Dear Ones,
Shall I laugh or cry, rejoice or hide in shame? Such a plethora of emotions has assailed me over the last two months. It all began when I went through Instagram followers to delete the ones I did not know. I also do that on Facebook and thereby avoid a lot of trouble. Friends also warned me to protect myself by not changing my marital status from “wife” to “widow” on Facebook.

So, I deleted followers until I saw a very handsome photo of a soldier who looked a bit like Conrad. Without forethought, I clicked on it. The rest has become recent history, and I write to warn others of this organized criminal activity.

After a month of “chatting” with him on Instagram, then on Google Chat, my friend, Carol, sent me a couple of warnings about scammers on the internet:

https://www.nujournal.com/opinion/columns/2018/01/31/brown-county-browser-dont-fall-for-veterans-romance-scams/ and https://www.cid.army.mil/romancescam.html

The second link said:
”Red Flags” – some of the words/phrases used by scammers:
“Saying they are on a peace keeping mission, looking for an honest woman, parents deceased, wife deceased, child being cared for by nanny or other guardian, profess their love almost immediately, refer to you as “my love,” “my darling” or any other affectionate term almost immediately, telling you they cannot wait to be with you, telling you they cannot talk on the phone or via webcam due to security reasons… Finally, they claim to be a U.S. Army Soldier….”

THAT describes my story exactly. How could I, a lover of God and an outspoken follower of Jesus, ever get caught in this trap?

First, the enemy has been around for a long time and has nothing better to do than study us. He knows our temperaments, weaknesses, and our expressed longings and desires. Conrad left for heaven, coming up two years this spring, and I’ve mourned that loss all this time. So, when a handsome, prayerful Christian man pursued me with so many words of affirmation, offered to love and cherish me for the rest of my life, and revealed himself to be everything any woman could dream of, I went to the Lord. I said, “Really, Lord? Is this even possible? I wasn’t looking, and this came to me unexpectedly and too crazy to comprehend. Would You really do something for me so amazing and out of the ordinary?”

I only sensed increased happiness. I was drawn out of my former grief and felt I could love and live again. I could start a new life and enjoy a loving, talented, responsible, praying Christian companion with whom to share life. Until then, I had used movies as my evening go-to for companionship, but the movies stopped once our chats began. Every day we texted and I continued to prayer-journal and share Scriptures with my new friend. At one point, I asked him if he could be a spiritual leader. He answered, “Absolutely!” I felt no guilt because I am a legitimate widow. He is a “Christian,” “never married or divorced,” and “loved God.”

But then… he needed $2500 to keep his internet connection from Syria so we could continue to chat. Red flags! When I refused, he backtracked to say he only gave me a test to see if I cared enough for him to help him out. If only that would have ended it. But, the enemy of our souls does not give up so quickly, intensifies his deception, and adds pressure. It wasn’t long before “Wilson Jefferson” wanted me to go in with him on a birthday present for his almost teen daughter and to transfer funds to her nanny, Lillie Norwood, aka Shawnanna Smith. Then the bank froze his funds for too many overseas transactions, so he needed money for her boarding school. By this time, I could no longer think straight under the guilt trips and urgent time pressures with which he manipulated me.

However, he overplayed his cards. He gave me a scenario of going into battle as a special ops soldier, losing five men, getting shot in the arm, and wanting desperately to come home. I just had to email General James requesting the United Nations release Lt. Wilson Jefferson from the army to go home on vacation immediately. All to the “refundable” tune of $5900.

While waiting for a response, I Googled “United Nations” and found this:
“Fraud Alert: Beware of scams implying association with the United Nations.” Suddenly, the whole lying deception came crashing down! No daughter, nanny, or handsome soldier existed. Even the photo was of someone else through identity theft.

Months ago, a dear friend sent me a book by Thomas Watson called, “All Things For Good.” It turns out God even purposes to use temptations for good, “Sometimes Satan foils a child of God. Through the suspension of divine grace and the fury of a temptation, a saint may be overcome; By this foil, God makes a way for the augmentation of grace. Christ let Peter fall. But this wrought for his good; it cost him many a tear. Now he grows more modest. His fall broke the neck of his pride… When he foils a saint by temptation, he cures him of his careless neglect; Thus the being worsted by temptation works for good.”

So there you have it. Please be warned of the powerful deceptiveness of Satan. He uses our needs and desires to bait us into doing things we would never think of or imagine ourselves doing. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (Jhn 10:10). Do not underestimate his tenacity. But, our LORD “comes that they may have life, and have it to the full.” He heals, restores, and redeems!

The LORD remained close to me the whole time as I continued to prayer journal through this debacle. Most recently, when I awoke at 3 a.m., I read through James and 1 Peter. Near the end, these words comforted me greatly:
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1Peter 5:7).

I did not want to write this story, but Thomas Watson’s book lists ways God uses temptation for good. One way is that “God uses those who are tempted, fit to comfort others in the same distress.” I cannot help people by listing my attributes, but instead, through my fallible humanity in relating to sinners rather than Pharisees. I ask God to redeem my human need and stupidity by alerting and warning others not to fall prey to the enemy’s most convincing deceptions. It can happen to anyone when you least expect it.

Grace and peace to you,
MarJean

P.S. One redeeming value of this debacle was to lose almost ten pounds, but I do not recommend this diet plan!