Colombian soil. As her hand pulled away a fistful of dirt, the pudgy forefinger and thumb of her two year old sister dropped a small seed into the ground.
It was Sunday morning, and the Rodriguez family had been unable to go to church because of unrest in the Arauca area. Heidy and Ambar, the daughters of Jose and Emilse Rodriguez were out working in the garden, their efforts evidenced by the small row of little dirt mounds retreating behind the girls’ crouched figures.
In the middle of scooping a handful of dirt, Heidy’s hand froze in alarm. Her head snapped to the left as the sound of a door slammed against the side of the rough plaster wall of the Rodriguez’ home. From the back garden, Heidy could hear the deep angry voices of men calling into the house, but could see no one. She jumped up, her right hand holding a fistful of dirt and her left hand holding her little sister, and ran towards the voices.
As the girls neared the house, Heidy looked through the doorway and saw the outline of her mother step towards the intruders. Heidy heard her mother begin to say something, but the words had barely left her lips when a shot rang out. Heidy’s mother crumbled to the floor, and Heidy, pulling Ambar with her, dropped to the ground in shock. Just as she was beginning to comprehend that someone had shot her mother, another shot rang out and her mother’s body jerked.
Ambar began to cry. Heidy pulled Ambar against her chest to shield the two year olds eyes and then buried her own face in Ambar’s dark curly hair. But she could not block out the dreadful sounds that came out of the house. The gun rang out again. And again. And again.
Eight times the intruders pointed their guns at Emilse Rodriguez. During a brief pause, Heidy looked up and through her hot tears saw her father Jose in the room. Six more gun shots echoed through the house and Jose’s body slumped to the floor next to his wife’s.
The front door slammed and the men’s voices faded into the distance. Heidy remained low to the ground--shaking. Eventually, Ambar began to kick and squirm. Heidy slowly got up and then allowed the toddler to pull her towards the doorway through which the nightmare had occurred.
Inside, Heidy saw her parents’ wounded bodies—it was the last time she would ever see them.
Ambar did not understand what had happened and tried to place her small hand on their mother’s bloody cheek. Heidy pulled her hand away, but not before the two year old had gotten blood on her fingers. When Heidy began to cry, so did the confused toddler. As the girls held each other and cried, their mother’s blood and the dirt on their hands mixed with their tears and leaving dark streaks on their faces.
Looking through the side window, Heidy could see her grandparents and neighbors coming towards the house. They would take care of the bodies; right now all Heidy wanted to do was run away. She took her sister’s hand and led her back outside. Someday Heidy would explain to Ambar that their parents had been Christian martyrs—murdered by one of Colombia’s guerrilla groups because they believed in Christ. But in that moment all Heidy could do was whisper in the little girl’s ear, "My parents are now in heaven. And we are under Lord Jesus."
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