As many of you know, last week our car was stolen from our garage. As of today we still have not heard anything, neither from the thieves nor the police. We have been flooded with encouraging notes and that has been very helpful.

But still, it is a difficult process. As missionaries we constantly strive to be good stewards of what God has given us. We do this not only to portray a good image to those around us (who notice everything that we buy), combating the stereotype of the super-rich American, but also for the sake of those who give financially toward our ministry. Finding good deals at open air markets as opposed to the large supermarkets, rarely eating out, buying a fuel-efficient car (gas here is close to $6 per gallon)–these are just a few examples.

Things are very expensive here, and locals are barely surviving, especially if they don’t have family abroad sending money back home. It is a daily struggle to not let vendors take advantage of us because we are foreigners and thus perceived as quite wealthy. All of this to say…all of this effort seems like a waste when something like this happens.

My friend Trevor quoted Augustine to me after the car was stolen and it has really helped: “What God gives you, He will require it of you (paraphrased).” I guess this is true with all of our earthly belongings right? They are His, all of them. This experience is helping me learn that in a deeper way.

I also wanted to testify to God’s grace in the robbery: The night that it happened, I actually heard something in my sleep. It was about 4 a.m. and as I was waking, I opened my eyes to see Simeon standing next to my bed, asking me to hold him. He hasn’t done that in a very long time. Immediately all of my attention was diverted to him and I rocked him back to sleep in a room even further away from the garage. It was only after going downstairs 2 hours later that I realized that it wasn’t a dream at all. I did hear the thieves in the garage. And yet, there in my face was the only thing that could have stopped me from going outside to check it out. Who knows what could have happened? They may have been armed. Mark Duquette also wrote me to say that God wasn’t asleep during the robbery and that now I have a chance to exhibit my faith in Him. So thank you, all of you who wrote or prayed. It has helped me through this experience.