Many of you have heard about the events in Liberia
in the past couple of months – in fact, just a couple of days after my last
post here. At 3am on July 23, four armed robbers entered the compound here in
Dwazon and pulled the window bars from Rev. DiCanio’s kitchen window. He heard
a noise in his kitchen and came out from the bedroom to investigate (thinking
it was a mouse or something). The four men beat him with machetes and forced
him back into the bedroom and forced him to open the double safe in the closet
and give them $10,000 USD. They then shut him in the closet and ransacked his
bedroom, taking his laptop, camera, phone, two backpacks containing some
documents including his passport, and emptied his wallet. When things got
quiet, Rev. DiCanio slipped out of the bedroom and (not knowing where the men
were) quietly opened the front door and ran across the compound to my
apartment. He got me up and we jumped into my car and went to our neighbour’s
house, where we called the police.
That’s a very brief account of what happened. Some
might have wondered why I haven’t written anything up to this point, but to be
honest, at the time, I didn’t really feel like writing about it! And then in
the weeks since, things have been SO busy! But I know many of you have been
praying for us here, and we really do appreciate your prayers. So I thought it
was time I wrote somethingJ
As Rev. DiCanio and I have discussed this incident,
we know for a certainty that God’s hand was upon both of us during it all, and
that He was in control. A few examples – the thieves took Rev. DiCanio’s old
laptop, not his new one (which was sitting in plain sight in the bedroom). His
old one had a lot of programs and data of course, but his new one has all the
info for the running of the mission here – finances etc. It would have been a
lot more difficult to carry on the work here if all that data had been stolen.
Also, I see God’s providence in the fact that I didn’t
wake up until the moment when Rev. DiCanio knocked on my door – but I woke up
right away then. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper, but I do sometimes waken in the night,
and up to this point, if I had heard noises outside in the middle of the night,
I would have had no problem going outside to see what was going on (I’ve been
warned never to do that again!) We know for a fact that the robbers must have
passed my door a few times at least, because they tied up two of our workers
and dragged them right past my door to the generator house. But the Lord kept
me sleeping until exactly when Rev. DiCanio knocked my door.
This was a very serious incident. We are so thankful
that Rev. DiCanio’s life was spared, and that he only suffered some bruises
from the machetes (they didn’t cut him, only beat him.) We’re also thankful
that the robbers didn’t come anywhere near my place – there was no sign that
they even attempted entry into my apartment. We’re thankful that although they
manhandled and tied up two of our workers, they did not seriously injure them.
According to those who saw the robbers, these were violent and dangerous men,
and the outcome could have been much worse. But it was still a serious
incident, and there have been and will continue to be repercussions. Please do
continue to pray for us and for the work here.
A
few specific points for prayer:
The building project has been put on hold since the
robbery (as far as the second house is concerned). Major changes were necessary
in the security on the compound – a lot of which we had planned to do in the
future, but priorities have changed. Rev. DiCanio and I left the compound for
about a month after the robbery and stayed at a guesthouse belonging to
missionary friends. We were advised that we should not stay here at night until
the window bars were all changed (this time welded into the steel structure of
the house and apartment), steel doors installed on the buildings, and
professional security guards placed on the property. This has all been done,
and we were able to move back to Dwazon on August 24. Currently, the security
wall is being raised and razor wire installed. Dog kennels are also being
constructed for the guard dogs that we are planning to get (again, this had
been in the plan for the future anyway). We are planning to build a guard tower
with an alarm system and security cameras so that the number of guards on the
property can be reduced (thus reducing the monthly costs). Obviously, all of
these changes take money – a lot of money; therefore, please pray that the needed finances will come in. We do praise God
for many gifts that have already come in.
Pray
for wisdom in making these changes as well. We don’t want
to go overboard and be living in a bunker, but this robbery has been a wake-up
call to us. Since it happened we have heard so many stories of similar attacks
and break-ins – even where there has been a loss of life. Since the regular police
are not armed (and therefore usually don’t respond to calls in the middle of
the night), and private residents/citizens in Liberians are not allowed to own
firearms, the “rogues” as they’re called here don’t feel threatened. There is
no 911 or 999 number to call, so if you don’t have special contacts with the UN
or special forces in the police, then your security is based on whatever
measures you have in place – and in God’s hands. (By the way, our neighbour
does know someone high up in the police, so when we were robbed, the Special
Forces arrived with AK-47s – but it took them an hour to get here.)
And then pray
that the current building project will be able to continue. There are
deadlines for the second house being built, and then of course Rev. DiCanio is
looking forward to the time when he can resume the classes with the pastors. This
building of safe missionary accommodation is foundational for the extension of
the work here, as we pray for others to be called to come and help us.
Pray
also that the robbers will be caught and brought to justice.
We were in the police station and courts nearly every day for two or three
weeks after the robbery. Because of stupid mistakes that the robbers made (in
God’s providence), we were able to get some good leads, but we have as yet not
heard of any arrests. We have heard before that the police and justice systems of
Liberia are thoroughly corrupt, but we have been very careful to not pay any
bribes or facilitating payments. But it is an undeniable fact that the police
especially are labouring under a severe lack of resources and funding. (Or, if
they’re getting the funding and the resources, it’s being mishandled and wasted
or else siphoned off into someone’s private purse!) For example, the police at
the local station phoned us a couple days after the robbery to ask us to
transport some suspects to the central police station in our vehicles. They had
no vehicle and no money to charter a taxi! Needless to say, we said no. (Can
you imagine me driving a car-load of suspects for armed robbery through
Monrovia – that is, possibly the very men who had just beaten Rev. DiCanio and
robbed our compound?) Anyway, pray that the robbers will be caught. The police
say they are still working on the leads and looking for suspects. We’re trying
to keep in touch regularly so that they know we are still expecting results.
Do
continue to pray for the children’s work. Obviously, everything
was cancelled/postponed in the weeks immediately following the robbery – we didn’t
have the Independence Day program or the VBS in Rivercess. I was able to have
the VBS in Ballah Creek church August 26-30, and I’ve started a follow-up Bible
Club every Thursday in that church. Pray for this new opening – we had 200+ in
the VBS but to be honest that was too many kids since we only had three
helpers, and none of those kids knew how to sit and be quiet! We had around 60
last Thursday; that was much more manageable, and they listened very well. Pray
for the regular meetings in Paynesville. Consistency is very important with
children, and since I wasn’t able to get to Bible Club and Reading Club for a
few weeks, I have noticed a decrease in the number of children. Ironically,
this robbery happened just the week after the Paynesville VBS, when a lot of
new children had started to come to all of the meetings and activities. But
while it may be ironic, I know that the timing was all within God’s will.
To conclude this very long post, my biggest prayer
request right now is for more workers here. I was speaking with friends
recently, and they said that perhaps people don’t realise that there is a need
for more workers here – perhaps folks think that we have two missionaries in
Liberia, and that is sufficient. Believe me, there is work here for many more!
Yes, there are concerns with security, and yes, it is very expensive to
maintain missionaries on this field, but if God calls people, He will protect
and equip and provide the means. So please
pray that the Lord would call some others to join us here.
