Robbed in the Night

On Sunday night, the 16th of August, I had a new experience, something that is far too common among missionaries. I was robbed. Two men came to my bedroom window on that very dark night and demanded money. They claimed to be armed and threatened to harm or kill me if I did not comply. My first instinct was to pray. I prayed quite simply for help, for protection, and that I would say and do the right things. God responded by giving me all those things and by adding to it a profound peace. I complied with the thieves demand and gave them the requested amount of money, and to my relief, they left. I never saw their faces that night.
The next morning some missionary friends came to pick me up, take me home with them, and offered their hospitality for a week and a half while I debriefed and put some additional security measures in place.
On my birthday, the 26th of August, I returned with my teammate, Reda, this time with a borrowed vehicle and a night guard and supported by lots of prayers. I was surprised to find that even though I had filed a police report and the names of three suspects were known by the local community, no arrests had been made.
The very next day our friend and temporary night guard, Agustin, apprehended one of the thieves, Taya, a boy of about 16 years old. In this country justice is often served by the victim, so I was forced to take the responsibility of transporting Taya to the police station. While in town, we were also able to apprehend another of the thieves, Elese. After three days of detainment, Taya was released. Though he was involved in the robbery, he was not one of the two that were at my house that night. Another robber, and supposed mastermind of the crime, Mole, is still at large. All three of these men live only a couple kilometers from us, in a small community that we know well. They know that we are missionaries, here to help them, to bring them God’s Word, but they saw the opportunity to benefit from us by dishonest means and they took it.
Since the arrest, I have discovered that this robbery had been planned in advance, that the thieves were under the influence of both drugs and alcohol, and that I was a target because I am a single woman. I’ve also discovered that the justice system here is much different than that of North America. Much of the responsibility of justice and of physical protection is left to the victim. In fact, the victim is often charged court fees at the end of a trial, since the criminal will have surely spent all the money stolen before he is caught and will have no money to offer the court.
I’ve also discovered that all of my actions in response to this crime have consequences. If I were to simply let the thieves go, this would certainly have happened again. But since I took them in to the police, I now face unhappy family members who have threatened to practice sorcery against my immediate neighbors and who don’t understand why I cannot just forgive this violent crime instead of pressing charges.
Even through the repercussions of this crime, I continue to ask God for guidance and wisdom. I want to respond correctly to these people, who so desperately need to know Christ. I want to reflect God’s justice and grace, not human anger or vengeance. I pray that each one of these thieves would recognize their own sin and need for a savior, and I pray that their testimony would bring many others to Christ.