“Why is the guitar here?”
These are the words Rick spoke as we entered our room after returning to the mission house from an afternoon of exploring Santiago. Neither Rick or I play but the team guitar was sitting on the top bunk of Rick’s bed and the case on the bed below. That was odd.
As the scene unfolded, we realized that there were other things misplaced in the room. We also realized that they were not only misplaced, some things were missing. Rick quickly searched his bag where he knew his valuables were stowed and they were gone. They had been stolen.
We looked up at the window above the bed, it was open. We never open that window. More significantly, there was a bar missing from the outside. An opening of maybe 10 inches by 7 inches, not much. It was a hole so small only a child could fit through.
News spread quickly to the others in the house who realized something was wrong. A quick search of all our belongings ensued and we took a tally of the damage. Rick’s iphone, Gwen’s tablet and ipod, Marissa’s portable speaker, some jump drives, a multitool, and some allergy pills were all missing. Thankfully, not everything was taken but it was enough for us to feel the pain of loss. We thought, who would steal from missionaries?
It seemed petty to mourn the loss of an electronic device, it is replaceable after all. But it was also our connection to our families and our music. Also, knowing that our stuff had been rumaged through was a huge violation of personal space.
We had considered our stuff lost forever until the next day when a message came from the Whatsupp app on the phone from none other than Richard Thomas. I got goose bumps realizing that someone had Rick’s phone. The message was in Spanish of course and it said that it was the police and gave a number to contact. Immediately assuming it was some catfish scheme I sought the advice of our contacts who called the number and confirmed that it was in fact the police.
That afternoon I went with the contact’s wife, Amarfry, to the police station. It was nothing like I would have imagined. The inside was raw cinderblock, no paint or draywall or even a door. Even the desk was made of cinderblocks. We approached the desk to ask about the phone and I saw a man sitting near the door wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, no uniform. I learned that not only was he a cop, he was the one that had messaged us. In fact, he had the phone in his hand when we approached him. I was able to examine the phone; one swipe to unlock the screen and I knew immediately that it was Rick’s. How had they found it???
Though I was able to hold Rick’s phone in my hand, I couldn’t take it with me. They said that they would call us the next day and we would have to go to a different police station to pick it up. It was a relief to know that, at the very least, the phone had been recovered, but it was not over yet.
The next day came and we did our normal ministry routine, never hearing from the police. Rick was starting to wonder if they were ever going to call back. It wasn’t until the evening when we were sitting around the table after dinner when Amarfry came to the house. She came into the dinning room and introduced her brother and sister-in-law who were with her. She had a smirk on her face so we knew she was up to something. She then shared about how her brother was a former police officer and that he was able to to go to the police station and speak on our behalf. He had found out that the thief (who had been caught) had already sold some of our things for super cheap.
Then Amarfry said that even though some things were sold, the police were able to recover all of it. A shout of joy came from the table. However, she wasn’t done, Amarfry then set a bag on the table and proceeded to pull out all items including Rick’s phone. The room erupted in celebration. Save for Rick’s multi-tool all the items were returned. The connection to family was restored, the music we used in worship was returned. It was a total miracle. We couldn’t believe that our stuff had made it back to us. It was a long shot, but we knew God was capable. We soon broke out into a worship/dance party using the ipod and speaker that had just been returned.
Amafry also said that it was a miracle that we got our stuff back, not only because they were able to catch the guy that stole from us and retrieve the items that were already sold, but also that the police didn’t keep those items for themselves.
She had shared with me before that she was sad that this had happened to us. Not just because it was a bad thing but because it was not a normal part of Dominican culture and she didn’t want us to leave that place with the wrong idea.
We know that this experience was God showing us his power. We thank all of those who were in prayer over this situation and I just wanted to make sure that you know your prayers worked. We celebrate God’s power and his awesomeness.
