Hello! Thanks for coming to check out our crazy story! If you feel so led, we are raising funds in order to repair the ceiling tiles, glass windows and more damaged by vandalism and smoke damage. This is in attempts to keep insurance premiums down moving forward.
The story of all incidents is contained below. Please, if you have any feedback, comments or questions I would like to chat about them with you. Thank you for your time.
My Name is Bradley Cole, I am the owner and lead instructor of King's Martial Arts Academy. We are fundraising for the studio repairs. The funds will be used to purchase New Mats, to pay the cleaning contractos who assisted in mitigating the smoke smell, and hopefully ceiling tile replacement aswell. Not to mention, new Glass windows!
These donations will be directly deposited into the business account and used quickly to repair the space.
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Here is a story of the complete events of the vandalism and harassment of the studio, Jan 27 - Jan 30.
Tuesday January 27th, 8:20 PM an unknown man walked into the studio when an adult self defense class was occurring. I promptly went over to talk with him and to ask him kindly to leave, as he seemed a little uneasy and on edge. He refused to leave when requested and thus the cops were called. Once the cops were called, I attempted to talk with him to find out why he was refusing to leave. This got me nowhere with no valid reason for his defiance, so I talked to him about Jesus and the gospel. I talked to him about Jesus, how he is righteous and good even when we are not. I then asked his opinion which he didn’t care to share. He even adamantly stated that all the people in the room wouldn’t like his opinion, almost as if he knew the room was full of believers at the time!
Officers arrived at 8:35 PM and conversed with the man for about 10 minutes, encouraging, asking then finally ordering the man to leave. Finally, the man left on his own power without any violence or physical contact with anyone in the studio or officers. Praise the Lord no one was hurt.
Later that night, I got a call at about 11:15 PM, which never happens that late in the evening. I quickly checked our security cameras and sure enough, the man had returned to throw two small stones through our large 5x7 windows. Luckily, no one was in the studio and no one was harmed. My wife and I arrived at the studio at 11:30 PM to assess the mess, file a police report, and clean up the damages in preparation for the next day full of classes. We left at about 3 AM, windows boarded up and all glass cleaned thoroughly from the mat and business.
The next day was busy, Wed Jan 28, calling insurance and informing the landlord / authorities in order to catch the culprit. Praise the Lord we were still able to host classes!
A couple days go by and after class on Thursday night, 1/29, at 9:12 PM, the offender returns to smash our glass doors with larger rocks. Security camera footage shows no bystanders directly near the offender when the incident occurred, even though bystanders watched him walk away from the scene after assessing the damage.
9:28 I arrive at the studio, thanks to a nearby parents email, to once again assess the damages. Deflated, my wife, inlaws and I work on cleaning up the mess as well as boarding up ALL windows and the doors to avoid further damages until the offender is caught. Please see the photo below of the studio the evening of 1/29. Officers were able to write us a police report yet the offender was not to be found that night.
January 30, Friday, about 4 AM, I received a call from the fire department. The building had been set on fire. Luckily, passerbys noticed the fire and called it into the fire department quickly, to avoid major damages and loss. The fire was successfully put out and the department left the scene around 5 AM.
I arrived at the studio scene at about 9 AM Friday to assess the damages again, as I had just seen the call and voicemail from the fire department 20 minutes before arrival. The building had been burned through a lower wall and flames had scorched up a beam of wood next to the door. Smoke damage was moderate, however, praise God that the damages were not worse! Please see photos attached for damages.
Friday, Jan 1/30, myself, my wife and Koji were at the studio most of the day, communicating with contractors to clean the space of the damage and assess next steps for repair. Sadly classes were canceled due to the smoke damage and physical damages. Throughout the day, we were able to get the studio scrubbed down, every inch of it, by a contractor team which specializes in cleaning spaces after a fire. They safely cleaned all soot and provided machines to clean the air of the smoke smell.
During the same day, at about 3:45 PM, Koji and I spotted the offender, walking on the sidewalk nearby. Quickly we alerted local police and they were able to apprehend the offender at 4:19 PM. The Man is now facing 2 Felony charges of vandalism of damages amounting over $1000, 1 felony charge of Arson and more charges from the local Safeway for harassment. He has been trespassed from the business and the complex. The Offender is safely away from us, in jail.
There are two reasons I tell you this whole story in detail.
So that you may know and be informed of the whole extent of the damages and what truly happened.
So that you may know that God is watching over us and protecting us at the studio.
After the man was arrested, I met his aunt at the scene. She is elderly and very sweet. She was mostly unaware of the offender's problems. Shortly after this, I met the offenders father and mother. His Aunt had informed his Mother & Father that something was off as of late, so his father recently flew out from Texas and his mother flew out from Idaho. Both of his parents came to check in on the offender, their son, and figure out what the problem was.
They had no idea he was causing us issues of vandalism and more until he was arrested on Jan 30. But, according to God's plan, I was able to meet them, the offender's family. I showed them the damages that their son had given to the business and showed them video evidence that it was their son who is the culprit. However, more importantly, my wife and I were able to pray for them through this challenging time.
Once they saw just 1 video of their son vandalizing the studio, they both broke down in tears. They were weeping, broken. The mother fell to her knees inside the studio, shocked that her son would do such a thing. To say they were surprised & shocked is a large understatement.
