Last week, I was in town Jinja meeting contractors for the house construction. I stopped at a bank - a branch of an international institution - to get bills changed to smaller denominations for paying my workers. I pulled into a spot in the parking lot and parked the vehicle I was driving. I could see 2 or 3 guards standing and sitting next to their shack about 20ft away from where I was parked. I left my backpack where it was sitting on the passenger seat, thinking the area was pretty secure. Before leaving the vehicle, I collected a piece of paper from my backpack and then locked the door. At the main entrance to the bank I emptied my pockets of all metallic objects, cleared the detector, retrieved my things, and went inside. The piece of paper I brought had a list of quantities that I needed, and based on that I had the teller give me change. I did not have a lot of money to change, so the whole interaction took about 5 minutes. Once I had the denominations I needed, I made my way out and back to the car. I unlocked the driver’s side door and began entering the vehicle when I noticed something was wrong. My backpack was gone.
At first I did not believe it. I looked at the passenger seat and then looked again and again, as if it would magically reappear. No such luck. I checked frantically around the rest of the inside of the car. Nothing. I then got out and quickly looked around the vehicle. Nothing. Running up to the guards who were sitting nearby, I and asked them urgently if they had seen anybody around the vehicle. They said they hadn't seen anyone and advised I check inside to see if they had gotten anything on camera. I ran inside and requested to see the manager. The only person around was the operations manager, and he was in the back. I asked that they go get him, and then I called Corinne, told her what happened, and asked her to pray. Then I went back outside.
The backpack contained some valuable things including a MacBook Pro and an iPad. If there was any chance at all that it could be retrieved, it needed to happen quickly. As I thought more about it, it seemed that the guards had to be involved in some way. So I began to interrogate them about what happened. I even searched their guard shack, looking behind old furniture and in latrine stalls for the backpack. But it was all to no avail. I began asking them directly if they took my bag. They denied it up and down, of course, and claimed they had been watching the car the whole time. I could feel my anger building up, knowing – just knowing – that it was impossible that they did not see anything. I began trying different tactics; At one point, I even told them I'd be willing to buy the bag back from them. But they stuck to their story.
Frustrated and beginning to lose hope, I went back inside the bank and met the operations manager. He listened as I described what had happened. When I was finished, he informed me (much to my chagrin) that there were no cameras on the outside of the building. He also proceeded to tell me that there was no evidence that my backpack had been on the premises and that he thought I probably lost it before coming to the bank. That made me even more frustrated, and I told him I was 100% sure my bag was stolen at the bank and that an institution with their name ought to have cameras outside. I also told him I planned on getting the police involved. The operations manager said that there was nothing he could do and that I should go to the police. I went back outside and searched the guard shack one more time. I even searched the surrounding area of the compound, but did not come up with anything. I questioned the guards again, still thinking they know something, anything about what happened. But they were even less cooperative with their answers. So I got into the vehicle and rode to the Central Police Station, Jinja.
At the police station, I was able to speak with the SOCO - or Scenes of Crime Officer. I gave him a brief explanation of what happened, and he asked to see the vehicle. After a short inspection, he pointed to the keyhole on the passenger side and said, “That’s how they got in.” I immediately saw that it had been tampered with. “They must have had a master key," the SOCO continued. "Thefts like this have happened before in different parts of town, even in public places. They are always are very quick and use a master key to get in the vehicle.” I thanked the officer for his help, received a case number from the front desk, and was told to return the following day to give my statement.
On the drive back to GSF, questions just kept running through my mind. When, where, how, and why was I targeted for this? Should I have been more vigilant? Should I have taken my backpack inside with me? Did I miss anything in my search of the guard shack and compound? How could this have happened at a bank - at that kind of bank with security guards watching - anyway? Thinking about everything only made me more discouraged and angry.
That evening was missionary devotions at GSF. During that time of fellowship, I shared what had happened and was prayed for by the other GSF missionaries. Their words and prayer were encouraging, and I began to let of of some of the anger and feel a deepening sense of peace. Talking with Corinne about it gave me some perspective as well. Sure, we lost some valuable things and documents in that backpack. But in the end, they were just possessions, and possessions can be replaced. It could have been much worse, too. I had obviously been targeted, but at least I was not mugged and remained unhurt. I was not carrying any project funds in the backpack at the time, either.
I still get angry and bitter about what happened sometimes when I think about it. I’ve also lost a few hours of sleep over it. I am not sure what the Lord’s purpose is in all of this… but I am sure He has a plan, and I trust Him.
Theft is becoming more and more of a common thing in Uganda. From taxi buses to offices to the streets to the parking lot of a bank - stealing is a rampant part of this society. The weeks leading up to Christmas are especially bad, as these types of theft become more and more frequent. The thieves are getting slicker, too – especially in the cities.
Much of Uganda is at least nominally Christian. I've heard someone say recently that the evidence that the gospel has truly reached Uganda will be when the majority of people stop various forms of stealing (among other things). I am inclined to agree, and this leads me to prayer requests.
1. Please pray that, despite the hardship of life here, God would raise up Ugandan men and women of integrity - especially when it comes to money and possessions. Pray that the gospel would not only reach the ears of the people here, but that it would penetrate the hearts, values, and lifestyles of those we serve and minister to.
2. As the theft of my backpack has set us back in many ways, please pray for Corinne and me as we process and recover. Pray that we continue to live life with an open hand and learn, as Tozer says, the "blessedness of possessing nothing."
3. Praise God for our continued health and safety, even through events like these.
