We'll it bums me out to be reporting the latest in the story of Jair and Pool, but I know that God has a plan to use this for good. It's been a rough week but it's really a big part of the story with these two young guys. It all went down last Monday night. Bill and Tracy Wertz had arrived earlier that day which we were super excited about and we had been running around that day in the Motokar. It was a great time for them to visit as well as great timing for this Monday night. We had just finished our weekly dinner with the 40/40's at our house and were chatting with the Wertz's when the door bell rang. It was Jair, so I invited him in to meet Bill and Tracy and hang out for a bit. He came in and played with Kai while we talked and hung out. Then at around 8:45, I looked out our window to check on our Motokar that was parked out front of our house and couldn't believe it. It wasn't there. A lot of things ran through my mind: did one of our 40/40's take it when they left, did I accidentally leave it somewhere else or leave it back at the Hotel that the Wertz's were staying or was it actually taken. I ran down with Bill and we asked some questions of our neighbor Nora who hadn't seen anything, but she helped direct us to the police station. As we were trying to figure out the situation Jair came down and was very surprised at what had just happened. We could tell he was very concerned and also helped direct us to the Police. Bill and I said our goodbye's to Jair and went directly to report the missing vehicle. At the police station there had to be about 15-20 Moto's and Motokar's that had been impounded. However, they sent us to a special department of the police that deals only with stolen vehicles, DEPROVE. Knowing that this is the largest city in the world that has no roads leading out in addition to seeing the large amount of impounded vehicles at the Police station, I started to think that maybe there is a chance that we may see this Motokar again. However, we were also told that some of the police are corrupt and organized with the thief’s. Anyway, it wasn't at DEPROVE either and we met up with Cristobal and Pastor Aviatar and we filed all the necessary paperwork that went into a handwritten logbook. Nothing gives you more confidence in a police force than when they write your story and information in a dusty logbook. Anyway, there was nothing else to do at this point but pray.
Bill and I then headed home and upon arrival, Tracy pointed out that she had thought our digital video camera was on our counter, but didn't know where it was. What a great thing to find out after dealing with this already draining situation. So at that point we proceeded to tear apart the whole house trying to find this thing. But as we searched we couldn’t find it anywhere. I was so ticked off at this point, if it in fact was taken it had to have been Jair who was the only person in our house other than the 40/40's. Dispite not knowing where he lived and it being 10:30 at night and there being a storm on the horizon I was determined to find his place at get that thing back. Bill just said “let's go”, so he and I headed out. I was really thankful he was there to help because if he hadn’t been there I for sure wouldn’t have done this alone. We just headed in the direction that he had mentioned earlier, which was in a shadier part of town near the old abandoned airport. Lightning strikes illuminating the dirt street and something jogged my memory because I remembered that they had to sign using their addressed for the Amazon Raft Race that we had been training for. Thanks to Tracy’s time data basing at Church on the Hill she was able to remember their street name. There were two ladies out on the street who I asked if they knew where the street was and if it was safe to be out here at this time of night. They pointed us in the right direction and we happened to be only a block away. They said as long as people are out in the street it should be safe. Fortunately after learning that bit of informatin the rain began to just poor and everyone that was outside left, great. We walked further and asked a young kid if he knew where they lived which was now one house down. Bill suspiciously kept his back against the wall next to the door providing the intimidation. Jair poked his head out the window and Bill gave him the old head nod and he opened the door. I asked him if he had my camera and if he knew anything about our Motokar. He said yes, he had just brought it to his house. He then turned, went inside and brought it out and handed it to me. I couldn’t believe it, I shook his hand and didn't have any words at that point and we just left in the rain. It was coming down at this point and we just wanted to get home, but I was so relieved to get it back.
We got back just drenched to the bone but relieved and confused. It had been such an unbelievable night and this relationship that I’d spent so much time to foster and that I had so much confidence in was just shattered. I didn’t know what to think at this point because I felt so betrayed but I really think and pray that this all took place on the same night for a reason. You see Jair apparently has no problem stealing, but he has no clue of the consequences. However that night he was able to see the consequences of someone stealing on a different level. I know that maybe you’re thinking Jair had something to do with the stealing of the Moto but his reaction combined with the timing of the Moto missing give us reason to believe he wasn’t a part of that. But at this point I hope the story is not over, it certainly changes things for our relationship. But really I hope he can see his actions more clearly and the fact that he just gave it back to me either says he cared enough about our relationship and my family to give it back or either he was scared. I hope that anyone that’s been following this story will just pray that this isn’t the end of the story. You see it had been described by multiple people that night that there is a necessity for some to steal in Peru and specifically in this community, the unemployment rate is in around 45%. It was confirmed the next day when Pool stopped by who had been looking for work all day and couldn’t find anything. He’s seemed quite bummed because he’s likely going to have to join the Peruvian Navy, which is probably a good option for him at this point. Anyways, I just keep them in my prayers and hope they see their sin as it truly is and then that they recall the verses we read together about Christ dying for them despite their sin. Please keep them in your prayers, they know where the church is located, they know that Christ is their hope. They just need something to wake them up and finally see their need for Him.
