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Arne Garvi in Germany, February 2010

Prior to meeting Joy, my father (a declared pacifist since his teenage years who refused to carry weapons during his military service) had never resorted to violence, nor been the victim of any physical abuse.

About a month ago, upon his return from his first visit with Joy in Taiwan, my father came back with a black eye. When I inquired about it, he told me Joy had punched him, but he could not remember any particular reason for the violent outburst other than that there “must have been one”.

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Arne Garvi & Joy Tang in Taiwan, February 2010

It is difficult to imagine how a small-built woman - who at first glance does not look like she would resort to violence and who in any normal circumstances would certainly be easily overpowered by my father’s well-built frame if he chose to defend himself - would be able to physically hurt my father. So, when I met Joy in Berlin the morning after my father’s return from Taiwan, one of the first things I asked Joy about was the black eye. Joy admitted to punching Arne, and, when I asked about what had called for such violence, she stated it was a punishment for “disrespecting  my friends”. As we later found out, the people in question were Kulo and his circle of friends who are running a place on the beach south of Hualien where Joy had brought my dad. Whether this was the episode that led to an Arne in agony calling me on the phone from Taiwan, not able to coherently convey what was happening in-between his sobbing, is unclear. But that distressing phone call left no doubt in our minds that something was happening to him in Taiwan which was quite a far stretch from the “rest and healing” that Joy had stated that Arne needed when she extended her invitation to him to come and see her.

I was - and still am - distraught at seeing the result of the physical abuse that is tormenting my father. When my father asked Esther about her reaction to him and Joy getting married, she told him that the physical violence is an issue. But it remains only an outward sign of what is mentally and spiritually tormenting him.

Joy, I do not know how you came to hold such abusive powers, but I am here to tell you that this has to stop. Our rescue mission will follow my father wherever you take him, meeting every punch with embracing love until you say those magic words that will release him from his bondage:

“I DO NOT WANT YOU ANYMORE.”

/Miriam Garvi

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Short update: We are still looking for my father. If anybody has any information about the whereabouts of Joy or my father, please contact us at my brother’s phone number +886989429173. Thank you! /Esther