Good and Bad News

I have some good news and some seemingly bad news. I'll start with the good news because the bad news just flows out of the good.

I have been really worried about Ubert lately, more than usual. Just as a reminder, Ubert is the boy that was in legal trouble when I first came here. He was in trouble for a crime that is despicable in any culture and almost beyond belief that an 11 year old could do such a thing. Long story short, this kid, the most evil child I have ever seen, met with the Lord and miraculously changed. It has been three years since then and Ubert is 14 years old now. He has consistently come around and we have become like real family. But since I moved into the new house he has not come around very much at all. Not sure what the problem was but I really started to worry and I didn't think there was any chance of him coming over now that Jr was living with us. Ubert is not good with outsiders, especially outsider children and he gets territorially and jealous when outsiders are here. But last night guess who showed up? Ubert! I asked the Lord to help him and Jr get along and that's what happened. They hung out, laughed and played till dark and early this morning Ubert was back to hang out with Jr some more. That is nothing less than a miracle!

Now the bad news... I was so thankful this morning because I got to hang out with Ubert and he was over to hang out with Jr. Cris Ann and I had to go to town, so for the first time we left Jr and Ubert at the house watching TV. On our way out the neighbour, an older lady with grey hair, stopped Cris Ann and started telling her something. I could tell by the look on Cris Ann's face that it was not good. She told Cris Ann that Jr is a thief and things from around here have been stolen and we need to make him leave. My first reaction was to defend Jr, but I just continued on into town. While in town I saw Ate Ellea whom I trust with my life and I told her the situation to see how she would respond. She expressed her concerns and said her neighbour was saying the same thing about Jr. Jr is not a thief. Has he ever stolen? Sure he has, he had to survive on the streets for years. But I have watched him closely for a month now and put him in situations that would cause temptation to steal and he has never come close. I am no fool; I know a thief and have had enough time with him to know he is not one. But as I prayed about it I saw that our neighbours had a legitimate concern and I needed to address it with her personally. As soon as we got back to our village I went directly to the neighbours and talked with her. I told her I understand her concern and it is a legitimate one. I assured that he would never be left alone and he would not be allowed to leave after dark. She was happy we talked and she said we found an understanding. That is great, but this has a serious chance of getting way out of control. If anything is lost or misplaced or taken by someone else, Jr will be blamed for sure and us with him. Even more frightening is the chance someone near us gets really sick and/or dies. Jr could be blamed for this also and that could turn into a life threatening situation. I have taken the neighbours’ concerns to heart and Cris Ann and I will take every precaution we can to protect the neighbours until Jr is accepted here. But we need prayer that this situation does not turn bad but that Jr's testimony will affect everyone as Ubert's transformation has. I am not sure what to do about taking more street kids in because if I take five of them in surely one of them will steal. I don't care if my things are stolen but it could start serious trouble if things come up missing around here, whether or not it was one of our kids. I will just wait on the Lord for now and thank Him for the amazing work He is doing in these young men. People used to say the same things about Ubert when I allowed him to start coming around and I had the same fears that he might do something and get us both in serious trouble. But I did what I felt the Lord wanted me to do no matter what anybody said. I listened and learned from their concerns but making Ubert leave was not an option. Likewise, throwing Jr on the streets because people are telling me will not be an option. Who should I obey? Them or God?