DAVID & JO SOMMERVILLE: LATEST NEWS

We´ve been held up on the letters we promised many of you, first because of computer and e-mail problems, and then by the following.

 

Our grandson Sasha sums it up in a note to his Uncle Sam: “Tío Sami: Anoche, viernes 22, temprano, robaron en la casa de tu papá. Le apuntaron con una pistola. Casi lo matan tres criminales” (“Uncle Sam, Last night, Friday the 22^nd, early, they robbed in your father´s house. They aimed a pistol at him. Three criminals almost killed him”).   

 

Here it is in more detail. On Friday, October 22, in the wee hours, we were sleeping tranquilly when, at 4.30, we heard a crash of metal followed by a violent breaking of glass. I got up, went into the hallway, and saw two masked men dressed in black breaking the glass of our back door with a pole. They had already pried loose the sliding bars that protect the door, and later we found they had broken all the lights around the house and the window of  the car parked behind the house, taking the radio, fire extinguisher, keys, and car documents.

 

I tried to call the police, but found the phone line had been cut. Fortunately, I had my daughter´s cell phone, and the police assured me they were on the way.  

 

From inside the house, I grabbed the pole they were using to break the glass and called the police a second time. One of the intruders shot at me with a 22 caliber revolver, fortunately missed, and the bullet was embedded in the door frame of the living room. They got through the broken door, threw me to the floor of the living room, began to beat me with another pole, and were trying to tie my hands behind my back. I asked what they wanted and they said, “Money”. I told them that if they let me up I would go into the other room and give them the money I had at home. They wouldn´t do it and continued beating me.

 

When I told them the police were on the way, they yelled at me that I was a liar, but I let them know I had called on a cell phone. They dragged me across the living room floor and then let me up. I went into another room, pulled out my billfold, and handed it to them. They weren´t happy with the amount of cash, only about $40, but I told them I didn´t keep much money at home. Surprisingly, they didn´t quibble, grabbed a VCR, and made their escape. Later the police discovered from footprints that there must have been three of them, one of whom had remained outside the house.   

 

Jo had been sick in bed for two days previously and was feeling very weak. She looked for my compressed-air rifle, thinking perhaps she could help. But then, seeing from down the hall how they were beating me, knew there was nothing she could do and got into the bedroom and locked the door. This was certainly the right decision, for if they had found her, things could have turned out much worse.

 

The police and an ambulance arrived quickly, and, as I was bleeding profusely, took us to the hospital, where they put stitches in my head and hand. They treated Jo for high blood pressure; it had shot up to 210.

 

The police found finger prints, took blood samples, and extracted the bullet. From the violent and irrational way the intruders had acted and shouted, the police believe they were under the influence of drugs.

 

We´re all right now, getting over the scare, taking greater security measures, and are thankful to God for His mercy. Once in Peru and twice in Argentina, our house has been broken into, but this is the first time to experience armed robbery and violence. And, unless God determines otherwise, we hope it´s the last. Still, God has His way of teaching us things, and as “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”, we have learned some valuable spiritual lessons from the experience. I hope to share them with the believers in my next church message.