Threatened
Nancy: Perry I am really anxious about all that is happening. Will it never end?
Perry: I think so. I just heard that the family has left Mt. Hagen and won’t be returning.
Nancy: What happened?
Perry: Apparently when the church people heard that our neighbors were threatening to hurt us that was the last straw for them. A number of them went in search of the husband and cornered him in town. They told him in no uncertain terms that if any of us were ever hurt there would be serious repercussions.
Nancy: What did he say or do?
Perry: My source says that he began to say we weren’t part of their family and so on.
Nancy: That makes sense. We don’t have family here and so he doesn’t have to worry about us retaliating.
Perry: I agree, but the church people cut him off and stated that he was correct that there was no blood relation, but that for them, we are their family and anything that happens to us will be treated as a family matter. That caught him off guard. And then he realized that if everyone that is part of our church is our family he was in serious trouble. At that point he became frightened and returned back here quickly.
Nancy: Wow that is pretty incredible. But will he take it seriously?
Perry: I believe so. They sent someone to follow him and saw him stop at a trucking company. He must have had family or a contact because he found out that he hired a truck to come and move their stuff back to somewhere between Lae and Madang on the coast and it is supposed to happen tomorrow.
Nancy: This has been so strange. I thought we were friends. We have invited them over to our house for meals and other activities.
Perry: Yes, and he was working for another mission agency as their bookkeeper. At that time, they didn’t have enough housing so asked to rent our extra unit. All was going well and so I never expected this to happen.
Nancy: Their daughter and Jess were such good friends. They were together a lot after school. They studied together, played together, and just had fun together.
Perry: Yes, all was well until they discovered that he was embezzling funds from them. When they confronted him and told him they would not prosecute him if he simply left, he responded in anger.
Nancy: If I remember correctly, he went to the court and filed a lawsuit or something to prevent them from firing him and even requiring them to pay damages for defamation of character. It was so strange. At that time the other mission offered to place them in another housing unit in order to avoid causing us any trouble.
Perry: Unfortunately, he refused that. Not totally sure why. Maybe he thought he would have more leverage if they felt we were in some sort of danger.
Nancy: At first, we thought it would be over in a short time, but he managed to create so many issues and excuses to avoid attending the court when his case was scheduled. Delaying tactics.
Perry: But it was only making the judge angry and that is not a good thing to do here. That is when he started threatening us if he lost. Not sure how we could be blamed.
Nancy: It has been such a stressful time. I have really appreciated all the prayers of the students and churches. They have been so supportive. Do you think he will really leave?
Perry: I hope so. And I think it would be good for you and Jess to leave early tomorrow and wait until I call you before coming home. I will stay out of sight. I want to make sure they do leave and to make sure they don’t take something that is not theirs or try to damage something.
Nancy: I am praying that all goes well, and we can get back to a less stressful life.
Perry: God will make that possible. I am pretty sure tomorrow will bring an end to all of this.
What do you do when you or those you love are threatened physically? Do you show the love of God to those who hate you and openly attack you? Who can you go to for advice and support when this happens?