See, they knew their son as a 32 year old young man with a masters degree in business. He had a good paying job and a successful relationship. He was honored and decorated in the educational space. He was a good and successful person with a bright future ahead of him. He was. But not anymore, and that's why they profusely wept. They wept at how he could have gone down such a dark path, which I suspect may have involved illicit substances.
These substances which he abused led him to vandalize the studio. Moreover, the substances abused him as a person and frankly, he gave himself over to the devil through drugs.
Why do I share all these details about my interactions with his family?
Well, I share because we are all one bad choice away from disaster. In fact, by ourselves we are all just fumbling around this dark world trying to be “Good people” Trying to simply “Figure it out”. However, without Jesus Christ, we will all fail, over and over.
Jesus Christ is the only one who can help us succeed if we rely on him.
We are all wicked, broken people, just 1 choice and 1 mistake away from disaster yet we are quick to judge others.
Consider a child, do you have to teach children to be mischievous, or act wrongly? No, it’s in their flesh, their being, just like it's in you and me. Of course, we are all doing our best to be good people and make the right choices, yet sadly we are all living in the brokenness of our flesh and sin.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do - Galatians 5:17
In reaction to the situation, I was upset of course. I was deflated, drained, frustrated and even angry in some instances. In that situation, every reason for anger and rage would be justified by human standards. I could have flamed his parents as some bystanders did, but does that really help the situation? Of course it doesn’t, but that's what our flesh wants to do, right? We want to get revenge and make things even!
By his grace the Lord helped me not to sit and stay in those emotions. The Lord allowed me to put the anger, rage and jumble of negative emotions behind me. How?
Because I know I have made plenty of bad choices as well, to harm others even though unintentionally. However, I have made many more choices in my life to hurt God and make the Lord dismayed at my actions, to sin. Yet God, every single time I sin and I do wrong, He forgives me and loves me the same. Of course, there is justice and repercussions for my actions, consequences, but his love for me remains.
Love the sinner, hate the sin.
If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules,
if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. - Psalm 89:30-33
With thought in my heart, I was able to overcome all the negative emotions in the heat of the moment. Right there in the studio, as the offender's family was weeping, we were able to pray for them. We prayed for the family to trust God’s plan during this heartbreaking time. We prayed for justice to come for all actions. But most of all, we prayed for the offenders salvation, that he might come to know Christ and repent. To turn from his wicked ways and live a righteous life which is only possible through Christ's sacrifice.
You see, Jesus Christ, Fully God, came down to the earth to also be fully man and live a sinless, spotless life. He lived this life not for the status, clout or bragging rights, but so that He could die as a perfect sacrifice to atone for ALL of the worlds sins and wrongdoings.
He did this as an act of love for all those who would believe in him, for you and for me.
He knew we could never be perfect. We make mistakes, sometimes intentionally we harm others and our good works will never be enough to get us into heaven. But through Christ's perfect life and death on the cross for us, we are able to live a free life, apart from the burdens of our mistakes, if we accept Christ.
In the world religions can be categorized into 2 columns.
The religion of human achievement. Followers must do X, Y & Z to earn salvation.
The religion of Divine achievement. God through Christ has already done it all, all you need to do is accept that He came to die for your sins and you will be forgiven.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 6:32
Prayer changes things, people, situations. Prayer is powerful. That’s exactly what we did for his parents and the situation. Prayer changed my heart from anger to forgiveness.
Why?
Because I am called to forgive others just as God through Christ has graciously forgiven me.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you - Ephesians 4:32
Because I know I deserve nothing but hell and punishment myself, no matter how much “good works” I do.
Because I am not the judge of others, but God is. And if God has shown me grace for my mistakes, who am I to be the judge of others' mistakes?
Now of course, I don’t want this man to be instantly free and walking the streets again. That is not what I am saying. My #1 priority is the safety of the students and the studio, to ensure a secure environment to practice martial arts. We are doing all that we can on the legal end to ensure not only safety, but also justice for the situation. Believe me, this man will be serving his time and the justice system will give him plenty of time to consider his actions.
Rather, my focus is to call your attention to the reaction to the situation.
Each and every day, you and I have hundreds of choices to make, to react with grace or anger?
When someone is late to a meeting, when we get cut off in traffic, when tragedy strikes and someone tries to burn down your business. What will we do and how will we react?
I encourage you all to ask God how to react. Our flesh quickly runs to anger & rage, to payback & revenge. Yet God's heart is graceful and merciful yet just.
God sees us in our folly and despair. He is not only kind and merciful, but he is also true and will bring justice to every injustice done. I believe that especially in this situation.
So, with every situation you encounter, ask yourself, what would Jesus do? Of course Jesus will bring justice, but would he do it kindly? Would he yell and scream? Would he pray for those who hurt him and seek his death? What will you do when you are wronged?
Consider every time we sin or do something to wrong others, who judges you? Do you get what you deserve each and every time?
I am confident that no matter what happens, that GOD will work everything for good, even in this situation! I hope the Lord uses my life as an example that God can use everything, even the tragedies and letdowns. He uses everything for good
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28 ESV
If you would like to talk about the situation, have questions, or want to know Christ, please reach out to me. I'd be happy to share the hope that is in my heart!
408-448-2227
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