Moving Forward After the Burglaries

Today is the ten-year anniversary of our move to Costa Rica. Can you believe it? I can't!

A friend wrote recently and asked a very good question. If the burglar got into our house so easily twice, then what good would it do to replace what was stolen?

We now have bars on the window he broke into in addition to the other barred windows at the house. We´ve installed an alarm system and reinforced the back door, which was always vulnerable even when locked. He took the house key, but we have changed the lock. We had not worried too much about break-ins before because the house in set back about 120 yards from the road and was therefore something of a secret. In eight years of living there, it had never been broken into. The landlords have what has normally been a good watch dog. We have left the house for several months at a time without anything like this happening. Everything has changed now, though. Everyone in the neighborhood (especially the potential thieves) now knows that the house was broken into and the watchdog did not do her job. So we'll probably never have the peace of mind we once did with the house, but the extra measures will help.

But it also must be kept in mind that this is simply a reality that we face every day. If the criminals really want to get to you and your stuff you can´t stop them. This was the second house we have lived in here in which burglars made a forced entry and walked away with thousands of dollars of stuff. The reality is that the criminals dominate the lives of the people here. They are the only ones with a can-do attitude in the country. I plan to write more about this on the blog soon.

We know four families here who have suffered home invasions and been held at gun point. One family had everything taken--even the food and clothing from the house. In a fifth case, an acquaintance of ours came home when the burglar was there. The thief shot our friend, critically wounding him. Two people we know have been forced out of their cars at gun point and had the car stolen. I can´t even count the instances of people getting held up at gun point and having wallets, , purses, backpacks, and jewelry taken.

In one case, a friend of ours was in her car stopped at a traffic light. The car was full of children. They had just left McDonald's and were digging into their Happy Meals when a man went up to the car and smashed the window, sending shattered glass all over the children and their food. The man grabbed her purse and took off.

So, we try to take precautions, but sometimes we forget or fail. And the precautions don't always work when the criminals are brazen enough and willing to take risks. In our case, the guy walked around the house on a metal roof, which makes a lot of noise. Then he broke into the front window in full view of the landlords' house, which is across the driveway from us. It was 5 in the afternoon and the landlord was at home.

The hardest thing about this is the stress it's put on Caleb. Please pray for us. It's been easy to forget that we need prayer more than money. We think we've accounted for everything. Here is an inventory and what we think it would cost to replace things:

2 laptops $1200
2 digital cameras $400
power drill and mag light $150
2 new back packs $120
boom box $75
horse tack $70
Caleb's fishing rod $50
external DVD drive $50
heart rate monitor $30
hair dryer $30
head phones $20
house key

Martha did not want to put a price on the jewelry. Taken were her engagement ring, wedding band, gold necklace (my wedding gift to her), diamond earrings, earrings bought in Israel, and various sentimental items from childhood.

As you know, we do not receive any remuneration whatsoever from our mission agency. We depend entirely on the generous gifts of folks like you to make ends meet, or in this case, replace things that were stolen. Please see the previous blog entry for the addresses where you can send contributions...