What a mess...

Ok, here is an unusual situation, and we need your prayer...

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A couple months ago, one of our new believers in one of the villages (we will call him Jason) found work for a couple days for 2 guys in town. He invited his cousin ("Romy") to go with him. Towards the end of the time, the boss sent Jason into the jungle to gather some bamboo; Romy stayed behind. When Jason got back, Romy was gone, and the boss told him that Romy had already left on the trail for home. Jason tried to catch up with him, but couldn't find him so Jason went on to his own house about 30 minutes away. A couple days later, Jason found work several towns away so he was out of the picture for a couple weeks. When he got back, he heard that Romy had never made it home that day. At first his family figured that he was staying with Jason's family or some friends (no phones to let people know what is going on), but it had become obvious by then that Romy was missing. The family started to search for him, and in the process, they discovered an odd story. A family in a nearby town had recently had a funeral for their son who was about Romy's age - but the neighbors all insisted that, at the viewing, it became obvious that the body was not that of their son at all - it was someone no one knew. Ok, REALLY long story a little shorter - the boss shot and killed Romy while Jason was out in the jungle. According to the boss, Romy tried to steal a chicken so he shot him. The police arrested the boss, then a family came in and claimed Romy's body as the body of their son. The reason they did this was to receive the settlement for the murder. So the boss paid the money (about $200) to the family as restitution, so he was released from jail and acquitted of any charges. Romy's actual family saw a picture of the body that was claimed, and it was their son, Romy. Now they were at an impasse - the boss could not be arrested since he had already made restitution, but the money had already been spent by the other family who claimed the body. That and the fact that Romy was now buried under someone else's name. Well, Romy's family was understandably very upset about this whole situation, but instead of directing that anger at the boss or the crooken legal system, they became angry with Jason, saying that if he had not brought Romy to work that day, Romy would still be alive. So one of Romy's brothers got very drunk and, armed with a large knife, came looking for Jason to kill him. One of the other new believers in that village and the main leader for that small church ("Joseph") is Jason's brother -in-law. Well, this drunk guy couldn't find Jason so he came instead to Joseph's house and tried to chop his way into the house (where Joseph and his family were hiding) to kill them to avenge the death of his brother. Well, Joseph's mother (also a new believer), as the drunk guys' aunt, was able to calm him down, take the knife away, and send him home. The next day, Steve went with the mother to go talk to the family and try to smooth things overs. Well, it seemed like time would heal that wound, so they have just steered clear for the last couple months.

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That is the history up until recently. Last week, Joseph told Steve that they really want to resolve this situation with their cousin (who is still buried under the name of the son of the family who stole his body) because his "spirit is not at rest". When asked how they know that, Joseph said because Romy keeps "showing himself" to them - appearing as a ghost in their house. Yikes. Believe what you want about this, but I do know that the spirit world is a very real thing, and it will not do any good to try to convince them that they are imagining it!

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This morning, Joseph was about an hour late coming in to work for us (he has been doing some work around the house lately). He apologized and then told Steve the reason that he was late. Well, his uncle stopped him in town to warn him. Apparently, Romy's drunk brother who tried to kill him and Jason before? Well, time has not healed that wound after all. Instead, he has gotten all the other brothers and several friends together - 10 men altogether, and they have made a pact to kill both Joseph and Jason and any of the other brothers that they can find. The uncle said that they are drinking heavily 24/7, getting themselves all worked up, and plotting how to kill their cousins to avenge the death of their brother. The uncle knew that Joseph comes in and out of town fairly often, so he has been waiting at the crossing the last couple days to warn Joseph when he saw him. Well, today when he was on his way into work for us, the uncle caught him and warned him. Joseph is understandably very shook up and scared for his life and the lives of his family. Steve asked him what should be done - go to the police? go talk to the cousins? But Joseph doesn't know of anything that will work to resolve this, and he is terrified. Steve asked if maybe it would work for him to go with Joseph's mother again to try to talk to the cousins, maybe bring a sack of rice as a peace offering, and see if we can work this out in a non-violent way. Joseph said he doesn't know that it would work, but it may be worth a try. So Steve is headed out this morning (hoping to get there before the men start drinking too heavily) to try to help Joseph's mother talk some sense into them.

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Ok, while I was typing the last paragraph, the situation developed a little more. I went down to get the kids' morning snack and noticed our front door was locked (always locked after dark, not normally during the day). I asked Steve why it was locked, and he told me that while Joseph was working in our front yard, his cousins came to our gate, all armed with large knives. They made some threatening gestures and hung around to watch him pretty closely, then wandered on down the street (their house is on the other side of town so they have no business here). Don't worry for us - they are not looking to hurt anyone besides Joseph and his brothers. Please do pray for their safety - these are all brand new believers and incredibly excited about sharing their faith with others. They are trying to rely on God through this, but they are understandably pretty nervous. Please pray for safety for Steve and the mom as they try to talk to the other family and pray that they can talk some sense into them (Jason and Joseph didn't do anything against them!). Please pray too for Joseph and these other new believers as they learn some lessons about trusting God in the midst of difficult times. Also, for all those grandparents and adopted grandparents out there, let me reassure you - we are not in any danger - their quarrel is only with Jason and Joseph and their brothers, not with us.

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Just to clarify something - why is the family not going after either the man who killed their brother or the family that stole his body? Because those people are all lowland Filipinos; they are not tribal people. If a tribal person kills a lowland Filipino, they will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law and possibly beyond. However, if one tribal person kills another tribal person, the law normally looks the other way. So they want revenge and are lashing out at the people who will get them in the least amount of trouble for doing so.