419 frauds, one Christian version

I received this advance-fee fraud email recently:

[Begin scam email]

ATTN: Greetings,
Dearest in Christ,

PLEASE ENDEAVOUR TO USE IT FOR THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
I am Mrs. [deleted] from Kuwait. I am married to Dr. [deleted] who worked with Kuwait embassy in Cote d’Ivoire for nine years before he died in the year 2006. We were married for eleven years without a child.

He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we were both born again Christians. Since his death I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of 15.2Million U.S.Dollars).with one BANK in cote d’ivoire.

Presently, this money is still with the Bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next three months due to cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my stroke having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to Organisations, church or better still a Christian individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct here in.

I want a church that will use this fund for churches, orphanages, widows, less privileged for propagating the word of God and to ensure that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers.

I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner, which is the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health, because of the presence of my husband’s relatives around me always. I don’t want them to know about this development.

With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the BANK in Ivory Coast. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will empower you as the beneficiary of this fund. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian.

Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life, and any delay in your reply will give me room in searching for a church or Christian individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein.

Hoping to hearing from you. Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs [deleted]

[End scam email]

Let one thing be crystal clear: there is no money in an Ivory Coast bank that is waiting to do Christian work. If the sender is contacted, there will be endless demands for advance payments, while no money will ever be received by the victim.

Of note, the Bible does not prohibit widows from re-marrying. Consider the following passages:

For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
(Romans 7:2-3)

But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
(1 Corinthians 7:8-9)

Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
(1 Timothy 5:14)

The bottom line is to remember Jesus’ teaching. God gave you a brain for a reason, use it:

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
(Matthew 10:16)

Customer harassment at No Frills

I visited Michael’s No Frills (Silver Star Blvd., Scarborough, Ontario) recently. At the entrance were two individuals who were aggressively soliciting money, which they claim were for some charity. They were very persistent and were harassing customers who were entering or leaving the store. I informed the pharmacist about this, and she said “I don’t know” and did not do anything. I next informed the cashier in the lane nearest to the entrance (not the express lane, it was the lane next to the express lane) about this, and she also said “I don’t know” and did nothing.

I have two concerns about this:

1. Customers should not experience harassment when entering or exiting a No Frills store. If these two individuals were authorized by management to solicit funds at the store entrance, I ask that this authorization be revoked immediately. If they were trespassing, I ask that store management be more vigilant to ensure that such harassment does not occur again.

2. The “I don’t know” response from the pharmacist and the cashier were unacceptable. Security and maintaining a harassment-free shopping experience are the responsibility of every employee in the store. At the very least, employees should immediately contact management when they hear that customers complain about harassment. Saying “I don’t know” and doing nothing is absolutely wrong. In this case, the worst that could happen is customers be scammed of some money by a fake charity; if the situation were a pedophile abducting a child, would the pharmacist and the cashier also reply “I don’t know”?

I ask that store management take these events very seriously.