Hey everyone. So Ever since my update email, I have received some responses asking about how I ended up in jail. Just after the experience, my pastor here had asked me to write out everything that had happened as a reflection for myself... For those who are interested, the following is my detailed reflection, and even how I saw God working in and through this experience.
(Note: This is pretty much in its rawest form)
On Monday morning December 10th,
something happened that I least expected. I had just finished working for the
weekend with a group from a church in Wisconsin who was here in the Dominican Republic to
see of any opportunities where they could serve in ministry. They had just left
Monday morning and I was working at the school when all of the sudden a man
walks into the office looking for me. I had assumed that he had some questions
about the school and he had asked me if we could talk in private. We began to
talk and he had told me that one of the boys that I have been working with is
in custody, and he says that he has some clothes/ shoes stored in my house.
About a week prior I had allowed this boy to wash his clothes on the roof of my
house because this boy in particular lives in the street, and has no place to
go, and was in a need of clean clothes and a shower. I had allowed him to take
a shower and clean his clothes and he had left his clothes there hanging to
dry. They had taken me to the car where they had the boy in the back seat
surrounded by officers with large rifles and pistols. I had told him that yes
this boy in particular had some clothes at the house because he had washed them
there about a week ago. I was told to go get them and that they would wait for
me there. Little did I know, right when I got on my motorcycle to go get them,
was when they began to pursue me.
When I arrived at my house, I was
accompanied by three other officers up to the roof of my house. My neighbor was
very worried for me, but I had assured her that everything was going to be
fine. We get to the roof of my house and they said that these were not the
clothes that they were talking about (they were clothes that I had originally
donated to him because he didn’t have any).
I told the officers that these were all of the things that belonged to
him. The officers didn’t believe me and demanded that I open my home so that
they could search inside. I had told them, “I promise you there is NOTHING of
his inside my house!” They still didn’t believe me and demanded me to open the
door. This is crazy because this is where I saw God moving the first time in
this whole ordeal. I opened the door to my house and told them, “Ok,” and it
was crazy because the police just looked in, but something had come over them
that they were scared to enter my house. However, they didn’t believe me anyway
and they escorted me to the jail. I
literally was forced to drive myself to the police station, with an officer
riding with me.
I arrived at the police station and as soon as
I enter they demanded me to take off my belt and such. They took me to the desk
where they actually take in the inmates to put me in the jail cell (which let
me tell you, are disgusting, they reek of bodily fluids and feces and is the
place of being severely beaten by the cops).
This is where I saw God’s hand for the second time because the guy at
the desk was very flustered and frustrated because at the time he had been in
the process of putting several people in the jail cell, and he had had enough
and just said, “ I can’t do all of this
right now! Just put him in the office for now!”
So they put me in the investigation office. While I was there, I was
asking why they were taking me in, and what was going on, and no one was
willing to give me any answers or tell me anything. I kept getting accused of doing something I
was completely innocent of doing, and I kept saying, “I didn’t do anything, and
I don’t know what you are talking about!” I had explained that I work for a
ministry that works with the shoe shiners and high-risk boys, but that didn’t
seem to matter. I had asked if I could at least call my boss to let them know
where I was, but just my luck I was out of minutes on my cell phone, and no one
was willing to let me use their phone. Soon after, another crazy God thing, I
had actually received a call from the director of the school asking me where I
was. I explained to her the situation and she had assured me that they would
get me out and had said that she was going to send the co-pastor.
Finally the co-pastor arrived and it was crazy
because he came in to try and get me out, but the police wanted nothing to do
with him and sent him out. The thought went through my head, “Wow, I’m never
going to get out of here.” While I was waiting I was thinking, “Wow, I brought
this up in our meeting last week about letting the authorities know about what
it is we do in this ministry, and who works for this ministry, so that they can
understand that we are trying to help these boys get out of the things that
they are in, and in the end change their lives. However, I was told that they
were already aware of this ministry.” The police also brought in my neighbor
and another guy who were accused of doing something related to my boy. They
were completely innocent as well.
I remember the police began accusing me of
being the accomplice of a theft, and I had told him that no, it was not true,
and that I had no idea what it was that they were talking about. I am completely innocent, and I hadn’t done
any of the things that this cop was saying that I had done. It literally got to
the point where I just shut up and was thinking “Wow, is this really happening?
This man is so stupid!” I felt like Jesus on trial and when he was being
accused of things he didn’t do. Jesus remained silent because he knew that the
men were already set in their thoughts and there was nothing he could say or do
to change them. That was exactly how I felt.
Soon after that my Senior Pastor walks in
with a sister of the church who happens to be a lawyer, and in very high
respects in the community. They came in to fight for me as well, and were then
also sent out.
