Be Safe Out There!

[Dave]

About a month ago the local area where I live was shocked by news of the murder of a 56 year old mother of 3 who'd gone missing under suspicious circumstances.

Here's the article that ran in the NZ Herald newspaper: 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11262255

 

As the story of this woman's disappearance was developing, details began to emerge about the circumstances that became rather troubling, especially as the woman lived on the same street as 2 families from our congregation. She just lived a few doors along from one of them. Within a matter of only a couple of days a woman's body was found in a nearby cemetery confirming that she'd been murdered. It was only hours later that police swooped on a block of townhouses making an arrest of a man. 

As this all unfolded on the TV news I was shocked when I recognised the group of town houses as the same ones where a young married couple from our congregation live. This block of townhouses was only a kilometre or so from where the woman went missing.

 

These streets and those between them are right in the middle of our territory and are worked regularly. This is the second time something like this has happened in the last 10 years or so in this area. As you can imagine, this became a real cause for concern in the local community and several householders described how they felt afraid and appreciated the comfort they were given from the bible.

 

One of our sisters who lived on the same street as the murder victim and was about the same age as her had moved out of the area a short time before this happened. She herself had a harrowing experience on that street one day when a man approached her in her vehicle attempting to get into it against her will, even trying to deflate one of her tyres so she couldn't get away. Thankfully she was able to flee.

 

Interestingly, while working in field service recently our sister got talking to a householder who like many others in the area attended the court case to see who this man was, as he'd been granted name suppression and his identity was not allowed to be published. The householder snapped a photo of the man and had it on her phone. Our sister was shocked to learn after this woman showed her the photo that this was the same man that had tried to attack her. To my knowledge, she hasn't reported this to the police, but I understand different ones have suggested she do so.

 

All this is a sobering reminder of the dangers we all face in our various communities, no matter how safe we think they are. I just wanted to say "Be Safe" brothers and sisters. Keep an eye on each other especially if anyone happens to be working alone in the ministry.

 

It's possible that if our sister had reported what had happened to her sooner a tragedy may have been averted. Of course this is easy to say with the benefit of hindsight, but I thought this story was worth sharing as a reminder to be safe.

 

 

 

 

[well]

About a month ago the local area where I live was shocked by news of the murder of a 56 year old mother of 3 who'd gone missing under suspicious circumstances.

Here's the article that ran in the NZ Herald newspaper: 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11262255

 

As the story of this woman's disappearance was developing, details began to emerge about the circumstances that became rather troubling, especially as the woman lived on the same street as 2 families from our congregation. She just lived a few doors along from one of them. Within a matter of only a couple of days a woman's body was found in a nearby cemetery confirming that she'd been murdered. It was only hours later that police swooped on a block of townhouses making an arrest of a man. 

As this all unfolded on the TV news I was shocked when I recognised the group of town houses as the same ones where a young married couple from our congregation live. This block of townhouses was only a kilometre or so from where the woman went missing.

 

These streets and those between them are right in the middle of our territory and are worked regularly. This is the second time something like this has happened in the last 10 years or so in this area. As you can imagine, this became a real cause for concern in the local community and several householders described how they felt afraid and appreciated the comfort they were given from the bible.

 

One of our sisters who lived on the same street as the murder victim and was about the same age as her had moved out of the area a short time before this happened. She herself had a harrowing experience on that street one day when a man approached her in her vehicle attempting to get into it against her will, even trying to deflate one of her tyres so she couldn't get away. Thankfully she was able to flee.

 

Interestingly, while working in field service recently our sister got talking to a householder who like many others in the area attended the court case to see who this man was, as he'd been granted name suppression and his identity was not allowed to be published. The householder snapped a photo of the man and had it on her phone. Our sister was shocked to learn after this woman showed her the photo that this was the same man that had tried to attack her. To my knowledge, she hasn't reported this to the police, but I understand different ones have suggested she do so.

 

All this is a sobering reminder of the dangers we all face in our various communities, no matter how safe we think they are. I just wanted to say "Be Safe" brothers and sisters. Keep an eye on each other especially if anyone happens to be working alone in the ministry.

 

It's possible that if our sister had reported what had happened to her sooner a tragedy may have been averted. Of course this is easy to say with the benefit of hindsight, but I thought this story was worth sharing as a reminder to be safe.

 

Thank you Dave for the reminder as I always go out for ministry in the afternoon and night...

[dennisdg]

Thanks bro Dave

[Trina]

Thank you for the reminder and to let others know that there seems to be an increase in murders on the news and we all need to help each other stay safe by talking about things we hear because had this sister talked to someone before maybe she would have had the courage to say something at that time and told. We need to keep up with each other these days.

[sunshine]

People should always report attempted attacks like this one, not only because if the individual has a record he could be imprisoned and this could prevent someone else being attacked or killed but because it would have a bearing on any eventual prison sentence again preventing further attack.  I can understand wanting to put a horrific attack behind you, especially if you are unharmed physically but really the world is so horrible now that we must be responsible.

[Greg Dent]

She should report it. IF it was the man it may support the crown prosecutor in the case. Encourage her to follow through on it and fast.

[Lorelaisbiggestfan]

I agree with Greg...She needs to report that fast. You never know if that could be the difference between putting him behind bars and him going free, the difference between him never being able to harm another person or another life being lost.

[Trina]

I agree with the others, report it. Everyone should report anything that is criminal to authorities it is lawful and that is what the authorities are for. The Catholic Church has gotten into a lot of trouble for not telling and we need to do what we can to get him off the streets even if that means a mental institution, rehabilitation, or prison. Let the professionals handle it.

[Greg Dent]

We have a Moral Obligation to report a crime we witness or one we are involved with. We would not want to party to accessory of a crime by not reporting it. If we reason on bible principles the ones Jesus laid out about the Samaritan alone shows we are to help our neighbours. If we do not report a crime then we could in effect be allowing a future crime to happen. 

[Allabord4Jah]

Lev. 5:1, comes to my mind.