“The masses make history” Left: A young farmer fighting the Shining Path holds the Path’s flag as a trophy. Below: Guerrillas attack a bus on a Shining Path recruitment poster. The young man began to sob. He couldn’t speak, but Sauñe gently led him in prayer. After they prayed together, Sauñe smiled: “God’s Word says that the angels rejoice when someone enters the kingdom of God.” The man showed Sauñe the brown gunny sack. Inside was a small gun and a handful of ammunition. His story wasn’t an idle threat.
Shining Path flag—Alejandro Balaguer Guerillas in Peru—http://www.latinamericanstudies.org
the word lives on
You’re fighting against the God of the Universe. And that God didn’t allow me to open the door last night.” The man said, “Rómulo, from your studies, you know the detailed preparations of the Shining Path. I’ve worked hard in recent months spying on the church. I’ve memorized Bible verses so you would think I was part of the congregation. I’ve even taught other comrades how to set dynamite and destroy churches.” Sauñe had never seen the young man before, but he believed him. “Why are you telling me this now?” The terrorist breathed a heavy sigh. “Last night I was tortured by those Bible verses that I had learned. They were like a hammer pounding inside my head. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore. So this morning I decided to come and talk with you about your faith, about your God. I don’t want to kill you anymore.” Sauñe reached for his Bible and sat down next to the man, saying, “God is working in your life. You need to repent of your sins. You need to stop wasting your life and give it to Jesus instead of the Shining Path. It’s the only way to stop this torture in your head.”
In July 1992 in Manila, Philippines, Sauñe accepted the first Religious Liberty Award from the World Evangelical Fellowship. The award recognized Sauñe’s courageous efforts: proclaiming the gospel; translation work through Wycliffe Bible Translators and the United Bible Society; and servant leadership of TAWA, an indigenous ministry to the Quechua people. A few months after the award ceremony, Sauñe returned to Peru. In spite of the risk of meeting the Shining Path, that September Sauñe and other family members traveled to a small village near Ayacucho to visit the grave of Sauñe’s grandfather, brutally murdered by the Shining Path two years earlier. During the family’s trip home, the Shining Path set up a roadblock and killed Sauñe along with more than 20 others. After shooting Sauñe one terrorist exclaimed, “We got him!” But bullets did not thwart Bible distribution in Peru and elsewhere in Latin America. Sauñe’s death prompted a whole generation to commit their lives to winning Latin America for Christ; his ministry continues today through Asociación Evangélica Runa Simi, which he founded. Shining Path activity declined in the 1990s after the group’s leader, Abimael Guzmán, was sentenced to life in prison, but in the twenty-first century, guerrilla groups still target Christians in Colombia and Venezuela. CH W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Irvine, California. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including One Bright Shining Path. His website is www.terrywhalin.com.
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