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(So I didn’t want to worry anyone back at home, but now that I am safely out of Tanzania, I figure its safe to post these stories.  By God’s grace, I have not suffered any robberies, but the following are two separate incidents from the other squad that left January 2010 with us.  Fear not, Uganda seems pretty safe so far, but these sorts of circumstances really help me re-evaluate what’s really important.  The first post is from Krissy Whaley and the second is from Jillian Hensley).

With a Machete at My Throat: Life looks a little different (by Krissy Whaley)

I write this account of what happened to me 24 hrs ago to bring glory to our God; for He has delivered me from the hands of evil and spared my life. He is a God who loves me and has never forsaken me. He is the mighty protector and redeemer. Here it is my story…

It was Monday, July 19th… 5 days after teamSeven was robbed at gunpoint in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.  I have been with team 7 from the day the robbery took place; praying peace over them, for joy to return, holding them as they cry and sharing precious moments of laughter together.  As I poured my heart out to them, I cried out to God to help me understand, to truly feel their pain, and to understand their heart with raw and true empathy. 

On this Monday, we were set out to truly relax and find peace after such a traumatic incident.  We were located at a beach resort that looked like it was from a picture in a Caribbean cruise magazine, it was beautiful & peaceful. I hadn’t taken a moment alone for myself in months, so I set out to run along the waterfront so I could worship God and thank Him for sparing the lives of my teammates.  Moments after I began my run I noticed a man walking along the beach behind me, but I refused to be filled with fear so I continued onward…..The second time I turned the man was in a full speed run towards me. 

My heart sank with fear and I realized that I had nowhere to run, no one to run to, no shelter, no weapon, just faith in the Lord and the power of prayer. The man grabbed me from behind and started to frantically grab and hit at my chest; in that moment I assumed the worst…..that robbing me wasn’t his motivation. As I stopped in my panic I found a large rusted machete at my neck and face.  I screamed “Oh God please, please don’t kill me…take anything that you want… Take it all….”  My eyes were fixated on the large blade that was threatening my life in a way that disabled my basic motor skills. He continued to pursue and hit at my chest, at which point I sobered up enough to realize that my i-pod was in his hands and that my headphones were caught up in my shirt. After he successfully retrieved my ipod he continued frantically yelling at me in Swahili; he wanted the watch from my wrist.  With weak hands I took my watch off as quickly as possible and the man immediately took his machete and ran away.

I turned and ran back to the resort as quick as my legs could move me, barefoot and sobbing.  A local man on the shore who witnessed the whole thing, and refused to come to my rescue yelled out to me and wave, “Good Afternoon Miss.!” He said this with a crooked smile and laughed as if I was his entertainment for the afternoon….his deceivious tone chilled my bones, and in that moment, the only words that I could muster was “Mugu Akubariki” –  Swahili for “God Bless You.”


I praise God that I wasn’t hurt, and that an i-pod and watch was all that was taken from me. I praise God that he answered my prayers and now I know every emotion team 7 must have gone through. I praise God that he relentlessly blesses my life with amazing people and amazing experiences. I praise God with every ounce of my being for the grace and love he pours over us daily.  I praise Him for every waking moment I get to serve Him and love others in the nations. I thank him for each life on the N squad….Thank you for your continued protection, as not a single one of us has been hurt in these incidents. Daily He is showing me to live vibrantly, live joyously and without fear. Thank you Jesus.

Psalm 27:1-4

 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation-
       whom shall I fear?
       The LORD is the stronghold of my life-
       of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
       to devour my flesh, 
       when my enemies and my foes attack me,
       they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
       my heart will not fear;
       though war break out against me,
       even then will I be confident.
4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
       this is what I seek:
       that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
       all the days of my life,
       to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
       and to seek him in his temple.

Robbed at Gunpoint

Jillian Hensley on 7/19/2010 


It’s hard to know how to even begin an account like this, so I will just start by saying God is so good.  His presence and protection are weaved all throughout this story.  My team and I now have new reason to boast that our God has saved our lives, first spiritually and now literally.  Here we go……

This past Wednesday everything changed for us.  One minute I was sitting down at the table for dinner, the next I was looking at the barrels of a shotgun.  After hearing some loud banging at the back door, I turned to see a mob of men storming in.  It did not occur to any of us in that moment that they were coming to rob us; it just felt like they were coming to kill us.  In a split second we all took off running.  Some tried to get out the front door, but it was locked.  Everyone scattered into the bedrooms.  The man with the shotgun was right behind me and in the second it took me to get into the bedroom I fully expected to be shot in the back.  I made it into the room and some of us tried to get under the bed, but there was no room.  We huddled behind it and just prayed to God for protection.  The men shouted for money and threatened some of our lives.  I could do nothing but pray.  The whole ordeal was over in what felt like an hour, but was realistically less than five minutes.  They took almost everything.  Only my clothes and sleeping bag were left behind.

We are trying not to think about what we have lost.  All we can do is be grateful that no one was hurt and that we all have our lives.  We found out afterwards that 15 to 20 men were involved in the robbery, most of whom seemed to have weapons.  There is nothing we could have done to save ourselves in that situation; we were seemingly at their mercy.  I have been praying all year that God would strengthen my faith.  In a moment like this you really discover what you believe.  Now more than ever I can attest to the fact that God is real and that I will chase after him always, even if it means my life is in danger.  The more my team and I think about the series of events that unfolded that night, the more we see how near God was to us in those moments.  It is almost unthinkable that we made it out without a scratch.  It is easy time to be fearful, but God is doing a good work in my team, and  it has done my heart good this week to watch them continue to worship God, laugh, and dance.  Life is a little bit sweeter now, and we refuse to let our spirits remain downcast.  They can have our computers, passports, cameras, and tents, but they cannot have our joy and they certainly cannot have our hope, which is not dependent on the circumstances of this world.

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”  Philippians 3:8-9

As my teammates and I share this story all we can hope is that it will help you draw more closely to God and that you will join us in celebrating what He has done for us.  We would all appreciate your prayers as we continue to process what happened.  Pray that we will move forward boldly and that we will not grow bitter, but will be filled with even more love for the nations.  There is a lot of evil in the world.  We already knew that; in fact, that is why we came in the first place.  Don’t wish for us to come home or to escape to a safer place.  Instead, pray that we will have the strength to finish the work that we started.  Some of us have been finding much comfort in the Psalms lately, and can certainly meditate on them with a new set of eyes.