So I thought I wouldn’t have much to report his month, besides that I’ve joined THE Jarabacoa’s woman’s soccer team. Yes it’s true. I now play soccer (ok I’ve only played twice- one was practice and the other was in a game against Santiago- who are the country champions- and yes I played for a whole half after having gone to practice one time. I was pretty amazed.) Anyways, that’s the side story.
Last Friday night I got to see the real inner workings of the Dominican judicial system. I also lost about 30 dollars. And I learned that windows, not doors, should be opened for the benefits of sunlight and breeze. I bet you can see where this is going…So I was in the kitchen in my house waiting for a call about where to meet some of the other interns for dinner. Of course I had left my door open, not thinking twice about it. I was standing there washing my water bottle, I turn around, and there in my living room was a woman. Uh-oh, here comes trouble. She asks for water because she’s been walking oh-so far. After the water she wants to sit because she’s tired. Anybody familiar with ‘If you give a mouse a cookie…”? Well that’s me. I let her sit and she wants money to buy milk for her baby. This is going too far. I offer to give her milk powder instead. No she wants money. I go into the kitchen for the milk and I’m watching her like a hawk. And I see her open my bag on the couch (I had moved my computer bag to my room when she first sat down- but forgot about this one), I run in and I’m a tad angry because she’s trying to rob me (surprise surprise), and I tell her to get out. At this point I remove my wallet from the bag and put it in my pocket. She doesn’t move. I try and corral her out, she still doesn’t move. I go in and grab my phone…and then everything became slow motion. She grabs the phone, turns it off and grabs my wallet. Instead of letting her get away with it though, I grab back. And then we do this real mature sisterly tug-of-war over my wallet as if it were a doll we were fighting over. She gets it unzipped and so I reach in and toss all the cards to the floor. I’m yelling for help (in spanish of course) this entire time and thinking whether I’m suppose to actually punch her. The idea seemed so foreign- having to actually punch somebody. Anyways, I lost grip and she stuffs my wallet down her pants. Ok, well now she’s REALLY not leaving. I run to the door to block it and get someone from the street- a kid passing by on his bike. He stops and then all of a sudden my entire neighborhood is on my porch with machetes and big slats of wood. Good, everything is under control. Or so I thought. While I had run to the door she took the money out of my wallet and put that somewhere and tossed my wallet. The police came and took her to the station…in which the strip search (performed by the woman officer in the presence of my roommate) came up empty. Somewhere between her getting into the police car and arriving at the station the cash disappeared… hmmm. And here’s the clinch. In the states maybe this would have been a misdemeanor? Here: a night in jail and release in the morning, unless I took her case down to the city and had her prosecuted, in which she would have gotten anywhere from 6 months to 5 years. I didn’t do that, so she got a good talking to by Sonia and Leslie and now she’s back out. The sad thing is that the police know her, she most likely has AIDS, she uses drugs, she has a one year old daughter, she says she’s 17 (however, we know she is in her 20’s) and she doesn’t want help. Nor does the government offer her any help. Most likely she will be on the streets again if she isn’t already.
In a way it was a very surreal experience. Thank the Lord that he was watching over the situation and that I wasn’t hurt or anything big was stolen. I would rather learn a lesson about being more careful through ‘not-so-coherent’ woman than ‘big bad’ man. But through it all, maybe this provides an opportunity to pray for a woman who probably doesn’t have very many people praying for her. 
So life was exciting for a moment. It’s back to normal now. Doing sponsorship work, I’ve started a basketball team for the older girls on Fridays. The girls who come love having basketball and always ask me about practice during the week, just to make sure its happening. I will also be in the Chicago/Wisconsin area from the 26th to 3rd for a soul- care conference. (pictures left: kids from the kindergarten class at Anija)
Please pray for safe travels for all the Kids Alive missionaries who will be going to the conference.
Sonia (roommate) is going back to Colombia at the end of June. Thus, we need to find a new director of the Anija program/school (this is a BIG job). Please pray that God places the right person in the position and that I know what to do about finding a new roommate/s or moving.
