Posts tagged thief

Break-in Update

Feb14th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Ryan

What a week! We had Melissa’s parents here this last week. We are thankful that months prior to the break-in, Melissa’s parents had scheduled to come this last week. They came at a time which helped us take our mind off of the recent break-in.

We were so grateful for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, thoughts, and support. Even though we are far away – you are such blessings to our hearts! A few people gave extra money and our home church took up a second offering. I feel so much gratitude and humbleness -  I had tears from hearing how you, our friends and family, have helped.  You are truly with us as we endeavor to be the helping hands and feet in Haiti.

John, the pastor at our Haiti church, and his wife stopped by to talk through what happened, pray with us and give us some Bible verses we could post around the house.  They have had a few robberies themselves and were very so thoughtful to take time out of their day to visit.

John told us about a guy at church that used to do security.  Believe it or not… the next Sunday Melissa, unknowingly, sat down right next to the guy. He gave us some great advice on some small things that we can do to help secure our apartment.

We were able to put in our window a beeper (very loud beeper) that goes off if the window is opened.  It’s a noise maker that would wake us up and hopefully scare the intruder.

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I try to remember that we can take some steps for more security but the biggest thing we can continue is to take steps towards walking closer with Jesus.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” – More

Haiti, Life    ,

The Thief Comes To …

Jan29th
2013 9 Comments Written by Ryan

 

Before this all happened, I was typing up our final conclusions of the Run For Life event.  Attempting to muster up enough energy to give a decent conclusion of the event.  It was the day after Barry finished the 315 mile run, and we had finally arrived back home after 17 days on the road.

Believing that we were safe…

I had dispersed the money needed for the run between different bags and backpacks during the event so if one item was stolen we would still have money in another location.  I was now consolidating all of that on our table back at our apartment.

After unpacking, I opened my laptop to begin loading the pictures of the run and to begin the final blog entry.

Realizing that we felt the weight of the two weeks catch up to us, my eye-lids became very heavy!  Thinking how wonderful it will be to sleep in our own bed.  I crash on the bed not long after 6pm.

During the night, I woke up.  Totally out of it and feeling disoriented, I said to Melissa, “Did you hear something?”  She half-awake said yes, but we didn’t think much of it.

Hearing noises is really a way of life down here in Haiti.  With our windows always open, our bedroom door always open, we can wake up many times during the night hearing music, dogs, roosters, crashing, banging, drums, shouting, or you-name-it!  It really isn’t unusual to hear something.  Why would tonight be any different.

Thinking nothing of the noise, I lay with my eyes closed, listening a little bit as I dose off to sleep again…

until the morning…

Melissa runs into the room terrified…

“Ryan… I think someone broke into our house last night.”

Confused as I was completely passed out from exhaustion from the days before.  I asked, “What?”

Melissa said, “Did you have your computer out on the table?”  I nodded while getting the sleep out of my eyes.  ”It’s gone.”

Of course, that got my attention.  I ruffled out of bed only a few feet to our table.  The same table that I had consolidated the money from the Run For Life.

“It’s all gone.” I said.  Melissa saw that the window to the balcony was open.  We immediately noticed the bars had been chiseled away from the cement and bent enough for a person to get in and out.

——

It’s a terribly uncomfortable feeling knowing that someone was in our  place, looking around and taking items.  Knowing they were feet away from our open bedroom.  Did they have a gun?  Did they have a knife?  Your thoughts seem to be never ending about the situation.  Even more so are my thoughts about what would I have done if I would have caught them taking the money and computer.

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” – John 10:10

It breaks my heart that money, to be used for good, was taken and rewarded to a thief.  It breaks my heart that justice is not immediately served.  It kills me to know that this person is still able to break into other peoples houses and take their things.

For one moment, do you remember the women in scripture who was caught in the very act of adultery.  The law of Moses said that she should be stoned.  The Pharisees, question Jesus about whether they should stone her.  He responds, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  One by one, as the invitation settled in, the religious leaders moved away.  The eldest departed first, followed by the youngest, until Jesus and the women were left alone.  Then Jesus spoke the words that free a broken life: “Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way and from now on, sin no more.”

It strikes a chord in all of us.  The story shows Jesus’ mercy and compassion.  We could see ourselves as the bystanders holding a rock.  I can see myself, looking into the eyes of the thief that broke into our house.  Then we pause and can also see ourselves in the women – as sinners set free.

