Taken to court for a chicken
My friend
I am able to laugh now, but on that day, I did not feel like laughing. No, I was frustrated, stressed, angry, and frightened. No, I was not in the mood for laughing as the tears flowed freely from my eyes. But even though I can now laugh at the situation, it still brings up the feelings of fear and uncertainty I experienced that day. For that reason, I have waited until now to share my side of the story of the day the generator was stolen and the events related to the accusation that I had stolen a chicken. Yep, you heard correctly.
To put it all into perspective, I need to start from the beginning,
I had never been in a Sierra Leone courtroom before, let alone been a participant. I had no idea what to call all those old wise men sitting behind the bench. And how could I, a woman in this culture, know my place and how to respond? There were so many areas where I still felt like a stranger.
To make the situation harder for me, Perry was gone. He had taken his Dad to the hospital for a medical checkup and they had stayed overnight. While he was gone, thieves had broken into the workshop and stolen his portable generator.
As I stood in front of the judges, listening to them discuss the situation, and me trying to explain the situation, I felt like time was being wasted. They needed to search for the generator. The tears flowed down my face as our trusted old watchman was put in jail as the prime suspect. He had worked for the mission for over 30 years. When someone suggested consulting a medicine man to “find” the generator, I protested. In the midst of all these thoughts and emotions, all I could think about was how were we ever going to finish the dormitory without the generator to run the cement mixer?
I returned home exhausted. If only Perry would come home. All this happened after the radio check and I could not send him a message and warn him about what was happening.
But the day was not over yet.
Ten minutes after I got home, a woman and a police officer came to my door. More generator questions I assumed. But, no. The woman was accusing me of stealing her chicken. I said, “Which one?” She pointed to one that I had recently received as a gift. I know the chickens in my chicken pen.
I decided that it was not worth fighting over and so I told the police officer that she could take the chicken. I thought nothing more could go wrong and so I headed back to the house to ponder the stolen generator and wishing Perry would get home soon.
But a few minutes later I was summoned once again to the courtroom. Again, I assumed it had to do with the generator and maybe they had some news for me. But no, it was about the chicken. As I arrived, I noted the chicken was now in the same cell that they had put the watchman when he was arrested. Now I was really confused.
Then I heard the announcement. I was summoned because this time I was on trial and accused of chicken theft.
The judges asked us to tell our stories and I explained that I had received the chicken as a gift when we visited another village where Perry had preached. The tears began to flow again. She told her story, insisting it was her chicken. The judge then scolded me for allowing the woman to take the chicken without proper investigation. I was told to go home while they determined which story was true.
I left feeling discouraged and embarrassed. I could just imagine being the first missionary imprisoned for being a chicken thief.
Soon after I arrived home, Perry arrived but there was no chance to talk to him because of all the commotion and all the people wanting to talk to him about the generator. I heard him tell them as I had done in the courtroom that we would not make use of a medicine man. That lifted my spirits a little but not much. I was still reeling from being arrested as a chicken thief.
Finally, he removed himself from everyone and came to the house. It was so good to feel him hug me and he patiently waited for my tears and sobbing to stop and then listened to my story. He became a little upset that the church leaders had not been there to help me, but I reminded him that they were caught up in the theft of the generator and knew nothing about the chicken.
As we continued to talk, I once again saw the woman and a policeman heading to our house. I also saw that the chicken was being carried by her. I wondered what was about to happen next. But as I looked at her, she appeared very subdued and a bit frightened, and nothing like the belligerent woman who had accused me of stealing her chicken. She said nothing and the policeman told her to give me back the chicken and apologize.
I was completely shocked. She sheepishly apologized saying she had made a mistake. The chicken was not hers. The members of the court had confirmed my story and she had to return the chicken and apologize. I did not ask any questions and simply said thank you or yes to what they said. Perry stood there in silence, watching and listening.
I felt vindicated, but still shaken. It had been quite a day and there was still more to come. During the difficult days ahead, our students, workers, and church members bonded together in earnest prayer for God’s help in our time of trouble and for the return of the generator. I wondered how could any good come out of all of this?
Yet it did. The generator was found and the power of prayer was revealed. What a testimony to those who had wanted to hire a medicine man. And for me, I gained a new level of approval from the people for how I had behaved in relation to the accusation of being a chicken thief.
As for the chicken. As soon as the policeman and woman left, the chicken ended up in the soup. And now I can laugh because it really was a funny thing when you think about a chicken being put in jail.
Never stop believing that God is in control and is ready to respond when we pray and believe.
Nancy R
What would happen if you were accused of committing a crime?
How would you respond? What feelings would you experience?
Do you know your rights in the community where you live?