(5–8 minutes, easy set-up)
For more information, go to “I Ate Thanksgiving Dinner with My Identity Thief for 19 Years” at http://abcnews.go.com/Business/ate-thanksgiving-dinner-identity-thief-19-years/story?id=27194948.
Point out that most of us know someone who has been a victim to identity theft. Share the following: Possibly the strangest story of identity theft comes from Axton Betz-Hamilton. Betz-Hamilton realized that her identity had been stolen when she was 19-years-old and tried to put a deposit down for utilities when she moved into an apartment in college. She found out she already had bad credit. Although she had not created her bad credit status, Betz-Hamilton struggled with the consequences of bad credit for years, paying high interest rates on car loans and credit cards. Interestingly, Betz-Hamilton’s father had also been a victim of identity theft.
However, it wasn’t until years later, after Betz-Hamilton’s mother, Pamela, passed away, that the family discovered that the person who had stolen their identities was her mother. In fact, Pamela had stolen her both her husband’s and father-in-law’s identity as well. Paper trails documenting her thievery were hidden all throughout Pamela’s personal things.
Her family now questions who Pamela was. After discovering that Pamela had been using multiple fake names, they have even wondered if Pamela had been living a second life.
Ask: What happens when we find out that someone is not who we think they are? After responses, share that those who saw Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem had to decide who He was; and in spite of the evidence that demonstrated His true identity, they neglected to comprehend the truth.