Justice?

Is there oil offshore?

It all started with oil.  We were talking about oil at our English club.  There have been reports recently that there may be oil in this region, and we were curious what our island friends would think about it.  We assumed they would see oil as “the great hope,”  as the solution to all their problems, as the thing to pull their small nation out of poverty and bring them into a world of wealth, comfort, and prosperity.  But we were taken aback with their responses:

“Oil would change nothing.”
“We will still be poor.”
“The government and the oil investors would take all the wealth and there would be nothing for us.”

Most of the group felt this way.  As we continued to talk our discussion took a new direction.  We weren’t talking about oil anymore, we were talking about corruption.  Their statements were just as interesting:

“Everyone [in government] steals.  They all do.”
“You are expected to steal from government.”
“If you don’t steal from your government job we call you a fool.  If you do steal, we call you a thief, but we respect you.”

They gave an example of a government minister who “paid” double the price for a ferry boat (no small expense).  That is to say the government paid double the price.  Half the price went to pay for the boat and the other half went into the pocket of the minister.  When this came to light, rather than immediately firing him, the president commended him.  “He got a boat for us, and he’s a good worker.” 

David in a present for Megan's BD

The conversation then took a final turn, talking about justice:
“There is no justice here.”
“We don’t care about what is right or wrong.”  One man said, “If a family member does something bad--it doesn’t matter what it is or how bad--you do all you can to get him out of the trouble.”  Heads around the room nodded in agreement.

Hearing our club members say this struck a very personal cord with us.  This past week we have witnessed injustice in a very real way.

A good island friend of ours lives in a town where he is trying to be salt and light.  Unfortunately, he has a rebellious daughter, 14 years old.  She has been involved with a much older man and taken advantage of.  When her father, our friend, found out, he confronted the man, locked him in his house and called the police.  He did not beat the man, (although many islanders in his place would have) and allowed the police to come and take him.  However, the man is the best friend of the attorney general. When the police arrived it was our friend who found himself being taken away.  Our friend was the one taken to court and put into the detention center.  It was our friend who lost the court case and was given a sentence of two weeks in prison with a hefty fine to be paid to the man who violated his daughter!  “There is no justice here” is ringing in our ears.

Kids playing in rain water

The club ended with our members saying that change was impossible. 
“These islands will never change.”
 
“Our hope and prayer every day is that they will.  But it starts in people’s hearts,” we replied.  We think about our friend in prison, being salt and light there, and we think about the injustice and we keep hoping.  We know things can change, and one day they will change.


PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve all jumped back into routines after the New Year. Weeks are going fast!Discussion continues but there seems to be progress toward an approach for the complex issue we mentioned last week. We celebrated Megan’s birthday last Sunday!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray for our friend in prison that he would persevere this injustice. Tom will visit him tomorrow, pray that he is allowed to see and encourage him. They trying to appeal the fine, pray for justice. Pray for his daughter and family as well. Pray for the truth of the matter to be known in his village so his reputation is not hurt by lies. Pray for the heat. David and Peter both have bad heat rash. Pray for water. One huge neighborhood   of the city (where one team family lives) doesn’t have water because of some busted pipes, it could be almost a week before they get water again. Lots of rain could help people fill their buckets/barrels. We need to do some long-range planning for the coming months, pray that we would have go wisdom and discernment as we plan ahead. Megan is trying to be much more aggressive in caring for her back (after a relapse into pain since November). We also want to be persistent in prayer for her back as well.