October 29, 2006

Stakeout

Tonight turned into one of the more exciting ones since our arrival in Brazil a year and one day ago. I participated in my first stakeout.

I guess it was not a real stakeout, in the technical sense of the words. A little background is necessary.

Over the past several weeks, the neighborhood around our campus has become increasingly dangerous, with the effects spilling over onto our students. We have had at least four "incidents" (robberies, muggings, and attempted robberies and muggings) in the past two weeks. On Friday one of our (newlywed) married students had his house broken into and many valuable items (including a laptop and a guitar) stolen. Yesterday the married student condominium was invaded by bandidos who apparently thought it was vacant. There happened to be two families on campus, however, and they succeeded in scaring off the thieves. However, the teenage daughter of one of the students had a panic attack and had to be taken to the hospital.

I heard about this latest event when I went to check up on the ministry of one of the students this evening. As he told me what had happened, a righteous (I think) indignation welled up within me. At the same time, my mind went to the many students who would be returning to the seminary this evening from their practical ministries. Right then I decided to go to the seminary. I was not sure what I would do once I got there, but I felt a responsibility to make a presence.

Itacyara insisted on going with me. Behind that pretty smile, she is one tough customer! As we were arriving at the access road to the seminary--where several of our students have been mugged in the past--two of our young people were about to go in. We pulled up and gave them a ride onto campus. We then went over to the married student housing to make sure everything was ok. At that point Itá and I decided that the best thing to do would be to sit and wait at the entrance, to intercept any students coming in so they would not have to walk the dark passageway.

After all the students had arrived, we went back to the campus and talked to the students. We found the spirit good--including that of the young couple who were so recently robbed--although they were still a little shaken. They all seemed to appreciate our presence.

I have mentioned our growing security problem in earlier posts, and I will feature it in the prayer letter to be sent out in the morning. Tomorrow I will be stopping by a local security company to see what kind of measures are available to us, and how much they will cost. I ask that you pray for the safety of our students and their families. If you are interested in helping to fund an effective security system, please send me an e-mail.

Posted by Andrew on October 29, 2006 9:36 PM.