by an AFM Cross-Cultural Worker

Here’s a sentence I never expected to write: The day I got robbed was one of the best days I’ve had as a missionary! Sounds crazy, right?

I was riding in a tuk-tuk (an open, two-wheeled cab pulled by a motorcycle) to an airport in southeast Asia. My suitcase was wedged between my knees, and my arms were threaded through the straps of my backpack. We came to a stoplight just a click from the airport. It was 5:30 in the morning and still dark. Suddenly, two young men on a motorcycle came alongside us. They snatched my backpack and were gone just as suddenly as they appeared. I still don’t know exactly how it all happened, but I lost all my valuables—cell phone, medication, passport, credit card, and wallet.

I’m so thankful for AFM’s crisis management training.  Without that training, I would have come back to my apartment and sat paralyzed not knowing what to do. But because of the training, I knew the necessary steps to take in contacting key people, both here and in the US. I emailed my core support team at my home church in Florida and the AFM U.S. office team for prayer, input, and debriefing. I wrote 5 emails and then surrendered everything else to God.

Within 20 minutes, the people I emailed–every one of them–began to respond, including an indigeneous believer who speaks the local language fluently. He and a neighbor friend took me to the police station to file a report. Even though there would be no effort to catch the thieves, I’d been trained that a police report would likely help me obtain a replacement passport and country visa with less difficulty. While the priest was talking to the police officer taking the report, my friend and I began to talk with another policeman sitting next to him. He spoke very limited English (and I’m still learning the local language), but when I explained to him that I was an English teacher and was going to be offering free beginner English classes at my church if he was interested. He excitedly wrote his name and phone number on a piece of paper and handed it over to me. I’ll be calling him soon with new class information!

There were so many other blessings that day…so many encounters with people I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I’m still amazed at how God turned what started out as a dreadful day into one that I’ll always remember with great joy.

So I invite you to join me in praying for the two guys who stole my backpack. Please pray that the Holy Spirit so convicts them that they are uneasy in their spirit; that the Holy Spirit will send a Christian into their lives; that they will turn from their ways and find Jesus; and that we’ll all have a good laugh about this in heaven someday.

There are so many young men in this society high on drugs, lost in life, and in need of Jesus. Pray for the people of my country in southeast Asia., and ask the Lord of the harvest to send more cross-cultural workers into my corner of the world.