8th September 2010
Greetings from Luanshya!
There are some events in which you can see the hand of God working, but when they are over you do not want to live through them again. Such was the case this past weekend. I am going to explain in detail so you can get the “gist” of the situation.
While running errands in Ndola (25 miles from Luanshya) we received a strange telephone call informing us that one of the Lighthouse Children’s Home wards needed to be “picked-up” from jail in Luanshya. Having no details and not knowing if he had been hurt, we quickly rushed back to Luanshya only to find out that Dickson (16 years old) had been arrested for theft. After several minutes of discussion I was finally allowed to go into “cells” to talk with him. He said he was visiting a friend (17 years old) when the police came into the house to arrest the friend for stealing three 4-foot fence posts from the house where he lived with his guardian (23 years old). They actually lived in a smaller house at the back of the property and the man who made the complaint was living in the main house. Both worked at the same government ministry. Because Dickson was in the smaller residence when the police arrived, he was also arrested and charged with the same crime. Both Dickson and his friend tried to explain, but the police were not interested in “stories” and both boys were locked away.
I went to see a police official “upstairs” who promised to look into the situation. After an hour he told me to return to the police station to collect Dickson and the other boy until they could be seen on Monday. The arresting officer informed me in no uncertain terms that he “did not take orders from that man” and Dickson was to stay in jail. I then telephoned my friend and he said he would “sort it out” in 40 minutes. An hour later I called again. “Just a few minutes” was the reply. I telephoned every hour until my “friend’s” phone was switched off at 8:30 in the evening. Dickson was in for the night.
On next morning I found myself where nobody wants to be on a Sunday morning – at the jail. A new group of officers was on duty and even though they were more sympathetic to Dickson’s plight, they were “bound by policy” to wait until they had clearance from above to release either of the boys. The Officer-in-Charge had the authority, but she was in church and was not to be disturbed. We had to wait until after church services. Meanwhile, the landlord for the house arrived to say that the boy who had cut the fence posts did not steal them. He was going to repair a hole in the fence at another spot along the fence. His mistake was not getting written permission from the landlord.
Finally, at 3:00 in the afternoon we made face-to-face contact with the Officer-in-Charge. She was very sympathetic with the boys’ situation and she allowed the boys to be released until Monday morning. Dickson went home to a well-deserved shower and a hot meal – His first for 29 hours. (I had taken him a snack, but it was not really a meal.)
On Monday morning we gathered at the police station hoping for a quick solution to this misunderstanding only to be told that ht arresting officer was in court and we needed to come back “tomorrow” (Tuesday). Meanwhile, the tenant in the main house was making threatening statements to the guardian and we discovered that there were apparently some underlying issues between the two tenants. I went to visit the District Commissioner of Luanshya, whose office actually owned the house – and fence posts – in question. After hearing the story he had several questions about why the police were even involved in a case that should have been handled “administratively” within the governmental offices. An inspection of the premises was made and the DC was even more convinced that the complainant was seeking revenge for something personal between himself and the young guardian. (I do not have all the details about this.)
I went back to the DC’s office and interrupted a meeting he was having with the senior Ministry of Education Officer of Luanshya. I know and work with both of these men in various committees and was told to come in immediately. I further explained the situation with more details about the threats. Ultimately the DC telephoned the Commanding Officer of the Luanshya Police Office and instructed him to drop all charges. He said that since the house was officially the property of the DC’s office, the only person who could press charges was the DC and he had no intention of doing so. The DC then apologised to me and to the boys for the way they had been treated during this ordeal.
The DC then made a statement that surprised me. He told the boys in the presence of the Education Officer that they had an advantage because they had someone who cared enough about them to protect them even when the odds were against them. He pointed to me and told the boys that they should spend more time with “The Colemans” and less time with people who, “in the long run,” did not really care about them. The Education Officer agreed. They both encouraged the boys not to be bitter, but to learn from this experience to realise who really cared about their well being. The DC went on to remind the boys that “The Colemans” would never lie to them, but they would tell them things they may not want to hear in order to build them up to become strong, honest citizens of Zambia.
I was deeply humbled by their words. We do not always know who sees or hears about what we do here. Sometimes God uses these little “adventures” to show us that people really do appreciate the efforts we make for the youth of our community. Please pray for the leaders of Zambia. They have many obstacles in their efforts to create a corruption-free nation.
By the way, this morning I visited the five 80+ year-old ex-servicemen in Luanshya and gave them something to help get them through the month so it isn’t just the youth that we serve. We appreciate your faithfulness in prayer and support as we remain...
In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry
Dr. Patrick & Sherry Coleman
P.O. Box 90010
Luanshya, Zambia Africa
tel: (h) 260-21-2510033
(w) 260-21-2512359
(w) 260-21-2512539
(fax) 260-21-2510718
cell: (Sherry) 260-96-6780112
cell: (Patrick) 260-96-6780113
Skype: patrick.g.coleman / sherry.i.coleman
