5:30pm I left the office on the other side of town. Its the weekend so I had all my work notebooks, personal notebooks, my laptop, camera, and ipod in my backpack; basically everything I have in Bangladesh that is worth anything. Normally I would go straight home and drop off any valuables I didn't need before going out anywhere, but I had a meeting on that side of town, followed by meetings on my side and knew I wouldn't be home for a while.
5:45pm Met with a friend for iftar, dinner, business, and general conversation.
7:15pm Took the overcrowded local bus back towards my side of town.
8:00pm Followed a friend's directions to one of the foreigner clubs. I've never been to this particular club which ended up being down a long dark side road. I talked on Skype with my lovely girlfriend for a good hour then joined 3 friends downstairs in the restaurant for a second dinner. (foreigner clubs are places foreigners can go hang out with other foreigners, swim, work out, eat western food, escape the craziness, etc)
11:00pm We decided it was time to go so we walked out of the club. My 3 friends hopped on a rickshaw and headed south. The other rickshaws wanted outrageous rates to take me north so I decided to walk back down the long dark road about 5 minutes to the main road because it was such a nice evening. I was responding to a text message (another thing I never do late at night on the road because I'm not aware of my surroundings) and made it about 1 minute down the road when there was a man in my path yelling. I looked up to see an angry man with a pistol pointed at me. I looked across the street and there were 2 or 3 guys with knives taking purses and wallets from my friends who had just left me. Strangely I felt really calm. I put my phone back in my pocket and stood still as I assessed the situation and my surroundings. I took a step toward the guy holding my hands out motioning "easy, easy." He didn't like that and 2 friends joined him each holding large meat cleavers. I backed up slowly towards the gate of an apartment building and asked the night guard to open the gate. They wouldn't budge and just peeked around a concrete column as the man with the gun pointed it back and forth at my chest and then my head, yelling that the wanted my bag and money.
I had my back to the gate, a cleaver guy on my left, another on my right, and a guy with a gun in front of me. The two with the cleavers started reaching towards my pockets and grabbing my backpack with their free hands; I swatted them away. When I hit their arms away from me, they started swinging the cleavers, and then kicking at me. As I danced and dodged cleaver swings and feet I realized they were scared more than I was because they didn't just attack me outright, but surrounded me just swinging and kicking at me. I made a dangerous bet that the gun wasn't loaded because why would a man with a loaded gun look so scared and just kick at me? I almost laughed at him holding a gun, but trying to kick me as if that would add to push me over the edge and intimidate me. I was still very calm and was sizing the 3 up trying to decide whether to grab the gun, or to grab one of the cleavers and risk the gun not being loaded. I thought, judging from their size and the fear in their eyes, that if I got a weapon from one of them I could run them off, maybe even get my friend's bag back. This thought actually went through my head: "If the gun isn't loaded, it would be useless and I might get hit with 2 cleavers while taking it; if the gun isn't loaded and I go for a cleaver, I may only get hit with 1 cleaver...but if the gun is loaded that would be bad..."
As I'm thinking through which weapon to grab the gunman pointed the gun in the air and pulled the trigger. I heard the distinctive CLICK of a dry fire. He then was fumbling with the gun trying to chamber another round. I dodged a couple swings of the cleavers then I pulled out my wallet and said in Bangla "ok, ok, I'll give you some money." He pointed the gun back at me and I couldn't tell if he'd chambered a round. I handed 1 of the cleaver guys a 1000 taka note, about $14USD. He turned and ran toward their car. The men with the gun and cleaver turned to see where he was going. In the split second they turned their heads I turned around leaped over the 8 ft gate that the night guards wouldn't open for me. At least safe from the cleavers and them grabbing my backpack. Once I was out of reach I saw the men jump in their car and run. As I was thinking about who I could call and get a ride home from two policemen pulled up on a motorcycle. My moneyless friends had found the police at the corner of the next block and told them they had just been mugged (they never saw me or the gunman on the other side of the street.) I climbed back over the gate, yelled and pointed and the police followed the car.
During my dancing and cleaver dodging Australian couple had pulled up to their apartment expecting to go home but saw the last half of the mugging. They asked what happened and if I was ok... I said I think I'm fine. They asked where I was headed and then gave me a ride home.
I got home still trying to figure out if that had really just happened! It seemed quite unreal. I dropped my bag (still with all of my valuables in it), pulled out my phone to resume my text message and noticed a large, precise crack in the side of the phone. I assumed it had actually cracked one of the many times I'd dropped it. I went to put it back into the sleeve and the sleeve looked like it had been cut with scissors...I looked at my pants and they also had been cut. Apparently my dancing skills are lacking and one of the swings of the cleaver actually hit my leg, but the sharp blade was stopped by my cell phone. At that point the delayed adrenaline rush hit me and I thought "HOLY CRAP, I WAS JUST ATTACKED BY A GUNMAN AND 2 MEN WITH CLEAVERS." I was what we call a bit shaken up.
I credit God for keeping me safe from men with guns and cleavers. When I was looking down the barrel of the pistol and felt that strange peace and calmness, I knew nothing was going to happen and I wouldn't lose anything. I didn't hear an audible voice, but I felt God's presence and his calmness and I knew it was going to be ok. I'm thankful I was on foot and more mobile. He gave me wisdom in knowing when to talk and refuse the guys and when to give a little money. I thank him that the 1 cleaver man jogged away and the others turned to see where he was going. I thank God that He gave me the calmness of mind throughout and the sense to jump over the gate to safety when I had the chance. I'm thankful I didn't lose anything other than $14. I'm thankful He protected me from physical harm. I thank Him the police came (a little later than ideal, but they showed) and muggers left. I thank Him that the Australians came home at just that instant and were willing to give me a ride home. I've been asking God to let me see Him work in this place and while I was expecting something different, He definitely showed me that He is real and that He is watching out for me.
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