Before reading… we are all safe and the beginning part of
this is meant to be humorous!
So, I was told not to leave you all
hanging for very long about the mishap at our house. Well, on Tuesday we had decided to drive into
Leon
after Bible study to take a short break from the chaos in Candelaria and to get
some stuff done on the internet. Tommy
was driving us back and about 30 minutes after we left, we received a phone
call from Pastor Jose saying that two teenage boys broke into the medical
center and took off with some of our belongings. He was very concerned and wanted us to return
immediately. Surprisingly, we were
completely unaffected by the news and decided that going out for ice cream
sounded like a good idea… and it was!
After we had finished all that we
needed to get done in Leon,
Tommy received another phone call explaining the situation. The kids that broke in were some of the
teenagers from the community, and I guess they had been causing a lot of havoc in
the area for a while. So we told the
pastor that we were on our way back, and Tommy told him to call the police and
get them involved as well.
When we got home, we did find some
stuff missing… a camera, a camcorder, an ipod and some money. Again, no one really reacted. The only one who even made a comment was Lisa,
but that was only because she thought they stole her French press coffee
cup. Of course, once she found out that
it was not taken everything was ok again…until she discovered her tent was left
open. She said, “Come on boys, if you
are going to steel my ipod, can you at least zip my tent back up! I’m getting eaten by mosquitoes here!”
The police eventually came and told
us that they would make sure our stuff was returned to us. They apologized for what had happened and guaranteed
us that the police in Nicaragua
really do work hard, despite what most people think (we were all puzzled and
holding back laughter). They told us they would do everything they could to
return our stuff to us. They took the
two girls who were missing items to the police station to write up a report,
and the rest of us stayed back and were informed that a dozen men from the
community would be sleeping outside our building tonight. We told them that we weren’t scared and that
they didn’t need to do that, but they insisted. Pastor Jose asked if we were scared (in Spanish), and when we said no,
he said that we must not understand what he is saying! We tried to explain that we understood
perfectly, but I guess he didn’t believe us!
To say the least, it has been quit
the adventure and experience. Lisa and
Krystle, along with Stephanie, have been to the police station many times over
the past couple of days and they always come back with really entertaining
stories. Here’s just a taste of one from
Lisa’s journal… with her permission!
“Police stations in Nicaragua are
nothing like home; paint is peeling everywhere. Yamil, our favorite Nicaraguan
police officer, is typing our report on a thirty year old typewriter. This is a moment for seriousness but the
click, click, click, ding, shwoop of the ancient typewriter invites fits of
laughter! The police must have been wondering if we were even serious because
we kept laughing, but what else are you going to do when you have been robbed…
and it’s late… and you are giving statements to the police in Nicaragua?”
I wish I could share the rest of their stories, but read
their blogs if you get a chance!
In all seriousness though, we have
learned a lot of lessons through this ordeal. We had a chance to meet one of the boys that was involved a couple days
before it happened, and it is a young man that Tommy and Linda have been
reaching out to for awhile. He is only thirteen years old and has had a really
rough childhood. He had been severely
abused by his father and finally found a bit of refuge in a gang. He reminded us a lot of Mario, the boy we
spent hours with in Mexico,
and our hearts broke when we found out it was him. Then we had to decide the difficult line
between grace and justice.
We always think of grace, grace,
grace, as Christians but God requires justice as well. God requires justice for all of our sins, but
thankfully we have a loving God who did send his son to take our place. Our sins require death, but that death was
paid in full by the blood of Jesus. Justice was accomplished, but grace was freely given in the
process.
“But now a
righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the
Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe. There is no difference, for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God present him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate
his justice, because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished-he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time,
so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:21-26
We also want to make sure we extend
grace and love to this young boy, but his actions have dangerously affecting an
entire community and not just five strangers. So, the ministry has decided to press charges to show that there are
consequences for our actions, but we really want to meet with this boy as well
and show him that we, along with Tommy and Linda, care about him and love
him. We want to make sure that he
understands that there is and will be grace, when he finally decides to
repent.
This boy has been on the hearts of
Linda and Tommy and they have been reaching out to him for months and will
continue to reach out to him through this process. Please just be in prayer for Marlynn (the
young man), Tommy and Linda (as they deal with this situation), and the
community as a whole for safety and forgiveness.
