Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ:
It is with great joy and thanksgiving that we send greetings to all of you in the name of our ever-present, loving, merciful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
My family rejoices and gives thanks for His ever-present care and protection! We "thank the Lord and sing His praise; tell everyone what He has done. Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear His name. He [truly] recalls His promises and leads His people forth in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia, alleluia. Amen."
This past Tuesday evening my family and an LCMS volunteer were attacked in our home by three armed delinquents shortly after 7:00PM. Thanks be to God He sent His heavenly angels and His own presence to protect us and calm us and the attackers during this traumatic ordeal so that no one was physically hurt. Our God is indeed an awesome God!
Tuesday, for me, was a wonderful day as I was teaching the first portion of a study regarding the Formula of Concord for deacons who are studying to become pastors. Stacy and Cristina traveled to Antigua, Guatemala to get me after class and we were blessed with the opportunity to provide a ride for the Treasure of the Lutheran Church in Guatemala. I dropped Stacy and Cristina off at our home and proceeded to take Carlos Pineda to a bus stop and then returned to our house. During my absence an LCMS volunteer, Diane Nelson, arrived at our home and in the process of closing the garage door was confronted by three men with one brandishing a pistol. They indicated that they must enter the house with her.
Diane was forced through the garage and as she opened the front door she and one of the men confronted Stacy who was near the front door preparing to grill steaks for a special dinner for Diane who would leave Guatemala the next day for 2 months. Diane indicated that this man, the leader, had placed his weapon in his pocket. As Diane and the leader entered, Diane moved into a side corridor and tried to "mouth" to Stacy to "not trust these men." The leader said that they were there to conduct an investigation and insisted on knowing who all was in the house at that moment. Stacy readily complied informing them that it was simply the women and that I would be returning home shortly. Their leader continued forcing Stacy further into the house while the two other armed men stayed with Diane. The leader confronted Cristina while she was on the phone talking to her sister, Melissa, in Wisconsin at the University of Concordia - Mequon. She was forced to immediately end her call, which puzzled and worried Melissa.
All three women were then forced into the living room and made to sit on a couch. One of the three men guarded them while the other two searched the house for other potential hostages. At that moment I returned interrupting their search when I rang our doorbell. The leader re-entered asking about the doorbell and Stacy informed him that she needed to open the garage door for me. He accompanied Stacy while one of the other men guarded Diane and Cristina and the other stationed himself in the doorway to observe the leader and Stacy. Stacy and the leader went to unlock the door and he said to "remain calm and to not alert" me to his presence or he would hurt Cristina.
Stacy opened the door for me while using an unusual series of hand motions meant to indicate this man's presence. I did not get the picture, so when I opened my door I was confronted by the leader who had his hand in his pocket waiting for me. He related that they were with a special branch of the police department and were there conducting an investigation into a weapons discharge in the neighborhood and wanted any weapons that were in the house or car. I did notice a surprised look on his face when I got out of the van which may have been due to the fact that I was wearing my clerical. He then ushered me around the van further explaining their alleged purpose for being in our house. I was then confronted by the man standing in the doorway and we all entered into the living room. I asked them for police identification and was taken from the living room and forced into our bedroom with the leader and the taller of the three delinquents. The leader proceeded to demand cash and weapons. I explained that we were missionaries and did not have any weapons and had very little cash in the house. He repeated his demands specifically asking for the "big stash" of cash and weapons.
At this moment I really "got the picture" as to who these men were and why they were in our home. With two men surrounding me, both with their pistols pointing at me, the leader asked an additional time for these items and moved his pistol to in front of my face and said that if I did not give him what he wanted they would rape Cristina, then Stacy, and the "tall blond." If they were not satisfied they would then kill us all. I reiterated who we were, "missionaries with the Lutheran church sent by God to help share the Gospel message with the people of Guatemala" and that we had no weapons and very little cash, but that what we did have was "not ours but a gift from God our "Padre celestial" (our heavenly Father), and that we would willingly give them all that we had. I then asked him if he was aware that he was not stealing from my family but from God and that there actions were sins against God as well as against my family. I continued witnessing by asking if they knew of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on their behalf? Did they know that what they were doing was wrong and to please stop rejecting the Holy Spirit's work your hearts, He was telling them that what they were doing was wrong. I concluded by stating that I was concerned about their souls, and in Jesus name to please stop and leave. The leader then announced that, "In Jesus name give me a job, give me your money and tell me where the "big stash" is.
It was at this moment that I realized the leader would not leave nor could he be reasoned with so I gave him what money I had in my wallet and told him where more was located. I was forced back into the living room to sit with Stacy, Cristina and Diane who were very understandably disturbed and worried. Amazingly, Cristina was sharing comforting words with Diane and Stacy, so God was using her to keep Stacy and Diane as calm as possible. We were guarded by the taller of the three and proceeded to pray in Spanish. We asked God for His protection, for His comforting presence, for His Holy Spirit to move these men to recognize what they were doing and at some point, repent of their sins. We thanked Him for our salvation and for protecting us thus far. We continued to remain in the living room while two of the criminals ransacked the rooms in the rear of our house. Our home phone, Stacy's cell phone, then my cell phone all started ringing with Melissa trying to discover what was going on. All phones were taken from us unanswered. Ultimately, they placed what money they found and many small items of value into two suitcases and left without saying anything or bothering us. Approximately 8 minutes later we heard our doorbell ring. I was thinking "I am not about to greet you guys and let you into our house again if you have locked yourself out!" but it turned out to be a couple from the Guatemalan church wanting to deliver a gift to Diane before she left that following morning. I went through our open doors to greet them and described what had just happened. We were so relieved that they were there. They helped us calm down a little, helped contact the police (who never showed up), and thanked God with us for His divine protection. Melissa was later contacted and the reason for the abrubt end of Cristina's call. She immediately gathered about herself friends who all prayed for her and us.
Some might ask "where was God in all of this?" We answer, "He was right there in the middle of it all protecting us, calming us and the criminals so that not a hair on our heads was touched." He was there through His Word shared with two of them and He was there hearing our prayers. He saved us "from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He [covered us] with His feathers and under His wings [we found] refuge; His faithfulness [was our] shield and rampart" (Ps. 91). Thanks be to God!
Not everything is as it was before, we all continue to struggle with and process this event, we remember the threats that were made, the look of certainty in their eyes that if they were not satisfied they would have followed up on their promises. We continue to place all our hope, trust, and faith in Christ and struggle to continue forward in service to our Lord and Savior. We are in close contact with the many wonderful support staff in St. Louis as we proceed day by day. God continues to surround us with many of His faithful who are praying for us, visiting with us, and encouraging us. We thank Him for the comfort that this knowledge provides and we thank each of you for taking the time to care.
So while this note has shared only a glimpse of the horrible realities of living in a fallen world, it also has given us hope and has provided us with the opportunity to remember who He is, to remember He recalls His promises, that He is merciful, and that in spite of all that may happen to us on this earth nothing will be able to separate us from His love. A passage that truly resounds at this moment in time in our lives is from Romans 8: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God's richest blessings to each of you and may you be comforted in knowing that He is guarding and watching of us all!
In Christ,
Ken, Stacy, Melissa, and Cristina
P.S. Please forward this to any one who may know us as all of our email addresses were on the computer that was stolen.
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