June 30

Tormented By The Guilt Of Murder

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people.

A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment, but he who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long life.

A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death; let no one support him.

Proverbs 28:13-17      

Described as a modern Joan of Arc, Eunice Morago led warring braves from her Pima Indian tribe on an attack against the Apaches. When she was sixteen years old, her father had been killed by the Apaches, and she vowed that she would avenge that murder one day. “She called the Pima braves together and organized them for battle. She asked them to follow her into the Apache country, where they would kill the first Apache they could lay hands on. Astride a buckskin pony, she led her tribesmen, armed with Indian war clubs, bows and arrows.

“Many miles from home, they caught an Apache on the open desert. Two Pima braves held him; Eunice put spurs to her horse, rode full tilt, smashed him with her war club and killed him. At home again, she went through the traditional purification rites. But they brought her no peace. Sleep abandoned her. Her mind was in turmoil.”

It was during this period of turmoil that Eunice visited the little adobe church started by Charles Cook. He was a missionary who supported himself by teaching and operating a store, with partial support from the Presbyterian Mission Board. The response to his ministry had been slow. Indeed, after his arrival in 1870, he spent fifteen years in evangelistic work before he had one convert. His faithfulness paid off, however, and by the end of his forty year ministry, he had baptized more than one thousand Indians.

One of those converts was Eunice. The sermon she heard on the day she stood in the doorway of that little church was on forgiveness. It was a message of hope, and she sought out the elderly missionary-pastor to find out if what he said could apply to her. She explained that she had killed a man, and that she was convinced that God could not truly forgive her. Charles Cook explained otherwise.

“It was a wonderful moment, peace came back to her. Eunice was baptized and taken into the church, becoming a faithful member of the Missionary Society. Last time I talked to her,” writes George Walker, another missionary to the Pima, “she was well past 80, and did not have long to live. She repeated to me that the greatest thing that had ever happened to her in her long life was the forgiveness of God.” Her torment over the guilt was removed, and she no longer was doomed to be “a fugitive till death.” ³⁰