Scripture tells us that the wages of sin, any sin, is death.  We stand guilty before Jesus, who was without sin but bore its punshiment on the cross to bring us redemption.  Like the women, we have experienced the extravagant kindness and undeserved mercy of Christ.

When someone commits a sin that threatens my comfort level, I have to fight my tendency to resort to judgment.  It’s all too easy to forget my own sins, condemn the other person, and fail to extend the very grace I’ve received.

If we’re truly walking with Jesus, every day we will encounter individuals whose lives do not align with God’s Word. Our opportunity, however, is to act the way Jesus did.

If I have a chance to meet this criminal, I want to extend to him the grace, mercy and forgiveness that Christ gave us.  I am not saying it’s easy to type these words but if I say I follow Christ, I want to act like Christ.

Melissa and I have continued to pray for the person that broke-in.  We pray that he will find the joy in Christ that we have found.

As scary as the feeling is after knowing someone was in your place.  We have been so thankful for the prayers and support of family and friends.

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Haiti, Life    ,

Using GPS to Track Our Stolen iPad in Haiti – Part 3

Sep10th
2012 10 Comments Written by Ryan

This is the final segment of the story.  If you haven’t already read the other parts – here are the links to part 1 and part 2.

A group of Haitians start assembling outside the gate of the house having their own discussions.  They seem to suspect something of this place. This is so frustrating.  So many people are trying to help give Haiti legs to stand and though we don’t know exactly what is going on at this place, these people are accomplices in this crime.  At the least they are slightly involved and at most they are organizing a ring of theft.  In my thoughts, I am trying to remember that no matter what others are doing, it is important that we continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

John McHoul has pulled up in his truck at this point.  Everyone is waiting for the pastor and son to return.

Finally they pull back in!

I jump at the question we are all thinking, “Do you have the iPad!”

“No,” they respond.

Ummmm…. sooooo… 

The younger guy waves us into the courtyard and he gathers the police officer, the judge and me into an area with chairs.  We sit as he begins telling us in French,

“I just want to be honest with you.  We had an old friend come to us this morning.  He needed his iPad charged.  We let him in and allowed him to charge it.  After it was done charging he went back to his place on Delmas 22.  We are trying to get a hold of him now and are asking him to come back here.”

The police officer asks some more specific questions about the time that this occurred to see if it aligns up with our timing of the iPad getting stolen and when we were able to locate the iPad via GPS.

We finish with the discussion and update the rest of the guys.  What do we do at this point?

The best option seems to wait this thing out.  Currently, we know: (1) The iPad was here (2) These guys are involved (3) They have the contact information for who originally took the iPad.

As we are processing through this with Barry and John, the pastor comes out asking us to please stay inside the courtyard and to not be outside where we are visible.  We are all thinking, Ahhhhh!  Having the judge, police officer and all of us present is having a negative impact on what he is doing here.  John starts playing the good cop/bad cop routine by putting a little pressure on the Koreans. He says we are waiting for more police officers to arrive.  We discuss with the police officer if it is possible to have more police come and begin sifting through the bins of equipment.

We pick up some Cokes at the local store for 25 goude a drink (roughly $0.60).

Finally, the younger Korean guy and a Haitian tell us we are going to the house of the guy that originally took the iPad.  We all gather up in the van and continue down the back street to the main road.  We probably traveled about ½ mile when the younger Korean guy picks up his phone and tells us to turn around.  Turning around we head back to the house.

Let me guess what is going to happen next!

We pass into the courtyard and I see sitting down on the bench a very frightened young Haitian girl.

She is holding the iPad in her lap.  I ask her for the iPad.

This is incredible, I am in shock, I am holding and looking at the iPad that was stolen about 5 hours earlier.  I am actually h-o-l-d-i-n-g the stolen iPad!

I turn it on to make sure it wasn’t swapped out or anything with another iPad.  Amazingly, this looks exactly as I left it.  Strangely enough, the iPad was still in airplane mode?  How were we able to originally locate this device if it was still on airplane mode?  I flipped off airplane mode and confirmed with Troy that it was once again traceable.

High fiving Barry, we jump in the van ready to split the scene and call this a success!  The judge instead requests that the younger Korean, a few select Haitians and the younger girl get in the van to go down to the police station.  He says that they need to file the report.  Reluctantly they all enter the van and we drive to the station.

Arriving, I am filled with so many mixed emotions.  I am super pumped that we have it back, saddened that these guys are involved in who knows what and a bit worried for the little girl who probably has no idea what is going on.  They fill out the paper work starting from a blank piece of white paper.  They get my name and information from my driver’s license and Permis des Sejour.

