Sister and brother-in-law betrayed me

February 14, 2019

Dear Pastor,

I am having a problem. I am 54 years old and I am living in the US. I bought a piece of land in Jamaica and my sister's husband, who is a builder, agreed to build the house for me.

My sister said that she would help to oversee things for me. She and I are very close. I trusted her and I trusted her husband. I sent money every month for them to build the house.

When the foundation was made, they sent me pictures and told me what and what was needed. I sent the money. We are building a three-bedroom house.

When they were putting up the blocks they sent me pictures. I was excited. And then no more pictures came; but I was always sending money.

I told my sister and her husband that I was coming to Jamaica. My sister told me to hold on a little and not to come as yet until they made more progress on the house. I became suspicious, so I booked my trip and came without them expecting me.

When I got to the place, nobody was working on the building, and neighbours told me nobody had been working there for months.

My sister told me that she didn't want to tell me, but her husband ran into a little financial problem and he used some of the money I sent without my permission.

I am not condemning them, but I knew something was wrong when my sister tried to delay me from coming to Jamaica.

NO MORE TRUST

I am disappointed, but I did not make a fuss with them. I cannot trust this man anymore and I don't know how to trust my sister. She has let me down.

Pastor, I have to work very hard, and if they had continued to work on my house it would be nearly finished. This man has been smoking hard since I am here.

He thought I would have gone to the police, but I am not that type of person. We are still family. My sister is asking me whether I am going to let him continue the work.

I have been thinking about it because he is a good builder, but if I allow him to continue, they wouldn't be in control of the money.

They would have to give me a bill and I would send the money to someone else and they pay him.

What do you think of this man and my sister?

R.D.

Dear R.D.,

You have embraced this situation with love in your heart. You are disappointed in your sister and your brother-in-law.

But from the tone of your letter, you are not convinced that your sister and her husband did not intend to steal your money.

They fell on hard times and used your money to help them out of their difficulties. They should not have done so without your permission.

They intended to get some money on their own to buy the materials and continue the work, but you surprised them by coming to Jamaica.

However, they have disqualified themselves from being in charge. They are not people you can trust to carry out your business.

Therefore, you should indeed find someone else who would handle your money, while your brother-in-law would continue to work on the house.

I doubt that your brother-in-law would make an issue over that decision, knowing fully well that his behaviour was not upright.

A family conference should be called between all those who are involved in the building of your house, and you should also discuss the way forward. I wish you well. Take good care of yourself.

Pastor

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