1:00am, Tuesday, January 8th. Madalo and I are
asleep in bed. I’m woken by a noise. I quickly gain my senses as I hear the
noise again. It’s an unmistakable noise. “Someone is breaking in.” I tell
Madalo. “Go hide in the bathroom.” She goes with her phone and calls a COTN
staff member who then calls our country director who then calls the police.
I press the panic button which calls a semi-armed security
response company. Unfortunately, they usually take 8-10 minutes to respond. I
go out to the front room where the door is with a metal baseball bat in hand,
turn on the light and call out, “the police and security are on their way!”
They continue their work of breaking the glass panes on the heavy, metal door.
They reach some sort of a steel bar inside and within seconds pry off the
padlock which is supposed to keep us safe. I was surprised at how easily
padlocks can be popped open. The door swings open and I’m facing five men armed
with machetes and clubs. There is still a security gate separating us.
What I would give to have a gun or pepper spray in my hand
to scare them off or incapacitate them with the sting of pepper in their eyes.
But I’m standing there helpless, knowing that within a few seconds they would
also pop the padlock holding the security gate closed. I’m a big guy, I had a
baseball bat. If there were just one or two of them, I probably could have held
them off at the door until help arrived. I quickly made my decision though,
there were at least five and probably more outside. I later learned that there
were in fact close to ten or fifteen altogether so resisting would have proven
dangerous. The lock pops open, the gate swings open, and the men rush into the
house. I set the bat down, hold up my hands and say, “take whatever you want.”
They make quick work of gathering whatever small electronics
they can find. They ended up with two laptops, two cameras, a kindle, some
flash drives, a hard drive, a wallet with my passport, etc. They keep
demanding, “We want dollars” but I keep telling them that I didn't have any. I
gave them whatever local currency we had, which wasn't much but seemed to
pacify them. Searching for more, they overturn drawers, pull up our mattress,
but find nothing else. I spent most of the time standing between them and the
bathroom door where Madalo was hiding, and thankfully they never try to harm me
or get past me to search the bathroom. After gathering what they could, they
quickly make their way out of the house, join their friends outside, and make
their way out of the campus using a hole they had dug in the brick wall. All in
all, they were there for barely 5 minutes.
I walk outside the front door to find one of our security
guards tied at the hands and feet on the grass. I cut him loose. Within
minutes, but still too late, the security response team arrives followed by the
police. They don’t make much of an attempt to search or chase after the
robbers. They take a look around, get some information from me, say they are
sorry that it happened, and tell me to come to the station in the morning to
make a full report.
In the following days, Children of the Nations and Peace
Corps has done a lot to make us feel safe, supported, and helped in the process
of working with the police, reinforcing doors and windows, and upgrading
security systems. We've experienced a lot of warmth and empathy from our
friends, neighbors, and co-workers. A number of our Malawian friends have
experienced similar situations and knew that the worst thing to say in a time
like this is, “It’s okay.” They know that it’s not okay. It’s not okay that
someone broke in and entered your house, threatening your safety and the safety
of your family. They know that trite answers aren't helpful but simply being there
is. Simply offering a visit, a hug, a prayer, and a reassuring smile is enough.
Despite the ugly faces that sometimes rear themselves in this country; it still
remains in my heart and mind, “The Warm Heart of Africa.”
Some may be scared away, back to the relative safety of
American suburbia. In the week that has passed since the break-in however, I
have felt an even stronger resolve to be here. I feel it’s where I’m supposed
to be. Jesus told his disciples not to be surprised when they went through
trials, persecution, hatred, etc. He said, “In this world you will have
trouble.” He didn't say IF you have trouble, he said YOU WILL have trouble. I
believe that when you’re doing the work of Jesus, the enemy doesn't like it. He
does what he can to trip us up, to scare us, to keep us as harmless sheep chomping
on grass in the safety of the fold. On our own, that would be easy for him to
do. Sometimes I think he forgets though, we may be harmless sheep, but we've got one bad-ass shepherd to protect us. A shepherd who has already overcome the
world and he walks with us through every valley with the shadow of death
looming overhead. After all, the best grass isn't in the fold, it’s out in the
hills and pastures, away from the safety of what is familiar.
I have no reason to fear; he is with us and we are where we
are supposed to be.
"I have told you
these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." –Jesus, John 16:33