After about an hour, the police officer takes me outside and explains to me that all of them are going to be put in jail for the night.  We will all go to the court house in the morning and present our case to another judge.  The judge needs to keep the iPad for the night and present it as evidence tomorrow for trail.

Oh, no way… they are all going to jail!?!  Also, crazy that we actually have the iPad in our possession and then yet we are still unable to bring it back with us!  So close :-)

The deal is that they could all go home if they would give up the name of this “person” that originally took the iPad.  The problem is that they won’t give up a name, number or any identifying information of this person.  Obviously, we all have a hard time believing that this person exists.  The fact still remains that someone originally stole the iPad from Port-Au-Prince Fellowship.  That person may remain a mystery.

Reflecting a bit at this point, I am thinking, it was obvious the iPad was at the house.  They just needed us all to leave the house so they could get the iPad from hiding.  I feel worse seeing the young girl having to stay in jail.  They probably were just looking for someone to hold the iPad in case someone needed to be convicted.  Truly, I have no idea why they had her hold it but still sad either way.

Now in the evening, Troy is tracking the iPad all around downtown.  I don’t have internet so he continues to give me updates.  All we wonder is what in the world is this judge doing with the iPad.  I guess we can’t do much about it now… maybe we will find out tomorrow… time for bed!

The following day we prepare for court

IMG_20120903_124119.jpg Barry, Pierre, and I are dressed in long pants with a nice shirt.  I am feeling a bit nervous about heading to Haitian court.  Not sure why.  It is a strange feeling knowing that these guys could have a serious judgment.  Of course, they deserve it.  They are hurting the Haitians and others they lie and steal from in order to use for personal gain.  Still, it is difficult for me to be happy about them being prosecuted.  It reminds me of how thankful I am that Jesus talked about giving us a second chance.  When we stumble and fall, he gives us forgiveness.

While waiting for the police officer to arrive we start driving to get Derek a Haiti phone.  Derek will be the new driver for the next three months.  We had just picked him up from the airport this morning.

On the road we get a phone call from John saying we need to head to court now.  Derek, being the first time in Haiti, will just have to go with us!  If you are going to have a first day, might as well make it exciting!

We fight through traffic and arrive downtown to pick up the police officer and then to the court house.

The police let us through the front doors and we head to the judges office.  This is the same judge we were with yesterday.  Only now he is dressed up in a suit and much more reserved.  He is no longer the guy shouting, “Justice!”  His domineer is reserved and smile faint.  We share greetings and begin the conversation.

He explains to us that if this was a Haitian affair, the process would be simple and he would be able to push forward with the process.

He says, “Something bigger is going on behind the curtain.”  Though he would like to pursue this further for monetary reasons and prestige in dealing with such a case, he says,

“I need to wash my hands of this case.  I do wash my hands of this case.”

What happened last night, I wonder.  Did the Korean ambassador payoff someone higher up who then forced the hand of this judge?  What is going on behind the curtain!  Of course, we may never know. 

We do know that the Koreans did not spend the night in jail and then are again free to go about their business.

He pulls out the iPad from the cabinet and lays it on the desk staring at it for a moment as if replaying the events of yesterday in his head.  The judge looks up to me and says,

“You could make a film out of what happened yesterday.”

We all had a smile on our face.  I replied, “I will never forget that day.”

Haiti, Life    ,

Using GPS to Track Our Stolen iPad in Haiti – Part 2

Sep9th
2012 5 Comments Written by Ryan

Sorry to keep you hanging from part 1 but these stories take some time to write.

Where were we in this story?  Ah, yes!  We have pulled up the van around the corner of the house.  I feel like I can hear my heart beating outside my chest. Internally I am processing, “Is this really happening?  Are we seriously sitting feet away from where the stolen iPad is located?!”

I am all ready to storm in but have no clue as to what rights need to be read or anything.

In America, in order to go into a house the police need a warrant under the fourth amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In Haiti, they have similar systems in place but you can expedite the process by instead of asking the Judge for a warrant you can bring the judge with you.

The police officer and judge said they would go in first.  I guess that is usual protocol.  Pulling from my extensive crime knowledge and superior training which includes programs such as Batman, Remington Steele, Bond Movies, MacGyver, Dark Wing Duck and many more, I have a few ideas of my own.

Recalling some past shows I remember how often you see the police go in the front door and the bad guys run out the back door :-D !  Since the house is on a corner, I decide to stake out on the other side, preparing for any sneak escapes out the back.

