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| Women gathered on our road for an event |
In brief, (warning—this is a bit graphic) two men got into an altercation and one was badly beaten by the other. He was taken to the hospital for stitches. The injured man went back that night; found the other man; came up behind him with a broken bottle and slit his throat. The man died in moments. The murderer went off into the night.
But the story does not end there. As one family mourned, the community rose up. A mob went in search of the murderer. When they found him, they beat him and eventually killed him. The next morning there was a double funeral for both of the men.
Mob violence is something found all over the world. (Not even the States are immune to it.) So we decided to ask our English Club what they thought of the incident.
First of all, one of our club members was a cousin of the first man killed (like we said—everybody is related to everybody) so the subject was very real and very close for many of our club members. But we asked them if they agreed with what happened. Was it right for the community to kill the man? Should they have called the police instead? They overwhelmingly agreed that it was right for the mob to kill the murderer. “Why?” we asked. “Why not let the police handle it and let justice be done?”
“There is no justice from the police here.” They replied. “Only the poor are punished.” “Anyone with money or with a family member with money will be released.” “That’s the way things work here.” “You cannot depend on the justice system.” “The only way to find justice is from the mob.”
Interestingly, they acknowledged that the rule of law would be better, but where the law doesn’t function the only alternative is mob violence. “Plus,” they said, “since it was the mob that handled it, it keeps the family of the murdered man from seeking revenge.” The family wasn’t directly involved—it was the mob. The mob dealt out justice. Case closed.
Case closed?
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| Our 5 year old! |
We are reminded this week of another mob. They sought the life of an innocent man. The justice system feared the angry mob and gave into its demands. “Crucify him,” they said. And the State agreed. The justice system failed. The mob failed. Justice was not done. And yet, by this great injustice, many would be justified.
Where is justice found? All peoples cry out for justice. The whole earth cries out for justice. Will justice be found? “Father forgive them. They know not what they do.”
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our planning meeting went very well. We were able to define our priorities and came up with some creative ways to deepen our unity and effectiveness. It was a good day. We are proud of our teammates and all the great relationships they have with islanders and all the people they love and care for. Our big boy turned 5 years old! We are thankful for all the ways he is growing and learning!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
On this holiday weekend, pray that we would have opportunities to share about what is important to us. Pray for some of the gathering we have planned too. Some of our teammates have been sick this week, pray for their health and the good health of our team. Electricity has gotten REALLY bad this week. Pray for better governance and less corruption and that we would have greater patience as we deal with even deeper power cuts.
