July 17, 2013
A day that I wished never had happened. A day that I hope to never forget. A day that I could question God as to where He was. A day where His sovereign hand was seen most clearly. A day of wanting justice. A day of asking for grace.
The following story is not an attempt to scare anyone or have anyone be frightened for me, although the situation was very scary. It’s not an attempt to show how intense life on the Race can be, although there are times where it is. It’s an attempt to share the wonderful works of God even in the situations where He seems most absent. My God is good all the time. And all the time, my God is good.
It was just another typical night here at Kedesh. We made a butt-load of popcorn and watched a movie (I think it was Dr. Who) to relax at the end of a long day. Then we all went to bed around 9 anticipating the 5:30 wake-up call that commences our day. Let’s just say the wake-up call came a little earlier.
At around 1am, I was awoken to the sound of loud commotion and people moving around the house. Apparently I had slept through the first 30 seconds or so because by the time I put my glasses on to assess the situation, I already saw 3 of the men on my squad out of their tents. At first, I thought it was much later in the morning and that John (our contact) was waking us up to do some more work in the garden. (Earlier that week he had all of us grab manure with our hands and fertilize the dirt for some of the plants). I saw Jan and Eric heading out the door to go outside where all the noise was coming from. I began to reach for my shirt and follow them, when I saw both Jan and Eric immediately walk back through the door followed by 3 men wielding machetes. I recognized that we weren’t going to garden; we were being robbed.
The first thought that flashed into my mind was a scene from “Tears of the Sun” where a group of militia enters a church with guns and machetes and the leader of the group kills the priest with a machete. I had no idea what all their intentions were. The only phrase I kept hearing was “Give money! Give money!” “I’ll kill you! Give money!”
From my tent, I saw Eric run into a side room and lock the door while Justin ran into a different side room and bolted the door. Jan and I were left in the common area with the 3 men. One of the men went back downstairs to go outside. Another went to the door of the room that Eric was in and proceeded to try and break down the door. The other man began to threaten Jan for money. When Jan replied that he had none, the man became more violent (to show he wasn’t messing around) and slapped him across the head with the side of the machete. After ordering Jan to sit down, the man noticed me still chilling in my tent. I was hoping to go unnoticed by them, but with a transparent tent and all that was wishful thinking.
The man relayed the same threats to me as I slid my computer underneath my sleeping bag. At first, I said I didn’t have any money, but after seeing his machete slice through my tent, I decided to be a little more compliant. I explained that I had some money in the room that Justin was in and after being let out of my tent, he forced me to go into the room and grab it. Justin was still locked in there and we had a little trouble getting the door unlocked (probably because the man was standing inches behind me ready to use his machete). I thought if I die because I couldn’t get this stupid door open… Fortunately we were able to get it open and I showed the man some of the money I had in my daypack. It was a case of give him an inch, he’ll take a mile as he went further and just grabbed my whole daypack. Meanwhile the other man who was kicking Eric’s door down came in and began threatening Justin. After slapping Justin on the side of the head, the man grabbed his big pack and both of them proceeded out the door at a casual pace. Unsure of what the situation was outside, we stayed in the room for another 15 seconds or so and then followed.
By the time we went outside, all the boys (around 25 of them) along with John and the guard dog were running around chasing the men (there were at least 7 of them I was told). Most of them got away, but one man had tripped during his escape and one of the older boys tackled and captured him. The boys dragged him back towards the buildings, beating him along the way as the dog was biting at his ankles. John tied him up good (with his feet tied to his hands behind his back) and then tied him to a tree. The boys all gathered around hitting him and interrogating him. Some neighbors nearby heard the commotion and came over to observe as well. Apparently this group of robbers (called the Katana) was notorious for attacking and robbing people in the area for several years without one being caught. So this was a big deal to have one of the men captured (we later found out he was most likely one of the leaders of the group as a loaded pistol was found on him). It was kind of hard to see everyone circling him and beating him as he was already bleeding pretty good and there was no way he was escaping, but John explained that the normal custom in this culture would be to throw gasoline on him and light him on fire. Although John wouldn’t let that happen, there’s only so much you can prevent when interacting with a large group of people of a different culture in their community.
The police were called, but no one answered (again, this isn’t America anymore) so we had to wait until morning to bike him to the police station as no one had a functional car to drive him in the night. Some people went back to bed as others stayed up the whole night telling their sides of the story, me being one of them. (I won’t share all those details, as this would become more of a short story than a blog as it almost already is). Bottom line, everyone was safe and despite a few scratches, no one was hurt. Praise God!
But not only did God deserve praise for that, but also for how He showed up in the many other ways that night. Justin’s big pack was recovered (probably because the guy didn’t want to run with 40 lbs). Jan’s iPad mini was found on the guy that we captured. And although my daypack wasn’t recovered, all the important things that I normally keep in there were not lost. My computer, phone, and wallet were inside my tent. And the things that were of value to me, but maybe not to a thief (such as my passport, yellow-fever card, cords for my electronics, etc.) were found on the side of the road about a ¼ mile away. John said that that is common for thieves to do. So all in all, the only things that I lost were my daypack, some cash that wasn’t even mine personally (it was on Race budget), and my camera. Praise God!
But what was even cooler was that we found out later that people back home (and maybe other squadmates, I can’t really remember) were praying for us specifically during that night as God had placed it on their hearts. It was such a testament to how nothing surprises God and nothing is beyond His control even during times like that. So although it was a frightening and crappy moment in our lives’ it was also a moment where we saw God at work and using it to bring Him glory. Praise God!
When the morning came, the man was taken to the police station with a huge crowd escorting him along the way. Fortunately the man made it there alive. The police stopped by later and were taking the situation very seriously as this was a well-known gang that had affected many people in the community. And the following evening, we gathered both American and African, and prayed to the Lord for not only thanking Him for what He did, but for also lifting up the men who attacked us. Jesus commands us in the Sermon on the Mount…
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:44
These men need the love of Christ just as much as I do or anyone else that walks this earth does. Because even though I may not have done the same things that they’ve done, I was once just as lost and apart from my Savior as they are now. So in addition to asking for justice to be done, I pray a blessing of grace over them as well. May God reveal Himself to them in such a mighty way that they can’t deny that it is anyone other than Him. And may He soften their hearts and bring them to repentance. May they experience the love of Christ that will transform their lives. Thank you, Father, for your goodness and faithfulness. Amen.
