Disappointed

Well it's already been two weeks since Steve came home from his "jaunt" to America. Poor guy was delayed by 15 hours! It's a long story, but the highlight was a delayed night flight which left Johannesburg 7 hours late only to encounter a horrible storm in Mozambique which required an emergency stop in Beira (a city in central Mozambique) and an overnight stay in a run down, all cement, no coffee shop African airport. Steve said he didn't even sleep 3 minutes that whole night. I suspect it had something to do with the cement floors and native critters scurrying around. Needless to say he was exhausted, dirty and desperate by the time he finally made it to Maputo. I'd like to say things got better from there, but unfortunately his first 24 hours home were pretty rough as well.

The afternoon and early evening were relatively uneventful. The kids were THRILLED to see him and smothered him with hugs and kisses and questions about friends, family and WHAT DID YOU BRING ME? His good friend Sergio came by to say hello and fill him in on all the latest news. Then it was time for dinner and off to bed early. We woke up around 2 am because the baby was crying and Steve was hungry. As he went down to the kitchen for a snack he happened to look into our living room. As he glimpsed into the room, he saw our guard Nelson standing next to the dining table. In shock and disbelief he said, "What are you doing in my house?" You see all of our guards are outside guards. They never come in our house unless they are helping to carry groceries or backpacks or something else. So it was a very unnerving thing to see Nelson standing in the house. He told Steve that the door was open and so he had come inside. Steve quickly came to his senses and said, "No Nelson, I locked the door, the gate and the padlock before going to bed!" When Steve walked to the door he discovered a copied set of our house keys dangling in the deadbolt on the outside of the door. He told Nelson to empty his pockets and sit down. When he emptied his pockets a pair of our Ipod headphones was discovered. Then Steve called Sergio and asked him to come over and help. While Steve waited for Sergio, he began to ask Nelson several questions including how he had copies of the keys to our house.

Sergio arrived about 10 minutes later with 2 police men. They came into the house, asked Nelson why he was in the house, collected his things and then they took him off to the police station. They kept him at the police station and questioned him.
Steve went to the station the next morning and they told him what they had learned from Nelson the night before. Nelson said that he had stolen our keys and made copies. He admitted to having been in the house at other times. He admitted to taking money from my wallet.

For obvious reasons this was an upsetting event - the sense of violation from discovering an intruder in our house, the fear of what had happened or could have happened, the anger from having someone you trust proven untrustworthy, the shock at discovering that all those things that had "gone missing" now had a logical explanation for disappearing, the horror to realize that the one person we had really believed was "different" really was worse than all the others, the sadness to realize that Nelson could not have worked alone and therefore at least one other employee in our home had conspired to steal from us, the frustration that even in the midst of dire need there is always a "better way" to get what you need without stealing
from someone, the disappointment that we had given so much and had not
earned respect, the doubt that so many conversations shared had been full of lies on Nelson's part, the unsettling feeling that comes from wondering "what if" and the overwhelming truth that as long as we live in this country we will be seen by some as white, more fortunate and therefore a target for theft. When we look back over the last 6 months some of the questions and misgivings we had suddenly become crystal clear.

However in the midst of this scary, sad, sickening situation we are able to see God's hand so clearly. We are grateful for His abundant protection of our family - especially while Steve was gone. Although Nelson admitted to being in our house while Steve was away, he stole money and things rather than hurting any of us. Protection that when confronted by Steve, Nelson did not have a weapon or attempted to defend himself or flee. Protection from any other people coming into the house with Nelson. We see God's provision in the fact that Nelson was caught in the act of committing the crime. That made a very easy case for us with the police. God's provision that the police chief took a liking to Steve and is "just" officer and has handled our case quickly and without corruption. We see God's provision in providing Sergio to love us and come to our aid quickly while thinking wisely and bringing the police with him to our house. We see God's blessing in providing answers to some "mysteries" which have haunted us for many months and giving us clarity which allowed us to get rid of the trouble makers before something worse happened. God blessed us by allowing our children to sleep through all the chaos and commotion and remain "blissfully ignorant" until we were prepared to talk to them about what happened. Blessing to provide us with many dear friends who prayed for us, supported us and offered whatever kind of help we might need. Frankly the list could go on and on of the many ways that God showed Himself to us in this situation. The reality is that God is good all the time, even in the midst of bad things.