We were all geared up to go, packed, excited, tickets printed, passports ready, etc… We had Wilson drive us down the night before we were to leave to Kampala so that he could drop us off at the airport and take the car back to Masindi so that it could be used there for people who needed it. We shared a nice meal the night before with Wilson, had a good night’s sleep, and were headed out the next morning on August 27.
We decided to swing by a shopping center that we frequent to buy a couple bottles of water to drink on the way to the airport. We were only going to run into the grocery store for a second, buy our water and be on our way. Wilson noticed Newman’s bag in the front seat, so he moved it to the back where it could not be viewed as easily, just in case someone was tempted by it. We parked by the entrance to the shopping center where there is a police guard station where there are usually 3-4 police men. There is also parking lot security all around the entrance to the lot where we parked, so we felt fine running in to buy some water with our bags still in the car. We have parked here dozens of times and always felt perfectly safe. A lot of people have their drivers stay in the car while they go inside, but Wilson is more than a driver to us, he is our friend, so we told him to come with us. We walked into the store smiling and joking and excited about the day. We were gone not more than 5 minutes when we walked back to the car and Newman opened up the passenger side door. It was unlocked which I thought was odd. Wilson went to the driver’s side and unlocked the rest of the car. Newman looked in the back seat and asked, “Wilson, where are our bags?” I thought he was just pulling my leg trying to scare me. I looked in the trunk and our suitcases were there with our clothes inside, but the 3 bags that were in the back seat were gone. We all immediately went into panic mode. My purse was gone containing my wallet with driver’s license, credit card, debit card, and most importantly my passport. My Kindle, phone, chargers for each, and toiletries were all inside. Newman’s bag containing his computer, work documents, work checkbooks, and other items was gone. Newman’s backpack containing our very nice Cannon camera which we gave each other last year for Christmas, his nice rain coat, some clothes, his ipad, etc… all gone. We ran over to the security guards who were standing maybe 20 yards away to ask if they had seen anything. We were returned with blank stares and then a shrug. We went over to the police all standing there who too seemed to have zero insight. They told us to go downstairs to watch the security camera tape. Wilson and Newman went downstairs while I stayed by the car because the lock was now broken and I didn’t want to lose what was left of our belongings. I started to cry a few times, but made myself hold it together because I knew we had a very long day ahead of us with a lot to try to figure out. Wilson and Newman saw on the video tape, a blue car pull up next to our car, the diver stayed inside while 2 or 3 men got out, got into our car, took the bags, and sped off. It only took a few seconds. While they were watching the tape, the pharmacy store owner from across the parking lot could see something was wrong with me and asked if everything was ok. I said, “No, we just lost everything. They stole everything.” He was dumbfounded and said this had never happened in the 7 years he had his store there. He said they probably followed us from the hotel, targeted us, and then robed us. I don’t know if that is true, but it’s possible. When Newman described the car to the police, they said that there was nothing they could do because they couldn’t see the license plate. I of course became angry because they refused to even try to look for the car based on its description. They just sat around doing nothing.
The next two frustrating hours were spent waiting on the police report to be written up, and then waiting for someone to bring us some stamp that needed to be put on the report. Meanwhile, I called and had all of my cards canceled, we had our PMI checks canceled, printed new etickets for our flights and hotel reservations since they were now all stolen, and had passport photos taken. Newman even tried texting the thieves through my stolen phone in hopes that their conscience would kick in and they would do the right thing by coming back. After waiting what seemed like forever for this stamp, they decided that we should just drive down the street to the police station and get it stamped there. We did that and then went straight to the U.S. Embassy to try to have temporary passports issued. We were still hopeful that if we got the passports in time, we could still try to make our flight. As time passed, it became more and more apparent that we were not going to make the flight, so then our focus just shifted to trying to get our passports and reschedule our flights. Our flight was supposed to leave at 3pm and we didn’t get out of the embassy until around 4 with our temporary passports.
