Dear Friends,
I just got off the phone with Tom and the case was
dismissed! We are thanking the Lord for His goodness
and His protection!
This story started with an accusation from an 11 year
old boy that he had been kidnapped by Tom, Toto, and
another Filipino man. The mother is a vendor in town
and was widowed around 4 months ago and this is her
youngest boy. Today when the boy was questioned very
carefully by the District Attorney he told his story.
But the mother began to cry during his testimony because
she felt bad about how things were turning out. She
didn't know about
Sankey Samaritan Home, about Tom, or about how
great a place Sankey
really is. After more questioning the boy began to
waiver in his answers and soon it was clear that he
wasn't telling the truth.
The District Attorney was a lady around 40 years old.
Our lawyer knew her and told Tom that we got "lucky"
because this one is honest. And it turns out she really
was. She refused to take the case before any other
judge and threatened to investigate the policemen
working on this case. She even told them she could get
them reassigned... maybe even to Mindanao... which is
like saying to Siberia! So the good thing is that the
case was dismissed but now the judge at the hearing, the
mayor (we think he was in on it), and the policemen are
mad. That can be dangerous for Tom so he is spending
the night (Thursday) at our camp (around 40 miles
away). There are 24 hour guards there which makes us
all feel better. Then on Friday night he will stay in a
hotel in Manila (3 hours away from the orphanage) and
fly out Sat. morning as planned. Keep praying!
One of the things I wondered about was this woman and
boy. We all knew the boy was lying but we still aren't
sure if the story came from him or from the policemen or
even someone else. Our feeling is the boy and his mom
were just being used. At one point in the hearing Toto
very quietly asked the boy if Tom was the American who
kidnapped him. He had to admit that Tom wasn't the
one. That's when things began to fall apart. But the
good news is that we think we can help this mom and
boy. We are thinking she probably doesn't have any
money to send him to school so we can do that for her.
We'll see if they will accept that. We hope so.
I just can't tell you how much we have felt your prayers
and your love for us. Thank you for standing with us
through this. Can you do it for a few more days? Tom
is due to fly out of Manila Sat. morning his time and
our Friday night time. Thank you for all your
expressions of concern for me through your e-mails,
calls and messages. Some friends gave me Psalm 27 to
read today. I've been hanging on it! Read it to see
why!
Tom will be able to fill in the details when he gets
back.