Not a moment after seeing the police officer and the judge enter the house I see a guy exit the other side.  I shout up to him in Creole, “Mesye” (meaning “mister”).

As he continues walking away, he swings a backpack over his shoulder.  I immediately think, Could this be the same backpack that the iPad was stolen in?

I begin to walk toward him saying again much louder, “Mesye!”

No response.

Is this guy deaf! Is it my imagination or is he starting to walk faster.

Running up to the guy I instantly ask him in Creole, “Do you know of Port-Au-Prince Fellowship? Were you there this morning?”

“No,” he responds.

As I begin touching around his bag, I asked him, “Can I look inside your bag?”

Surprisingly, he was very nice and opened up his bag which reveals only some random objects.  Nothing!

Feeling a bit awkward yet still focused on the task, I thanked him and head straight back to the house.  I am thinking I will probably have a good laugh about this awkward incident later.

As I approach the house, the police and judge are turning the corner to tell me this is actually the front door to the place.  We all enter together into the court yard.

“Wait.  What is this place?”

IMG_20120902_165143.jpg Looking around I see some benches, a pulpit, and a cross.  Is this a church?

The judge explains part of the situation not saying anything about tracking the iPad.  He motions for me to go inside the house.  At this point, I am thinking, shouldn’t we be calling for backup or something?  Also not understanding why I was picked as the first person to enter the house :-D

Oh, well – Here goes nothing!

IMG_20120902_145006.jpg I enter the house and begin searching for the iPad.  I noticed stuff sitting everywhere.  Seemed organized but – wow – there is a lot of stuff.  I continue looking not seeing the iPad sitting out in plain sight.

As I enter a room, I see heaps of plastic bins neatly stacked on shelf after shelf.  What is going on here?  There is sooooooo much stuff very well organized! This is not a typical Haitian house.  Then out of nowhere a bunch of women start shouting at me.  At this point, I hadn’t even really looked at anyone.  I was so focused on looking for the iPad.  One woman came up to me and couldn’t believe I didn’t remove shoes.  Then I catch it!

This isn’t a Haitian house, these are Koreans!  Of course, I hadn’t caught up on the “Top 10 Korean Customs To Know Before Visiting a Korean Home”.  Apparently, not removing your shoes is a sign of great disrespect.  I am a bit conflicted because aren’t we already invading their home – so removing my sandals seem a bit odd at this point but whatever.

Moving on, I enter the room directly over where the GPS coordinates pointed to on the map when we first located the iPad back at the McHoul’s house.  The Judge coming in behind me looks around and is fired up shouting,

“This is justice!  This is justice!”

He is saying this because, we both realize that something bigger is going on besides one little iPad.  This room is full of laptop computers and equipment!  There is computer equipment on the shelves and on the tables.  Seriously, there is more stuff in this one house then the entire Heartline mission.

Using a careful eye, I begin pulling back some of the sheets revealing more equipment.  My spirit sinks as I realize it would take a month to look through all this stuff.  They could have concealed the iPad in one of a million plastic bins.  We eventually search the outside workers chambers and a few tent rooms sitting inside the court yard.

Meanwhile, the Korean pastor shows up with a younger guy who is maybe son or protégé.  The judge gives them the spiel and immediately the younger guy runs in the house and comes out holding an iPad asking me,

“How did you guys track the iPad here?”  He gestured to his iPad, wanting me to show him.

They knew we were looking for the iPad but we hadn’t mentioned anything else.  The very fact he asked the question made us realize that they very well had the iPad in their possession.  Up to this point, we really weren’t sure if it was a friend, a guest, a worker, etc.  They had to be in shock. The emotion is revealing itself by their quick actions and movement.

Without thought I say, “I am not going to show you how I tracked it.”  Pausing for a second to come up with something more intelligent, “I will show you how if you can return my iPad.”

There is a large group of people around us and everyone starts multiple conversations, talking and discussing over each other.  Barry from the just outside the gate comes up to me and says, “The pastor and the other guy are in the car leaving!”  I hadn’t noticed with all the discussion that they slipped out.

Running up to the car I asked, “Where are you going?  Are you going to get the iPad back?”  The younger guy kind of nods and then they drive away.

Continue to Part 3

Haiti, Life    ,

Using GPS to Track Our Stolen iPad in Haiti – Part 1

Sep5th
2012 21 Comments Written by Ryan

Like most days in Haiti, you really never know what will happen.  Maybe it’s the days that you feel the most comfortable in your surroundings that the inevitably unexpected happens.  This is not a story that one could fabricate or imagine but it is a real-life event told as honestly as I can.

