I cant help but think about what it means to be a neighbor as I watch this Ohio Case unfold.
If you have been in a cave the last few days, three women have been held captive in a house for 10 years and none of the neighbors knew. the details that are leaking out are just horrible.
But what is interesting to me is the neighbor that found them and rescued them. His interview is below and it is great (this is the recent one by Anderson Cooper).
[tentblogger-youtube e5elloa4kOc]
His comments are interesting. He talks about knowing the neighbor who was enslaving the women. He grilled with them, gave them their mail when it was misplaced, and even saw the “grandkids” running in the back yard (the kids were the daughters of the women, who were impregnated by these guys in the 10 year span).
He even said that Gabriel (the man holding the women captive) was a normal dude. He was “cool”.
This neighbor for all we can tell is not out of touch with his street compared to most. He probably talked to his neighbors more than alot of us. But he had no idea at all. How is that possible? I don’t say this to judge the guy, but to just sit for a moment and go,
“how is it possible that our neighbors, that we even know, can be doing this stuff and we don’t know?”
This story just burdens me further that I need to know my neighbors…really know them. I don’t know all of them and the ones that I do know, I don’t know really well. I haven’t been in most of their houses and they haven’t been in mine. But this story really pushes me further to know these people.
[Here is a great article by Brad Brisco about how to engage your neighbors better]
The title “Escape From Captivity” that CNN is going with is perfect. These women did escape and we need to rejoice in this.
At the same time, we need to be more intentional and incarnational neighbors that press into families lives. We need to help people escape from the captivity that is darkness and lostness that is all around us. This story should also alert us to the fact that others on our street are struggling with some deep and dark stuff too. We need to be there and we need to know.
One of the things that the man interviewed said was, “Now I am kept up at night because of this…I can stop thinking about how I could have done something earlier if I only knew”.
Let’s know our neighbors so we can see the Kingdom of God break in and bring healing, renewal and more release from captivity.
What is one intentional step you can take this week to know a neighbor better?
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I’m going to start by asking them if they have a basement, and if so, can I see it.
Hi Beau, I am fascinated by this story also. The man’s brothers knew about the captives, but not his son. His son did not think his father capable of such crimes.
The perp hid his crimes from his neighbors and his son. But his daughter knew the father was a bad man… his daughter who is serving time in jail for attempting to kill her own daughter (seemingly to save her daughter from her father) although the details on mental state are unclear.
Great post– I too am convicted that I don’t know my neighbors well enough. I’m not implying that they are hiding crimes that I have a duty to discover (though who knows, this story shows that this could be true) but rather implicating myself that I do not know their stories!
Here’s to inviting the neighbors over for dinner next week!
Last night I went on a walk with my son and a neighbor and our dogs! That was cool enough.
But the guy asked me what I do and was surprised I was a Christian minister. He told me he knew nothing about Christianity because he is Japanese and grew up Buddhist. The guy came over to my house for about an hour and we talk all about faith and family and he really opened up to me about some problems. It was awesome. Too be continued