The next thing I know,
the cops bring in my boy and they have him standing by the wall with officers
on either side of him and in handcuffs. The boy was there and just began to
stare at me. He said, “Jim, I am
so
sorry to get you in the middle of all of this,” and he just began to break down
and cry and ask for my forgiveness. Before I had a chance to say anything, the
cops were yelling and demanding everyone to shut up, and demanded him to stop
crying, and immediately they beat him in the face for crying, and yelled at him
to shut up. At this moment, I was enraged within, but had felt helpless to be
able to do anything. They then took the boy out of the office.
The next thing I know, another
sister from the church who is really well known and respected in our community,
came in and she began fighting for me with the police as well. At this point I
was almost in tears to see how God was moving and how God uses HIS CHURCH to
fight for one another and have each other’s back. However, for fear of the
authorities thinking that I did something, when I did not, I fought the tears.
I was totally humbled and in awe of God’s great love and power, and to see His
church in action. She had asked why they were treating me as a criminal, when
no evidence had been found of me doing anything wrong. She was also very upset that
they had taken my belt off and she had demanded for all of my things. That was
totally a God sent because many times the cops rob you of what you have, and
well in my pocket I had an offering that the group had left me for the school of a substantial amount in dollars. First of all, it was a God thing that they
didn’t check my pockets, and second it was a God send that He sent this sister
who was wise enough to know the ways of the cops and who fought to protect.
Honestly, that was a huge relief because the whole time I was worried about
that because I was thinking, “Oh man what if they think I stole this money, or
what if they steal it from me?” So I very gratefully emptied my pockets and
passed everything to her, and she was also sent out of the office.
Now that they had emptied our pockets,
they were getting ready to send the two other men and myself into the jail
cell, but thank God, the Senior Pastor and the sister who was a lawyer came in
to fight for me again. This time it was a success, and God opened up the doors
for me to leave, however, I left worried about what would happen to my boy and
my innocent neighbors. I had to go with the pastor and the corneal to my house
to show him what it was that was at my house. As I was being escorted outside, I
saw a line of about ten brothers and sisters from the church that had come to
fight for my release.
As I head out the
doors I happen to see a couple of the guys that I work with who, with very
confused looks on their faces, were asking what I was doing in jail. I said
that it was a long story and I would explain later.
The pastor drove the corneal and
me to my house, and on the way, the corneal explained to me that a cell phone
chip was stolen from a guy who works at the gas station, and that he had fallen
asleep, and when he woke up he realized that it was gone. He accused my boy of
stealing it. When we finally arrived to the house, I showed the clothes that
were left on the roof. The corneal said that it was nothing but trash and said
that it is not what they were looking for.
We took the corneal back to the
police station and the pastor took me back to his house for some debriefing. I
honestly felt very ashamed for everything that happened, but the pastor
reassured me that I did nothing wrong and that if anything, I made a better name
for the school/ church. He said that the enemy will try to do all that he can
to bring a ministry down, and he explained that I was like Paul. (He still
jokes around with me and calls me Paul). He said that I have become a voice for
these boys who have no voice, and God is going to use this experience for HIS
purpose.
I was so worried about the people
that I had left behind in the jail, and the Pastor had reassured me that we
need to pray for them, but that I shouldn’t go near the jail for some time. He
said that they realize now, that there is a church that is supporting me and
they are now aware of the ministry that we’re doing for these boys, and that
hopefully we shouldn’t have any other problems. At this moment, the pastors
wife said to me, “Jim, didn’t you say something last week in our meeting about
informing the authorities about the type of work that we do, so that there is
no misunderstanding?” I had said, “YES!” That was something that I was starting
to realize as I was getting more involved with the lives of these boys. I
realized that many of them have a very bad history, and unfortunately, the
people have a very poor perspective of who these boys are. Many times this poor
perspective can create some problems. So we began talking about some changes we
are going to make as well as boundaries and about trying to sit down with the
authorities and present to them what it is that we do, and see how we can work
as a team. Come to find out, at one time the police did know about the shoe
shiner ministry, but just recently everyone in the town's district was moved
out and replaced, and the new authorities were not informed.
When I finally left the pastor’s
house I went to my neighbor’s house to see if he was set free. He was there and he had told me that they
were both taken into the cell (where I was heading) and they were beaten. I had
apologized for what had happened, and thank God he was very understanding and
said that I had nothing to do with this. He knew that my work is trying to help
these boys. He told me that the police abuse their authority, which I have
definitely found to be true.
The next day, my boy was released
and had to be rushed to the emergency room because of the beating that he
endured in jail. Come to find out, he was completely innocent of stealing, and
it happened to be another Haitian boy. The Pastor’s wife had told me in our
meeting that this experience could totally make me hate this country, or it
could create in me an even greater passion for these boys. I have found that my
passion has grown immensely for these boys and I now see the desperate need of
these boys to have a voice. I am praying that God will allow me to continue to
have the opportunity to touch and impact these boys’ lives, and that God will
do some amazing transformations in their lives, and that they can become solid,
godly men and leaders in their community.
