Driving Out the Thief

As The truck slid sideways through the turn I could see the last man in the chase slowing down. I'd better get moving if we want to catch this guy. At the corner I see others running through an open gate and through someone's compound. They wave to me that he is ahead. Got to get to Kiira Rd. before him! As we make the next right I see him jump the fence onto the road. I pull up and begin hooting my hooter (honking the horn) to attract attention then swerve right to block his path. Bystanders ask "Mzungu what is it?" I holler "Thief" then they grab him.

Lets back up a bit. June and Jenny moved to Jinja in December to run a street kids ministry. Jenny had recently graduated from University of Georgia and June is her mom. They and their "boys" come to Calvary Chapel. One night in January they called Bev at 2:00a.m. telling her that thieves were trying to break into their house. We quickly threw on clothes and raced to their house. The thieves left when we arrived and after making sure they were safe and the house secure we went back home and back to bed.

Saturday afternoon we received a call from Jenny that they had caught a man in their house who was claiming to be looking for Pastor Jesse. Bev assured them he wasn't sent by us and to take him to police. Then we realized they didn't have a car to take him to police so I went over.

As I got out of the truck the men holding the suspect eased their grip and the thief ran. He managed to get out the gate with five others chasing him. I jumped into the truck and now we are back to the beginning.

As the crowd started to form they began to beat the thief. Blows and kicks rained down on him and I tried desperatly to get him into the truck. Now as usual when you catch a thief you then have to protect him from being killed. It felt like dejavu. In 2010 we had caught a thief in our neighborhood and I had protected him as well.

Then I realized why it seemed so familiar. It was the same man! No it couldn't be, but it was.

After his release from his last arrest he had developed a new way to steal. He or one of his accomplices would enter a Mzungu compound and look to see what could be stolen. If they were caught they would tell the Mzungu that they were looking for Pastor Jesse. Then the trusting Mzungu would let him go and a few nights later the gang would come back and rob the place.

Two young missionaries in town had sent out an email about this gang after it happened to them. The memory of that email is what caused me to go to Jenny and June's.

Bev then called the young couple and sent them to identify the thief but they could not. But she could identify his shoes and sure enough they were the same shoes.

It is hard to catch a thief the first time. But the second time is easier. Just say you know Pastor Jesse!