A few years ago assassins came to Costa Rica from Colombia. Part of a drug cartel, their assignment was to murder several government offcials who were trying to curb the drug trafficking here. The men were caught and arrested. What do you think the penalty was for conspiring to assassinate government officials? Death? No, there is no capital punishment here. Life in prison? Wrong again. These men suffered the dreaded fate of...deportation. That's right. Costa Rica sent them back to Colombia without even trying them.
I tell you this because it is the typical Costa Rican response to crime. Negociate and appease or do nothing. Think I'm exaggerating? Read on...
Our landlady Debbie Sasso was storing clothing in a meeting room on the property a few years ago when a thief broke the window and stole it all. Debbie, who is Dutch, went looking for the clothes and found them in a mom-and-pop convenience store in a nearby neightborhood. She confronted the store owner about selling her clothes and he cooperated with her and told her from whom he had bought them. She went to the thief's house and confronted him. The man was irate that the store owner had ratted him out and went to rough up the store owner. But the owner had other ideas and made a pre-emptive strike. He punched the thief in the nose and flattened him, leaving him bleeding profusely. At that point, Debbie went to the OIJ, Costa Rica's version of the FBI, and brought two officers back. They stopped two blocks away from the scene.
"Well, aren't you going to do something?" she asked.
"No, he might have a gun," they replied. And that was it, except that they told Debbie that they knew this particular thief and she could file a formal complaint against him and add it to the stack of complaints already pending in his case. Seeing the futility of it all, Debbie went herself and demanded her clothing back from the thief's family (who were wearing them) and the store owner. She got a few things back, which is more than most people get.
So you can see how ineffective law enforcement is here.
To end on a positive note, in the last blog I shared some of the more interesting cultural contrasts between the US and Costa Rica as published in an English newspaper here. Here is one of the many good things about being here:
In the US...
You throw or give away appliances, from blenders to washing machines, when something goes very wrong, because the repairs cost more than the items are worth.
In Costa Rica...
you can afford to keep repairing things time and again at a minimal cost.
Next blog: You've seen how the police and government respond to crime. How do the people react when something happens?...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Ministries Keep Moving Forward
There's more to tell you about the aftermath of the burglaries, but, since we haven't updated you on the ministries in a while, I thought we'd do that now.
Tejarcillos is going so well that we have been considering starting having church services again. This is a somewhat complex issue, though, and we are holding off on a decision. Points in favor:
1. The people have come to accept Fran and Ileana as spiritual leaders, and now look to them for guidance.
2. In a recent Bible study, the adults who attended all said they considered our ministry to be their church.
3. While there are now a number of churches in Tejarcillos, the pastors tend to be extremely authoritarian and either strongly Pentecostal or Fundamentalist. There is a lack of balance in the churches and the people are not permitted to think for themselves.
Points against:
1. There is no place to meet near Fran and Ileana's.
2. I (Steve) am reluctant to step back in as pastor, because we have worked hard to establish and empower a Costa Rica ministry.
3. Fran has many good qualities of a pastor, but lacks training, is not really motivated to get it at the moment.
4. Our family is plugged in to a good Costa Rican church, and we are reluctant to pull back from it.
Some folks have asked how Natalia is doing. In a previous blog, I described how her boyfriend was murdered by gang members and she was in hiding. She is still living in the "hideout," but has gone back to work and is looking for another place to live. So she is slowly getting on with her life.
Celebrate Recovery is going extremely well, both with the women's prison and the outreach to prostitutes. The assistent warden in charge of education, who works with Martha and the other Celebrate Recovery leaders, keeps urging them to start the program with the entire prison population. Right now they are working only with the foreign women who speak English. Martha and the leaders continue to feel that they need more time to establish the program with the foreigners and are not ready to open it up to the entire prison.
With the outreach to prostitutes, in typical Costa Rican fashion, we talked and had meetings for nine months before finally getting it off the ground a few weeks ago. Right now we are implementing the program with outreach team only. If things continue to go well, the plan is to extend it to the folks who are in the rehabilitation program.
