GLADLY LOCKING OUR DOORS!
Today was more emotional than eventful, but still a thought provoking day. About 3:45 today a police officer was shot at the bottom of our hill, a little more than 100 yards from our house…on our street. There has been an increase of robberies in our area. They have significantly increased in brutality as well. After Christmas, "Gus" from our store at school was walking by the SW corner of Parque Bosque with 2 of his friends when 6 armed men robbed them. I had just walked through the corner of the park 30 minutes prior with 3 of my kids. We live 1/2 block from the park. December 2, just behind Parque Chino, a friend witnessed a severe armed car jacking across the street from his house…only his second day in country from South Carolina. Two weeks ago, the pharmacy on the corner of Parqua Bosque, the pharmacist, outside guard and people waiting for the bus were robbed by 2 armed men. Today the police officer on moto pulled over 2 guys on a moto and they shot him with 12 gage birdshot. They fled on foot up the road toward Parque Sauces. One dropped his bag and the shotgun in 2 different locations as he went. One robber was picked up by a car thought to be involved in the robbery and the other fled on foot. We heard the sirens from everywhere and went to see. We were there only about 5 minutes after the shooting. They were just taking the officer away. Very quickly about 20 moto cops charged off chasing a lead. The downed officer was wearing a bp vest but it was a lower grade vest. He had injuries to his shoulders arms and stomach. One cop we talked to felt terrible because this was his area to patrol. He had been called off to sit at a traffic corner for the day. He was especially irritated because this was his beat. I called Ryan, our missionary that works with the groups in law enforcementt, and he came and talked to a few of the cops. He helped us fill in several of the blanks we could not quite understand. Needless to say we are much more aware of our surroundings tonight!The personal side of the story is this: Jordan had a Bible study at a friend’s house just up that road at 4 PM today. About 3:30 we decided he was not going. Jordan would have at that corner about the time of that shooting. At the same time, Deanne wanted to walk to Pali-our grocery store at the bottom of our hill. Our neighbor stopped over for a few minutes and “would not leave.” Deanne would have been at that corner about the same time. God is good all the time. Whether we were at the corner or not, we know God is good all the time. Please pray for us as we serve and minister here on our street with our neighbors. We have worked hard at building relationships with them and this is another open door of communication and sharing with them where we find our security, in Jesus Christ.
On a lighter note, I was privileged to go to a school in Poas this past Saturday. The school is a shelter for the displaced from the earthquake. I have included my Spanish version of our day. I had to write it for an assignment today. I thank you for being such an encouragement to us here in Costa Rica. I think I am writing all of this to be an outlet for my thoughts. Thank you for listening…or not :)
