The Long Reach of Captain Brenton's Prayers

Recently, Mexican officials, in announcing the capture of one of their most powerful drug kingpins, described his elusive nature over the decades, through not only the building of tunnels and numerous places to hide, but also in bribing corrupt officials. The combination of Mexican intelligence assisted by American electronic intelligence led to a couple of his hideouts. Then, with the help of the Mexican Marines, they were able to capture him. One of the reasons for this success was that of all of the law enforcement agencies in Mexico, the Mexican Marines are the most resistant to bribery and compromise. They are an elite group of commando-like armed forces living in a special area of Mexico City, maintaining their integrity while performing their jobs brilliantly. In the two sites they raided, they captured everyone including the kingpin without any loss of life.

As I read this, I realized that these Marines are a branch of the Mexican Navy, and the father of the Mexican Navy is our own Captain Brenton, the British missionary who first evangelized the southwest coast of Mexico from Acapulco down to Ometepec and beyond. He wrote many prayers on the pages of his Bible. In many of those prayers, Captain Brenton asked for the evangelization of and blessings for the people of the Mexican coast.

We, who have been to Mexico for over 40 years, are no doubt partial answers to his prayers, as was the building of the Hospital de la Amistad and the evangelization of that area. It is touching to realize that the fruitful and joyful work we do there is part of God’s ongoing and Captain Brenton’s legacy plan for that area.

Captain Brenton was dispatched to Mexico by Queen Victoria in the late 1800’s to take the tall ship, Zaragosa, to train the officers and men, and to sail the ship over the high seas to prove their competence. Being a man of faith, he, no doubt, prayed fervently for the ongoing success and competence of the Mexican Navy. I wonder if the capability and integrity of the Mexican Navy Marines is due in part to the proficiency of Captain Brenton’s training and his prayers.

We should rejoice that when our genuine prayers are not answered immediately, they will be answered in a positive, productive way, sometime, maybe generations later. Perhaps 30-60% of the Founding Fathers of the 13 Colonies that became America,prayed for their work and this nascent nation. America has been greatly blessed and, although we have gone through and are going through stressful times, we can be grateful for the prayers that follow us through the ages.

Jerre Freeman, MD