Learning Thai

Today we are very thankful for God's protection. Claire and I (Tom) left home early this morning to go see a Buddhist festival involving boats and crowds of people throwing lotus flowers. After we left, and while Candice and the other kids were still sleeping, someone broke into our house. He went through our desk, file cabinet, and Candice's purse. Then he went upstairs and into our bedroom. Candice woke up, saw him in the room and screamed at him and he ran out of the house. He got away with some money, a mobile phone, and our neighbors mp3 player (I was recording some English lessons for her). Although we felt very scared and shaken, it obviously it could have been a lot worse. Candice called me and I called our landlady. Ulai rushed over, talked to Candice about what had happened, and called the police. By the time I could get home the police and many of our neighbors were there. (You can see a few of them with Silas in the picture above.) They have been sympathetic and supportive - many offering us their phone numbers and encouraging us to call if we ever have a problem. That's been a blessing.

The police were thorough and professional. They took some pictures, got a description of the guy from Candice, and took away a movie case that the thief may have touched. Then they had me go to the police station and tell another officer and then a detective what happened.

When we told Claire what happened she had a really hard time comprehending the idea of theft. She asked "Why didn't he just ask us for the money?"

We'll take some added precautions from now on...we're not sure how he got into the house. I locked the door and the gate when I left this morning. Apparently he climbed over the gate in the front or came over the wall from the abandoned house behind us. We are thanking God so much for his love and protection.

-Tom