Second post about robbery

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have prayed for us. We have been so amazed and humbled by all of you who wrote. THANK YOU.

Thank you for praying for peace for all of the children. Yesterday we talked during lunch about what they saw and heard and felt. They were all open and they all said, “I was SCARED!” but they also laughed about certain things and were very upbeat. At the end I asked them what they saw GOD do, or what they could be thankful for. Abby Miller (6), who had been hiding in the shower with her mom and her siblings while the men were in their house said, “I was thankful to get out of the shower, cuz I REALLY had to go to the bathroom!”  And then we went on a walk in the afternoon over to the Miller’s house (Tanner’s house) to see the door fixed and everything cleaned up except for the bullet holes in the wall. That was good for all of us.

Josh, Dave and Amy spent yesterday at the hospital, finding out that his arm isn’t broken. That is a huge praise.

The regional police chief, the top dog, arrived yesterday morning. He was a VERY kind and compassionate man, and also very committed to finding these men. Though they don’t have the technology or equipment we do in the States, they have TALK, which is a major bonus. Everyone knows everyone and everything, and they talk about it. Along with this, however, people also say all kinds of things about people they don’t like in order to get them implicated. SO it gets rather confusing, but the police are doing that job. They are also patrolling our area for the next 10 days.

As you can imagine, we are rethinking our security issues, and will continue to do so. We have had many discussions as we have gone into beginning our campus. You can pray for us as we decide how to do things—how to build a community without having armed guards everywhere (which doesn’t always work either, as they can be paid off and help out—not unheard of). We have always felt safe here, and not unreasonably so. There has been no theft at any of our homes, even petty theft, but the isolation here presented the perfect opportunity for these guys. We are almost certain the men came from the lake, which our property borders, as they were on foot. They didn’t know Mavuno at all, and didn’t even know where our office is, which everyone around here knows.

We have been praying for our relationships with the village for a long time, and last week were again disappointed as they called us to a meeting and never showed. We have had many problems with the main guy (and the other village leaders say they have MAJOR problems with him, too). But on the night this happened, we had probably 60 village men who came to help us—late, but they came, and they brought their pangas and big sticks and other “weapons” and we have no doubt they meant to go get those guys. We were so thankful the village was willing to help, especially knowing there were guns involved. The next morning MANY village women came to say sorry that this had happened. It is important to them that we know they are sad for us. It is also an amazing opportunity to tell them that GOD rescued us and that HE is the only one we can hope in. We pray that our joy is evident and that we use every opportunity to show our love for and trust in GOD.

It is early in the morning as I write this, and I can hear the fishermen singing their chanting songs as they pull the fish in from the lake. We are grateful to be here, and praying that God will use us to be fishers of men! This is a dark area, full of witch craft, and we pray that JESUS CHRIST will be known in Kitongo!!

Thank you for all of your prayers. As we think through all the “what-ifs,” we also rest in the fact that GOD led us to do exactly what we did at the time, and we can trust in His leading. We are humbled and amazed at our GREAT GOD and continue to be very thankful that we have each other around as well!! 