Day 116 - Machete Madness

November 3, 2012 (Sam)

      A panga is an African machete, typically about 2 feet in length. After our neighbor’s house got broken into, I picked one up at the local hardware store. It stays tucked between the mattress and bed frame a few inches from my head. Call me paranoid but it helps me sleep better.

      Last night, we were having a Bible study at our house with a few young men who we’ve met here. Their names are Alvin and Daniel. One of the verses we were looking at talked about not repaying evil with evil, but rather with a blessing. Most of the study was done by candlelight. October started the rainy season here in Kenya, and with the rain comes lots of mud and unpredictable power outages.

      After we finished the study, we walked outside only to discover that it was pouring rain. So we asked the boys to stay around for a while and wait it out before heading home.

      After a few hours, the rain finally abated, and they got up to leave. I asked Daniel if he wanted to wear my rain boots home. The streets had turned to a soupy mud, and after some prodding, he eventually obliged. The black rubber boots were a few sizes too big and his feet were swimming in them, but at least they’d keep his feet clean. Daniel and Alvin walked out the door at around 11pm, and Christina and I went to bed.

      Around midnight I was awakened by a pounding at our front door. As I flew out of bed, my left hand instinctively wrapped its fingers around the panga next to my head and I crept cautiously to the door. “Who’s there!?!” I shouted. A desperate yell came back, “It’s Daniel and Alvin!” I fumbled for the key. “Is everything okay?” I asked. “No,” Daniel said, a trace of panic in his voice, “we’ve been mugged.” I ripped the door open.

      The guys were a mess. They were soaking wet and covered in mud. I pulled them inside and shut the door. Christina rushed out of the bedroom and we stood in the kitchen, mouths agape as they recounted the details of what had just happened: Walking home, Alvin and Daniel decided to take a little-used side-street. Because of the time of night and the weather, the street was empty, and without power, there were no lights to illuminate their path. As they rounded a corner, they passed two strange men who threw them an unsavory greeting. The boys took it as odd, two men standing around in the drizzle so close to midnight. As they passed them, Alvin and Daniel picked up their pace. The men wheeled onto the street behind them and took up a menacing gait close on their heels. Daniel and Alvin took one look at each other and immediately knew what was happening. They took off running as fast as they could. The two men bolted after them, but soon their shouts began to fade as Daniel and Alvin put fear-induced distance between them. Then it happened. With the mud sucking at his oversized boots with every step, Daniel’s feet, despite their speed, began to pull out of the boots. A few steps later, one foot pulled out too far, and he plunged forward into the mud, sliding along the slick road on his hands and knees. He rolled over in the sludge, ready to resume his hasty getaway, only to find himself starting squarely into his own reflection in the sharp end of a panga blade inches from his nose. Alvin, almost 100 yards ahead of Daniel, upon seeing his friend in danger, did the noble thing, and ran back to join him. The two men stripped them both of everything they had: their wallets, cash, phones, the keys to their apartment, and Daniel’s watch.

      Listening to them recount the attack, my neck started to get hot, my heartbeat quickened, and I was quickly getting very angry. I started to think that the panga in my hand might get to see some action tonight after all. Blood was thrumming in my ears; my body throbbed with the desire for revenge. I hate seeing injustice prevail. Christina asked if we should call the police. Daniel and Alvin both laughed, the laugh of two people who understand the uselessness of making pleas to a force as corrupt as the local law here in Kenya.

      I grabbed Daniel and Alvin some clean clothes, and Christina boiled some water for tea. We sat down in the living room and Alvin revealed one more detail of the robbery that had just taken place: As the two men were leaving with all their belongings, Daniel had called out a blessing on them. We pulled out the Bible and re-read the passage that we had been studying earlier that night and suddenly, the words on the page seemed to come alive. “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9). Considering the circumstance, these words seemed much more real now. Combined with our rushing adrenaline, they held a certain weight that they had not held two hours ago.

      Alvin and Daniel told and retold the story, new details emerging with every repetition. I asked Daniel if he thought he would be able to ID the robbers. “As he stood over me,” Daniel recalled, “I was not seeing his face, all I was seeing was that machete in my face.” And what kept me in awe was that neither of the guys spoke with an ounce of resentment. It was all gratitude and thanksgiving.

      Once our heart palpitations subsided, and we were content with the details of the armed robbery, we prayed together. We thanked God for bringing Daniel and Alvin through this perilous night safely. We thanked him for Daniel’s unfittingly compassionate response to his muggers. And we thanked him for his promise to judge justly.

      The guys crashed out in our guest bedroom around 1am. The next day, today, we spent a great deal of time with Daniel and Alvin, two young men who before last night, we really didn’t known very well at all. But through this situation, with all of its inscrutable details, we have made two very good, very close friends. Despite the losses involved in this event, great gains, both transient and eternal, have been made.

      I don’t even know how to end this post.

      The End?

The next day we went back and visited the scene of the crime