Sunday morning begins by catching a ride at 6:30am with John & Troy up the mountain to Quisqueya.  They pull up to the house and I run out throwing my guitar in the back of John’s pick-up and tossing my backpack in the seat next to me.  At this moment, I never could have imagined that in a few hours I would be feeling so victimized.

Troy is leading music today and he had asked me last week if I would be available for playing guitar. We arrive at Port-Au-Prince Fellowship and we start setting up.  I pull my iPad out of my backpack, flip open the black case cover and set it on the music stand.  Troy & I have started using OpenSong on our iPads to organize songs. Best of all we don’t need to print sheet music.  After music practice, people begin trickling in.  It is a mix of Haitian, American, Australian & other nationalities represented at Port-Au-Prince Fellowship.  I never would have considered a person sitting in the pews would possibly be scheming something criminal.

Noticing my iPad is running on empty, immediately finishing the first service, I stash it back in my bag and ran the charger chord outside my bag and into an outlet.  Leaving the bag up on stage, I step down to grab a roll & coffee from just outside.  Really enjoy having treats once a month and bumping into some friendly faces!  Thinking I better prepare for the next service, I say my “good-bye” and walk back to this all familiar and inviting place.

My heart drops as I subconsciously let out, “Ooooh noooo.”

Troy asked, “What?”

“My iPad is missing.”  I can see the charger chord hanging from the wall and my backpack completely unzipped.

“This isn’t a joke is it?” I mention to the band.

Troy says it would be a pretty mean joke as he starts walking toward Pastor John to let him know the situation.  At this point, what do you do?  I quickly shook off the thought of running out the door and down the street to look for the thief.  We have another set to play.  How am I going to focus now?  After getting some sheet music and half transposing them into the key I was playing in for the first set, I sat down and could only think of silently praying for the person that stole the iPad.

Continuing to internally beat myself up, feeling sad, and taken advantage of we finish church and leave to the McHoul’s for Beth’s amazing cooking.  I don’t say much in the car as my mind wonders about what I would do or say if I saw the person that took the iPad.  Was he/she Haitian or American?

Arriving at the McHoul’s, my first thought is to get to a computer to reset my passwords.  At the very least, I am not going to let this person get into my email, twitter, facebook and other personal information.  I asked John if I could use his mac.  Jumping on his computer I start resetting passwords.

Having little hope, I remember that I installed a tracking application in case of situations like this.  I log onto the website to check the Find My iPhone App¹.  The website shows a spinner only to reveal that it could not locate the iPad.  I figured as much since I had the iPad turned on airplane mode.  Leaving the website up, it was time to clue John into what had happened considering it was not my iPad that was stolen but it was Heartline’s iPad.  I take a big gulp and describe the situation not making any excuses for my ignorance.  After chatting, John looks at the website which shows a map of the world and a big message saying it can’t be located.  We try refreshing the page for kicks, and then the impossible, the miraculous, the inconceivable happens…

iPad Location.jpg A dot. A simple and undeniable dot shows up on the map showing the precise location of the iPad.  My heart immediately jumps from sadness to hope, from a slowly beating heart to one that is racing!  Excitement overtakes my face!

Cue the missions impossible song!

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At this point, I am ready to hop on my motorcycle, drive to this location, bust in and grab the iPad straight out of the thief’s filthy hands!  Thinking more clearly than me but with the same passion, John calls a friend of ours who is on the police force.  John describes the situation.  We pick her up and head for the last known location!

Many people visiting Haiti see the chaotic traffic, chickens and people and believe there are very few laws in Haiti.  After living in Haiti, you come to realize that there are actually many laws.  The real question might be which laws are enforced.

We are going to follow it by Haitian law.  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to go to jail for ignorance. I personally have seen some Haitian jails.  There is a reason why Haitian jails are condemned for violating human rights².

Fighting our way through traffic, we now have an official police woman, an official judge, Barry and myself.  Calling our home-base for updates on the GPS location of the iPad, we confirm the dot hasn’t moved but it’s been an hour since it was last updated.

My heart is accelerating as we approach the house.  Having the location pinned on my phone we can drive right up to the house.

“It’s coming up, we are almost there… this is it!” I said. We turn the corner and stop the van.

I was not prepared for what we see next…

Continue to Part 2

Haiti, Life    ,

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