Crime on Andros

Well we have been back from our trip to the US for a few weeks and we are back in the swing of things.  One disturbing reality here in the Bahamas is crime.  As a resident US citizen, we occasionally get emails from the US Embassy, usually about safety precautions from pending hurricanes - however lately the safety precautions are more about crime.

Unemployment here is very high and young Bahamian men need income.  With no jobs, unfortunately many are turning to crime, drugs, and gangs.  Usually when we hear of these types of activities they are taking place in Nassau.  By far Nassau has more crime than the other family islands that make up the Bahamas, and the Bahamas has one of the highest crime rates in the Caribbean.

Our island of Andros has not been spared this plague.  With no work, once children leave the Secondary School they either go to the US or Nassau for work, or the College of the Bahamas in Nassau.  Those that remain have very few options for employment.  Consequently, there is a brain-drain of the best and brightest young people off Andros.  Those that remain usually end up in a blue-collar job or get caught up in gangs and crime.

Prior to our leaving for Christmas in the US we had heard of a horrific murder on Andros.  A man and his girlfriend were abducted and missing.  The presumption is that they had been killed.  The girl that was killed left a daughter, aged 5, that now her grandma must raise. While we were in the US two bodies were found, badly decomposed, and their remains sent to the US for DNA testing to see if they are the remains of the two missing persons.  The rumor mill went rampant but, just prior to our return, five men were arrested and are now imprisoned in Nassau.  Prison in the Bahamas is not pleasant.

While everyone waits the results of the DNA testing, and the police retain the bodies for further forensic testing, the family sits.  One member of this family is a man we had recommended for the Diaconate.  He is in his third year of formation and, while the family looks to him for leadership, he is hurting at the loss of his niece just as much as the rest of the family.  It is unfortunate all this went down while we were away but we have set up a meeting with the family later in the week for prayer and discussion.

As Deacon I have been with families when they suffer a loss.  As a hospice nurse, Ginni has done this many more times than I.  This, however is different.  Murder, violent murder, for money, for revenge, for what someone perceived as an insult - for whatever reason, is beyond the pale.  What comfort can we provide?

It is here that we rely on the grace of God.  All we can do is be a shoulder to cry on and offer whatever support the family needs throughout this ordeal.  The ordeal will be longer than a natural death as the police do the forensic work they must do on the bodies - and the families wait.  Wait for a time when they can put their beloved to rest.

The motive is yet unknown, but it will come out, and it will not justify the crime.  We will be with the family, we will comfort them, pray with them, talk with them, and through the grace of God eventually there will be peace.  Bringing peace into this situation, while members of the family will be seeking revenge, is a challenge. Revenge against members of the killer's family (or the accused's family) seemed justified to the family that has been hurt, but peace is the only thing that will heal.   Maybe that is why we say Jesus is the source of 'peace that passes understanding'.  Peace, forgiveness, or mercy, as a response to violence, seems incomprehensible to victims.  Yet this is what Jesus taught, 'Love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you'.

It is not clear if this is a message that the family is ready to hear, but it is the only message that will bring healing.  Keep us in your prayers as we prepare to deal with this as best we can - with God's help.
Peace