Christine's Perspective

Well, OK, I read Tina's blog, and I think that there were somethings that should be said. Yes, the mugging was NOT fun, but NOT as bad as what people have been thinking. The muggers here are not out to hurt you, all they want most of the time is your cell or wallet and then they'll leave; unlike the US where sometimes they will hurt you and get violent with you. I don't wan't to minimize what has happened, but there was a big positive that was left out that I felt was way more important then the mugging itself--Jehovah's protection and unexpected blessings. As you read in Tina's blog, a man walked over and told the mugger to back off (which the mugger did immediately, eventhough all he got from the sister was an old beat-up cell. He didn't take anything away from me). So we were a little shaken but unharmed because really, Jehovah protected us. I felt very bad for the sister because she's a pioneer and now she has no phone to contact other pioneers to make service arrangements. However, the sister still kept a positive attitude and we went to her study. She then borrowed the study's phone to call the cell company to stop service on the phone and call another pioneer sister to make arrangements. The study asked her why she needed to stop her cell service and the sister told her that her cell phone was stolen (we didn't want to tell the study that we were mugged, because we didn't want the study to feel bad that we got mugged on the way to her place). Anyway, the study then immediately pulled out her old cell phone and gave it to the pioneer sister for free. This cell phone was similar to that of the sister's, just newer and nicer (the sister's old phone was black-and-white screen and half broken, where as this one was in excellent condition and had colored screen). I told the pioneer sister that Jehovah knew that it was time for her to upgrade her cell phone. We both laughed, had a great study. Honestly, things like that would have really bothered me and make me really hate the muggers (like I would wish that he got ran over by a truck or somthing like that....) but this time it didn't. It made me become more aware of my surroundings and put me into the habbit of turning my head to check behind me often, but I wasn't bothered by it or freaked out. I think I really come to understand that people (the mugger was probably Peruvian or Chilian who came to Argentina in hopes for better life but found things to be harder and had no money to go back home) do things because Satan's system often force good people into doing bad things out of despiration. It made me treasure more of God's kingdom and I feel that Jehovah has not only protected us physically, but also mentally. I was not bitter, instead like what Jesus said, to love your enemy. This is the first time ever that I could experience what it means, that forgiving brings peace of mind and helped me move on. And when we continued to put our focus on the ministry, the joy that Jehovah gaved through holy spirit really washed away fear and any negative feelings. In fact, we got a good laugh out of it and a good story to tell. Like I said, it made us more aware of our surroundings, but it didn't rob us of any joy. Especially when you get to experience the peace of mind that Jehovah provides, and the positive change in the way you see things.