Scamming the Scammer

            Funny how since giving the lesson on "Divine Design" to the RS sisters almost a month ago, that I have been noticing more parallels and "divine design" examples in so many lives that I hear about.  Last week Jenna and I watched this story on Sunday Morning - a program that Roland has on almost every Sunday I have known him.  

            He was in the kitchen making breakfast for Jenna and me when the Steven Hartman shared his piece about an unlikely friendship between Ben Taylor from Ogden, Utah and Joel Willie from Liberia.  Joel was in need of money and has been using facebook to connect with strangers to invest in a business.  Ben Taylor accepted his friendship that he might keep Joel so busy that he wouldn't have time to scam anyone else.  Joel's interest was in an electronics outfit located in New Jersey, but Ben had googled the address and the location seemed suspicious as it appeared to be a dumpground for trashed or stolen cars.  He had even called the police to investigate.

            Ben changed directions to "scam the scammer" and said he was interested in purchasing photography and that perhaps Joel could send him some pictures of a Liberian sunset - I am uncertain at how the photographs were received.  They weren't great photos and no indication that the sun was setting.  Ben told Joel that they were great but needed something different and finally blamed the camera for an imperfect quality and purchased a small red digital camera for $60. and sent it to Joel.  

 Joel sent him photos of people and places in Liberia and Ben created a book and put it on the market.  The book raised $1,000 - which in Liberia is an unbelievable huge amount.  

            Ben told Joel he was sending 500 dollars for him to keep and would send another 500 if he would give it all to charity - which Joel would have probably done anyway.  He purchased school supplies and paid for transportation to distribute to five schools and sent Ben more photos of his actions.  Shocked with all that had taken place, Ben flew to Africa to meet Joel. 

CBS photo

 Was it coincidence or by divine design?      

            For more accurate story and interview with Steven Hartman, see here 

CBS

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