Finally, an article appeared in the Enlgish newspaper here contrasting the US and Costa Rica. Here are a few of the contrasts [comments in brackets are mine]:
In the US...
You can complete your month's shopping, be it organic yogurt, prescription drugs, shoes or tires, in a single store.
In Costa Rica..
You must go to four specialty shops to buy shoelaces, thread, perfume, and paper clips.
In the US...
People scurry aside if they think they might be in the way.
In Costa Rica...
You must ask for permission (permiso) to get through. [for example, people are always standing aroung blocking doorways, aisles, sidewalks, etc. They won't move out of the way unless you ask. This is one of the things that drives me nuts here!]
In the US...
TV shows cut off whatever is happening in an interview or reality show [or sporting events] to run the advertisement on time.
In Costa Rica...
TV shows sometime cut off commercials and run as much as 10 to 20 minutes late because everyone gets so involved in an interview or reality show.
In the US...
There are bicycle lanes between the sidewalk and the car lanes along a great many roads and highways.
In Costa Rica...
You are lucky to get a sidewalk at all, or, for that matter, even a bit of room on the shoulder of the road.
Tejarcillos is going so well that we have been considering starting having church services again. This is a somewhat complex issue, though, and we are holding off on a decision. Points in favor:
1. The people have come to accept Fran and Ileana as spiritual leaders, and now look to them for guidance.
2. In a recent Bible study, the adults who attended all said they considered our ministry to be their church.
3. While there are now a number of churches in Tejarcillos, the pastors tend to be extremely authoritarian and either strongly Pentecostal or Fundamentalist. There is a lack of balance in the churches and the people are not permitted to think for themselves.
Points against:
1. There is no place to meet near Fran and Ileana's.
2. I (Steve) am reluctant to step back in as pastor, because we have worked hard to establish and empower a Costa Rica ministry.
3. Fran has many good qualities of a pastor, but lacks training, is not really motivated to get it at the moment.
4. Our family is plugged in to a good Costa Rican church, and we are reluctant to pull back from it.
Some folks have asked how Natalia is doing. In a previous blog, I described how her boyfriend was murdered by gang members and she was in hiding. She is still living in the "hideout," but has gone back to work and is looking for another place to live. So she is slowly getting on with her life.
Celebrate Recovery is going extremely well, both with the women's prison and the outreach to prostitutes. The assistent warden in charge of education, who works with Martha and the other Celebrate Recovery leaders, keeps urging them to start the program with the entire prison population. Right now they are working only with the foreign women who speak English. Martha and the leaders continue to feel that they need more time to establish the program with the foreigners and are not ready to open it up to the entire prison.
With the outreach to prostitutes, in typical Costa Rican fashion, we talked and had meetings for nine months before finally getting it off the ground a few weeks ago. Right now we are implementing the program with outreach team only. If things continue to go well, the plan is to extend it to the folks who are in the rehabilitation program.
Finally, an article appeared in the Enlgish newspaper here contrasting the US and Costa Rica. Here are a few of the contrasts [comments in brackets are mine]:
In the US...
You can complete your month's shopping, be it organic yogurt, prescription drugs, shoes or tires, in a single store.
In Costa Rica..
You must go to four specialty shops to buy shoelaces, thread, perfume, and paper clips.
In the US...
People scurry aside if they think they might be in the way.
In Costa Rica...
You must ask for permission (permiso) to get through. [for example, people are always standing aroung blocking doorways, aisles, sidewalks, etc. They won't move out of the way unless you ask. This is one of the things that drives me nuts here!]
In the US...
TV shows cut off whatever is happening in an interview or reality show [or sporting events] to run the advertisement on time.
In Costa Rica...
TV shows sometime cut off commercials and run as much as 10 to 20 minutes late because everyone gets so involved in an interview or reality show.
In the US...
There are bicycle lanes between the sidewalk and the car lanes along a great many roads and highways.
In Costa Rica...
You are lucky to get a sidewalk at all, or, for that matter, even a bit of room on the shoulder of the road.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
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...
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...
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