Nancy Davis
I wasn’t there.
Nancy and Sam Davis were riding along a highway 70 miles south of the border town of Reynosa, Mexico, on Wednesday when they approached an illegal roadblock. Rather than stop, they continued driving and were chased by several gunmen in a black pick-up truck, according Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas.
Rather than stop, Sam Davis gunned the engine of their blue 2008 Chevrolet pick-up, a vehicle popular with the dangerous Zetas drug cartel that controls the area. The pursuing gunmen fired at Davis’ truck, and a bullet hit Nancy Davis in the head.
Her husband raced the 70 miles to the Pharr International Bridge, speeding the last part of the way against on-coming traffic to avoid the long lines of northbound cars at the border checkpoint, arriving at 12:25 p.m., according to police reports.
Source: ABC News
I don’t know why Sam didn’t stop at the roadblock.
Neither do I know what I would have done in his shoes.
Unless “in his shoes” means all that it suggests. In that case, I expect I would have done what he did.
Some folks, though, (will) say Sam’s decision to run the roadblock was foolish and/or wrong.
And maybe they’re right. Maybe he shouldn’t have.
But they’re wrong to assert he did the wrong thing or to declare they would have done something different (and, presumably, “smarter”).
They have no idea.
No. Idea. At. All.
They weren’t there.
They weren’t in his shoes.
But I’ll ask them a question: Do you think Sam and Nancy would have been better off stopping for an “interview” with heartless, blood-thirsty, life-is-cheap, unjust, low-on-mercy, possibly-doped narco-terrorists?
You don’t know.
Some will say Sam put more value on their pick-up than on their safety.
And maybe such an assumption would be right. But I think it more likely to be dumb.
Sam may have concluded from previous experience, observation, and analysis (and maybe even prayer?) that they were more likely to die by stopping than by running.
In my armchair quarterbacking, that’s a very logical, real-to-life conclusion to draw.
Well, so many other factors play into what took place…and most of those factors we do not know.
Furthermore, we do not know what his eyes saw nor how his brain interpreted and analyzed that information.
We don’t know the terrain. Or the road. Or the stance of the terrorists. Or their numbers. Or their equipment. Or how available it was. (On and on I could go, oring what we don’t know.)
Neither do we know what was transpiring in the spiritual world. It is entirely likely that Sam was allowed to see some things…and not allowed to see others. It is even possible that God urged Sam to make a run for it.
The time of Nancy’s departure had arrived.
Why did it have to be that way?
Well, I don’t know that either.
PS: I learned about this event early Friday morning when I stopped by the World Magazine web site and saw this headline: U.S. missionary possibly killed over truck. I grew up in Mexico as an MK. I served in Mexico as an adult missionary. I serve on a small mission board with missionaries in northwest Mexico. So of course I clicked the link. My heart raced (or did it stop?) when I saw the photo. She looks like someone I could know! To my knowledge, I never met them. May God comfort and sustain Sam. And give him peace. And, somehow, joy. And freedom from second-guessing himself. And forgiveness for Nancy’s killers. And the second-guessers. Amen.
For what it’s worth, he probably made the right decision – but I had to wonder why Nancy didn’t get down on the floor; that would also have been a logical decision, and might have saved her life. But, as you said, it was her time to go – her work was done.
Maybe they’d been pursued before…but never shot at before…so getting down might not have seemed necessary. Or the cab of their rig might have been so packed that getting down was a physical impossibility. Or…. Or….
We, looking on after the fact, are given lots of information and time to process and ponder it without threat to our lives or a drop of fear. The Davises had none of these privileges. My heart goes out to them in those terrifying moments. May God bring healing and peace to the family, and conviction to the murderers, and humility to those who think they would have responded “better.”
Yes, we have the luxury of time, the blessing of a non-threatening environment, and the opportunity of revision to our perception of The Right Course of Action…without having the adrenalin rush to limit clarity of thought…and without having to live with real-time circumstances and consequences.
Thanks for sharing this. This hits close to home for me because I’ve had similar experiences in China.
Reminds me of the time I decided to run for it (with 5 passengers) instead of paying some Tibetan gangstas 100 RMB ($15 USD) for driving on “their grass”.
They tried to block me in with motorcycles, then chased on foot, stabbing at the van windows with a knife, then chased on motorcycle down a mountain pass, only giving up after I got in front of a truck. But they waited above us at after the next switchback brought us back around and one guy chunked a huge rock right down at the van. He never played football, so the rock fell safely behind the moving vehicle, but thank God these guys didn’t have access to weapons like they do in Mexico.
All that for only $15, you ask? Well, those are the kinds of decisions you make in a split second when you are dealing with criminals.
May His hand continue to keep you, Eugene.
Appreciated this article. We knew Nancy and have listened to them tell stories of the increasing violence in Mexico…We also are close to others who are working in the same area…For what it is worth Sam and Nancy had planned ahead of time that if the situation ever came up where they were threatened with capture they were not going to be taken alive. I KNOW Sam did not value that truck more than safety and he had seen God miraculously provide in finances and safety in the past. They trusted their lives with the only one whom we can really place our trust. I full expect to see Nancy again.Please encourage your readers to pray for Sam and his family as there will be many hard days ahead…and oh yes please remember the families they were close to in Mexico who have lost such a friend!
The night comes when no man can work!
Also remember …you are only piecing together what you have heard…
There is always more to the story…Also there are still concerns for safety from the______ even into TX for Sam and other family members…
Perhaps their lives were a rebuke and a light in the darkness….and evil always wants to extinguish light… Unlike so many they lived the talk!
The right will prevail!