Note to
my blog readers: Before reading this story, know that everyone is alright and
that we are safe here. Please see the humor in this story.
Last
Thursday, after Bible study with the youth, we headed to Leon with Tommy and
Diego. About 30 minutes down the road, we receive a call from Pastor Jose
saying that two boys from the community had broken into the clinic (our home)
and had stolen some of our belongings. Our group seems surprisingly unaffected
by this news. Our initial response: to go get ice cream.
We
returned home around 7:00 and took inventory of our stuff. Items stolen: my
video camera and ipod and Krystle’s camera and cash for the month, and our team
cell phone. Again, we were surprisingly unaffected by this news. Except for me,
but that was only for a moment when I thought they had stolen my travel French
press. Luckily I found my beloved coffee cup in the corner and was able to
relax again.
Apparently
the two boys who broke into our home have been stealing from families in the
community for awhile. Tommy tells Pastor Jose to call the police and get them
involved. The police arrive around 8:30, but they don’t even enter the clinic.
They walk around the outside to see the area where the boys entered, but there
is no attempt to gather evidence here- this is definitely a far cry from CSI.
Next
thing we know, Krystle, Steph, Marjorie (Pastor Jose’s daughter and our
translator), Pastor Jose, and I are in the back of the police truck on our way
to the station to file an official report. Police stations in
Nicaragua are
nothing like home; paint is peeling everywhere. Yamil, our favorite Nicaraguan
police officer, is typing our report on a 30-year-old typewriter named “Byron”
(yes, that is name of the typewriter, not the officer). This is a moment for
seriousness, but the click, click, click, ding, shwoop of the typewriter invites fits of
laughter. The police must be wondering if we are even serious because we are
laughing so much, but what else are you going to do when you’ve been robbed…
and it’s late… and you’re giving statements to the police in Nicaragua?
We
return home, with a promise from Yamil that we will have our things back before
we leave Nicaragua, to find a 12 man security team (comprised of members of the
church) ready to sleep at the church and guard our home all night.
Everything
is peaceful as we start to go to sleep until I begin to feel the mosquitoes
biting me. All of the sudden I shout out “Come on boys… if you’re going to
steal my ipod you can at least zip my tent back up. I’m getting eaten alive by
these mosquitoes in here!”
The
saga continued as we made 5 trips to the police station in the next two days.
This has meant 
hilarious events, including, but not limited to: writing out
“official” evidence on scrap pieces of notebook paper that won’t even be in our
handwriting because they have to be translated, being woken up in the middle of
the night by the police’s forensic photographer who wants to take pictures of
the crime scene (2 days later when all five of us have still been living
there), and Krystle being hit on by a Nicaraguan police officer in the station
while giving an official report.
The police have been working diligently and have apprehended
the older boy (18) and a woman who has been hiring young boys to steal and
bring items back to her to sell. The younger boy (13) is hiding and the police
have yet to find him. My video camera and the cell phone have been returned,
but we are still missing the ipod and the camera.
The
Lord has really blessed us with His joy in the midst of this situation. We have
laughed a lot over this mishap and have been covering this community in prayer.
To read more about our thoughts in the aftermath of this situation and our
prayers for this community, click here.
