LUMBERTON – The president of the North Carolina Raleigh Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has confirmed that two missionaries were robbed at gunpoint last week in Lumberton.
“They’re fine. They were really shook up,” said Pres. John Stevens. “A woman and her granddaughter saw it out a window and let them use her phone. She was very kind.”
According to Stevens, the missionaries – their names withheld at his request – were on Starlight Avenue visiting with people. As missionaries, their mission is “to invite people to come unto Jesus by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ.”
This incident took place around 3:40 p.m. on March 21, the Lumberton Police Department said Wednesday.
The missionaries were leaving a residence when they were approached by three juveniles who robbed them of personal property, police said. They had driven there in the general neighborhood before continuing their mission on foot.
“The elders were walking down the street, and three guys started talking to them,” Stevens said. “One of them asked, ‘What are you doing?’ One of the guys said, ‘What’s in the bag?’ One of the missionaries pulled out a Bible, a Book of Mormon.
“A guy said, ‘Give us what you got.’ He had an automatic weapon deep in his pants. He pulled it out enough so that they could see the handle. They willingly, easily gave it all up, and the guy took off,” Stevens said.
The police were really outstanding, Stevens said. They quickly arrived and stayed with the missionaries until a backup car arrived. The missionaries drove around the neighborhood with an officer because the guys were on foot.”
“They weren’t injured,” police said, “and right now the case is under investigation.”
The suspects are currently unknown.
“Literally, what do they have? Nothing. They’re just missionaries,” Stevens said. “They have cheap phones. They have scriptures. They (the suspects) took the car keys. The police were there quickly before they could get the car. We then moved the car.”
Because of concerns that the thieves had obtained too much information on the missionaries regarding where they lived, where their apartment was, Stevens said, “We decided to put them in another apartment with missionaries nearby and out of the area.”
The two missionaries, called to serve in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission, were assigned to work with church members in the Lumberton Ward, or congregation. According to data from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are a little more than 94,000 church members comprising 181 wards (congregations) in North Carolina.
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