We called Emirates Airlines and they said to go to the Kampala office to try to figure everything out. When we got there, the place was full of people ahead of us in line, most of which were not in a hurry and were just there to book trips. I felt like everyone could see the panic and pain in our faces, but we tried to remain calm and wait our turn. Finally there was a free attendant, and even though it wasn’t our turn, Newman jumped up and asked, “Is there any way we can be helped now, we kind of have an emergency.” He quickly told her what happened and that we are trying to make it to our brother’s wedding. She looked up in the system what flights were available with Emirates and other sister airlines and told us there were absolutely no flights available until September 9th. The wedding was August 30th, so that was not going to work for us. At this point, I have totally lost it and am holding my head and crying at the desk in front of a ton of people, and Newman too starts to cry as he explains that if this was just a vacation, it wouldn’t matter, but that this was for his brother’s wedding which he cannot miss. I could tell that the woman finally realized the gravity of the situation and seemed genuinely sorry that she could not help us unless we could pay to upgrade to 1st class. We considered it for a second until we realized that we had canceled our credit cards, and after losing thousands of dollars’ worth of items that morning, buying an expensive ticket would not be the right thing to do. We walked out of the office and down to the car where Wilson was waiting. We just shook our heads, and we told him we weren’t going. He said, “Let’s go home.” We all agreed that we didn’t want to spend one more penny in Kampala and even though it was later than we would usually try to make the trip back to Masindi, we just all wanted to go home.
We were silent in the car for the most part, except every once in a while someone would say something to the extent of, “If we had just…” but running through those scenarios was only fueling our fire. Throughout all of this I continued to pray that God would redeem this situation. I kept telling myself, God hasn’t left us. After reaching about 5 miles outside of Kampala, Newman’s phone rang and it said “Stratton Lawrence”. Usually calls from outside of Uganda show up as “Blocked”, but this time is said “Stratton Lawrence.” He answered the phone and after a few seconds, he couldn’t talk anymore because of his tears, and I realized that Stratton was calling to let us know that he was buying us tickets. He found flights on British Airlines, which I guess Emirates hadn’t looked at. We turned around and headed back to Entebbe. We were to fly out the next morning, and we would make it to the wedding after all. We couldn’t believe the generosity and now had tears of joy instead of pain. The rest of our trip went off without a hitch. The timing of the new flights was actually better than the ones we had before, and we didn’t have to change any of our reservations for hotels or the rental car.
We had an amazing time in Scotland. The rehearsal dinner was in a pub where we ate great food and shared wonderful toasts about Hunter and Stratton. They had around 35 or so guests which was a perfect crowd of family and friends. The wedding day started off with typical Scottish weather with wind and rain, but just as the ceremony was to begin, the sun came out. Stratton and Hunter really wanted to have the wedding in the outdoor courtyard of the castle, so their wish came true as the rain allowed for this to happen. Stratton’s father, my father-in-law, Bob Lawrence conducted the ceremony which was really sweet. Hunter of course looked beautiful and Stratton was beaming. It was such a sweet wedding. Afterwards we shared an intimate candle lit meal at the lodge which was delicious. Hunter and Stratton incorporated so many neat Scottish traditions into the whole event. We had a two man band that played music afterwards, and everyone had an amazing evening together. We are forever grateful to Stratton and Hunter for making sure that we made it for this unforgettable event. We knew that all of our lost possessions could be replaced, but we couldn’t replace those memories. Apart from the wedding, Newman and I were able to explore the beautiful highlands of Scotland which are breathtaking and we even had a 24hr layover in London where we were able to do a bit of sightseeing before returning back to Uganda.
Overall we have felt God’s amazing protection, and we are so
thankful to him for giving us such an amazing family who have helped us out in
every sticky situation we have seemed to get ourselves into. Without a doubt, August 27, 2013 has been the
worst day of my life thus far, but it has also showed me that I have had a
pretty good life compared to others if that truly was the worst day of my life.
We are still trying to recover from everything, and we still
find ourselves looking for an item and then realizing it was in the stolen
bags, but we are surviving and are as strong a team as we have ever been. We
had a small laugh when we began to discuss all that we have been through in our
short two and a half years of marriage already. I’m so thankful for my faith and although I would never want to relive that experience, I am thankful for what it has taught me. We are struggling some with feeling safe and we do find ourselves being skeptical now of seemingly innocent people and places, so please pray for us in that respect. We still have a big job to do here, and we want to be able to give it the attention it deserves. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!
Love,
Trish
I stole some of my father-in-law's photos because, as previously explained, our camera was stolen so we have no photos. Here are some from the wedding.
Hunter's Arrival with her Father
Walking down the "aisle"
Lawrence Family
Lawrence and McRae Family
The view from the courtyard as the wedding began
