A Sad Day...

Well…It looks like Anne and I have just developed a new aspect of our ministry—community development if you will.  Our special emphasis is on technology acquisition, and we began a rigorous training program at 4:00 am this morning.  We’re starting small… at the moment we have each “donated” one laptop to the interesting fellow who broke through our security gate.  If our young “student” returns again tonight, my next donation will probably include pepper spray.  We are such giving people…

All humor aside, today was very discouraging.  Early this morning somebody broke into our apartment (It appears whoever installed our security gate fifteen years ago had never encountered a Phillips screwdriver!  I am angry with myself for never checking the frame in detail, but I never could have imagined that the entire door relied on two tiny, exposed screws!) You have all shared some amazing times with us here on our South African adventure, so we felt it would not be honest to keep the difficult times only to ourselves.  It is very discouraging to think that if any number of little things had gone differently, we would not have lost $3,000 worth of electronics.  There was a brief pursuit, and I guess I yelled enough that the intruder dropped a number of smaller items as he fled.  Then I realized I was buck naked, and was forced to admit defeat!  In retrospect, I wish I had gone for it…  people would have been talking about the white lighting all over Wellington for years.  Plus, my indecent exposure charge would allow me to take my prison ministry to the next level!

Most of our data was backed up, but we have both lost a significant amount of work.  Most awkward is the sense of violation knowing that all of our personal information is now floating around somewhere.  Please pray that we would be able to rebound quickly.  There are a number of crucial ministry initiatives that we are fundraising for at the moment, so it feels particularly daunting to watch our efforts sliding in the wrong direction. 

At the same time, we are genuinely thankful that the two of us escaped the situation unharmed.  After eleven years of working in prison, I have heard quite enough stories about violent home invasion.  It is a great blessing that the intruder was not interested in a direct confrontation (However, you can insert a joke here about white lightning!).  We believe God has protected us throughout this incident, and he will guide us in the way forward.  Thank you for your prayers and friendship in the victories and the challenges. 

Love Andrew and Anne