[Beens Prayer Partners] a stressful event
Dear Friends and Family,
Dan received some upsetting news this week and it all came to a head tonight.
Just over two months ago, one of the men, Domingos, that has been a disciple of Dan's approached him for advice due to problems with his wife's family (parents, siblings, uncle/aunt, etc). An uncle was beating the wife to get her to leave Domingos because he was not strong enough to help in the family business. They were living on the wife's family's land in an area called Muesiha. Then six weeks ago because of continued problems with the wife's family and upon the advice of several other Mozambicans, Domingos and his wife moved to the city, Nampula. He was now needing a job and we'd just had a guard position open up so we gave Domingos employment thinking he had proven himself faithful over the months of studying with Dan. This is the same man that Dan was supposed to be working with the last two Sundays at a church Domingos had started in Muesiha. I say 'supposed to' because at the beginning of the month Domingos gave a very lame excuse as to why Dan could not travel to teach at the church.
Over this past weekend his wife showed up at our house and said she needed to talk to him and us. She accused him of having left her without food or money, said she had not seen him for weeks and that he had married another women. Domingos did not show up for work on Sunday night, though when he came in on Monday night Dan confronted him about the accusations and he denied them all (though later in the night he did confess more to our 2nd guard so we knew he hadn't been completely honest with us).
Over the course of the next few days his wife went to some church leaders to talk with them. These church leaders talked with me and I told them what I "knew". They affirmed that he had not been going to church and that things seemed strange. They arranged a meeting with him and his wife on this past Wednesday but Domingos did not show up. Wednesday afternoon Domingos' wife showed up here and talked with Robin some and said she really wanted to speak with Domingos. As he wasn't scheduled to work again until Friday Robin gave her some food and suggested that she could come back then.
Tonight his wife came to our house to talk with him and us. Domingos showed up drunk and became agitated when his wife accused him of abandoning her. He then said he had already married another women and was finished with the first wife (sorry we don't know her name). Wife number 1 asked us for part of his salary so she could go home to where she was from, Muesiha. Domingos said that when she left he would leave with her to go get his things from their house. Dan was worried that Domingos would leave with her and end up beating her. A quick phone call was made to our teammates for advice and they suggested we go get other Mozambicans to help out. Robin, the Brave Missionary in Deep Dark Africa, shoots out our door well after dark to walk down to get our house worker (Rabia) and her husband (Antonio), two faithful Christians that we trust. Dan started thinking how dumb it was to let his wife go wandering off in our neighborhood after dark, but Robin the Brave soon returned. By this time Domingos was very agitated and demanding his pay for the time he had worked. Domingos' antics increased and Robin and Dan left the scene to let the Mozambicans work it all out. They soon called us out of our house to hear the solution. Domingos and his wife had decided to leave together so he could get his clothes because he was accusing her of stealing them. She did not trust him to leave without her because she felt Domingos would steal the pots and pans (the only possessions she has). We continued to explain that we did not want her to leave in a situation that could be dangerous for her. She continued to ask for part of Domingos' salary so she could gather her things and go back to Muesiha. Dan went into the house to get Domingos' salary and ended up paying him all of it instead of giving some to her. He then stood up counted the money and started to leave. Antonio and Dan both said, "You need to give some money to her." Domingos said, "No I don't, she came here to this house for help, I am not going to help her, she is not my wife anymore. She can stay here!" Antonio, Rabia, us and our guard were all amazed at what Domingos said. Antonio was disgusted. Domingos walk out of our yard. This proved that the only reason he wanted to leave our yard with his wife was to beat her and get any money we would have possible given her. Robin and Dan again reiterated our concern for her safety and said that it would be best for Antonio and Rabia to walk with Domingos' wife to her house and make sure Domingos was not waiting for her or stealing her pots and pans. We said if things seemed unsafe she would be welcomed to stay at our house or if Antonio and Rabia did not mind with them. Of course she picked Antonio and Rabia's house because she would have been very uncomfortable in our house.
So all this to say, please pray for Domingos and his ex-wife. Pray for the church that Domingos started as there are few believers there and he has just destroyed any witness as to who Jesus is and why Christians are different from others. Pray for us as this has been emotionally draining for us. Domingos traveled with Dan twice a month to Netia, he studied with Dan, and Dan had visited his church. It is sad to see so much of Dan's time, effort, teaching, and discipleship apparently thrown away. While our limited vision doesn't let us see how, we trust that God will be glorified in this somehow. Please pray for these things, for Domingos to realize what he's doing and have true repentence, and for Domingos' ex.-wife to remain strong in Christ.
Thank you for your prayers,
Dan and Robin
