It was gone in a moment

Saturday morning was strange, we somehow felt different.  We felt rushed as we prepared to go to Sursee and Altdorf to visit cousins.  The 7:40 am bus to Neuchatel arrived on time, and as we got on the bus we wondered if we should have waited for the second bus at 9:40.  Arriving in Neuchatel at 8:30 we purchased our train tickets to Sursee.  The train was to depart at 9:24.  Noah was slightly unsettled and like always, wanted to walk.  We sat on the bench for a breather, and we put our sack on the floor in front of us and got out Lydia’s iphone. Lydia placed her purse next to me on my right and went for a walk with Noah.  At around 9:10 Lydia was back and we repacked her purse and our sack.  She then went for another short walk with Noah while I relaxed, reflecting on the weekend to come visiting cousins.

“Excusez-moi” he said.  I turned to my left to see a man about my age holding what appeared to be a train ticket in his hand, sitting about 3 feet from me.  “Do you know when the train to Bern leaves?” he said in French.  Interesting question I thought, wondering why he is asking me and not looking at the train schedule at the end of the station.  “What did you say I asked?” in French.  “When does the train leave for Bern he asked?”  A bit confused I leaned over towards him to see his ticket.  The ticket was odd, something I had not seen before.  In addition, the destination read “Biel.”  Not wanting to spend time trying to figure out this man’s question, I pointed to the train schedule at the end of the station.  He replied “Merci,” and left.  I watched him as he walked away.  He stopped in front of the train schedule and with exaggerated hand motions, appeared to locate the train to Bern and left for platform two.  I stood up, picked up my pack sack and went to the stairs to wait for Lydia.  As her and Noah approached from the distance I noticed that she did not have her purse!!!  What I hadn’t seen, was that while the one man was distracting me, someone else had come and taken the purse!

Disappointed, angry, upset, and frustrated are only a few of the words that explain what we felt.  I mean, we had plans and this was definitely a huge roadblock and not just for that day.  In reporting the theft to station employees, we were directed to the Neuchatel police.  There we filled out a report, with a description of the individual and canceled our credit cards.  Not knowing what to do next, we found a place to relax and contemplate what we were going to do.  We had no means of traveling either home or too my cousins and no way of contacting anyone.

 What happened next can only be described as a true example of the nature of Christ and a blessing from God.  We “happened” across a friend, who invited us home, to their place.  There we were fed, comforted and provide with the means – car, phone, and much more –to carry out our weekend plans.  In trying to repay the kindness after our weekend we were simply told “I have made worse investments in my life than this!”

We were not stripped of our clothes, beaten, or left for dead that day (though we may have felt like it) but this family became a living example of the “Good Samaritan.”  They “took pity” on us; they “bandaged our wounds, pouring on oil and wine. (Luke10:33-34)” And they gave of what they had to provide for us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and materially.  For us that day, they embodied not only the second greatest command to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but also the first greatest command to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind,” when they told my wife, “Don’t thank us, thank God!”  We do, we thank God for his wonderful provisions in a difficult experience!

 God Bless

P.S. Outside of the theft, we had a good time visiting Pfenniger cousins in Sursee and around 20 Muller cousins in Altdorf.  (We have now visited about 35 of 65 Swiss cousins and 9 of the surviving 11 aunts and uncles in Switzerland).  A highlight of our trip was identifying the farm my grandfather had and lost, visiting the house where my dad grew up, visiting the farm my dad was placed in to work because his family was poor and meeting up with individuals who grew up with my dad and went to school with his brothers.