I'm Still Yours by Kutless

Fun at In-Step Children's Home Today

Well, after the last few rather depressing blogs, I hope that this one is more uplifting!  The children and I spent a lovely day out at In-Step Children’s Home today.  Besides the fact that anytime spent out there is precious, this was a special occasion. 

Several months ago, when Roger’s mom and dad were here visiting, they came to In-Step with me to see what I do there and to see this wonderful children’s home that I frequently talk about.  One of the things I do there is Story-Time once a month with the class 1 kids (most of the kids are about 6 years old).  The particular week they were there, one of the books I read was a children’s version of a chapter in Little House in the Big Woods called Christmas in the Big Woods.  In the story, Laura Ingalls gets a rag doll for Christmas. 

When my mother-in-law returned back to her church in the States and told the ladies there about the children at In-Step, they decided to make rag dolls for each of the boys and girls in my class.  When they were finished making them, they prayed over each one before they decided to name them (each doll got the name of the child that it would go to), and then they chose which doll would get which name.  The names were then put on the foot of the dolls.  The children at In-Step knew nothing about this….

…Until today!  I sat down with the kids and told them it was a special day because I was only going to read one story and it was one I’ve read before.  They sat attentively (which doesn’t happen every time ;-) ) and when I was finished reading the story, I told them the story of the Ladies at Calvary Baptist Church in West Branch, MI.  Then,  I opened up the box the dolls were in and called each child by name, handing him or her the doll that belonged to them. 

Reading the story, with Sherlyn (sitting to my left) translating for me.

Handing out the first doll to Sheri

It was so precious; they were so excited they giggled each time a new name was called.  Each child came to me, received their doll, thanked me, then went to get their picture taken with the doll.

The ladies even sent one extra for a boy and one extra for a girl, and that was fantastic because just this week, another 6 year old was taken in at In-Step.  Her name was Sandra.  She was so excited about her doll that she almost couldn’t wait!  This may very well be the first doll she has ever owned of her own.  This morning before I left the house, I found a fine-tip permanent marker to put her name on the doll that would be hers. 

Sheri

Rehema

Melissa K.

Brenda

Melissa I.

Rebecca

Sandra

Musa

Musa getting his doll

James

Sammy

Moses

George

Francis

Dennis

Paul

I can’t tell you the love I felt flowing from the heart of God to these children through these dolls.  I know that sounds strange, but it’s the truth.  I know they will feel it as well.

Thank you so much, ladies of Calvary Baptist Church in West Branch!!!!  You have touched the hearts of these children in ways you or I may never know and never understand.  Thank you for letting God’s love flow through you.  You made  a difference in the lives of these precious 15 children today.

After “Story-Time” I spent some time in the In-Step hospitality room with Sean and Meredith Stewart who work at In-Step.  With us was little Jason, one of In-Step’s newer little ones.  I’ll let you read about him on In-Step’s website (www.rehemaministries.com) .  I will tell you, however, that Jason is…9 months old!  He is as precious as all get-out.  He stayed with Sean and Meredith in their home here in Kitale for the first 2 weeks so that they could give him their full attention and make sure he was getting the medicines he needed and the nutrition that he needed.  I will also tell you he went from being absolutely terrified of them when they first picked him up from the Children’s department, to being one of the happiest, and most well-adjusted little guys!  He loves Sean and Meredith and smiles and talks to them and just beams when he sees them!  He’ll be “In-Step” with the other kids his age in no time with the love and care he receives from everyone at In-Step. 

Me and baby Jason

Mama Mary (Meredith) and baby Jason

One final thing – I’m adding a picture of Esther – Philip’s little sister (you might remember Philip was the little boy that stayed with us for a couple months last year).  When she went to In-Step, she couldn’t stand or walk on her own.  She was 2 years old and looked 9 months, and she was very sick.  Just look at her now!!!!

BEFORE PICTURE: Philip with Esther  

AFTER PICTURES: Esther going to play

A night and day difference from last year!

Thank you, In-Step!!!! Thank you, Carla and Jeff Picicci, and Sean and Meredith Stewart - for what you do for these little ones, and for letting me participate in a small way.  Thank you for letting me share in the joy of these beautiful children!

You can see the profiles of each of these precious ones on the In-Step Website:  www.rehemaministries.com Please go and learn each of their stories.  You'll be amazed at the way God steps into impossible situations and gives love and life and hope!  

Good News, Bad News Concerning the Car; Aug 7

Well, Roger's been in Eldoret all morning working with the KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority).  

Good news first.  Roger won't be arrested.  That was our first priority afterall.

The rest is looking like bad news.  The vehicle is almost definitely illegal.  Bummer.  That means, that the person who okay'd its import into the country was a crook and probably pocketed the duty money.  Bottom line is that the vehicle is supposed to be impounded and actually destroyed, so we're out a very large sum of money.  

It seems a law was passed in 2003 that vehicle older than 8 years old were not allowed to be imported into the country.  Ours was imported in 2007 and it is a 1991 vehicle.  Roger was told that often times, because Kenya is a coastal country, cars come into the country "in transit" to other countries like Uganda, which have no such laws.  Then criminals get them and sell them.  The first lady Roger talked to at the KRA took one look at our log book and said, "Yup, that's a fake."  She knew because they stopped issuing that kind of log book in 2006 and the date on our log book is 2007.  

At this point, I would ask you to please start praying for a vehicle for us.  And start praying for the money to buy a vehicle.  They are very, very expensive here because of import and duty taxes (which are 50 - 60% of the value of the vehicle). And even when you buy a vehicle that has already been imported, that duty is rolled over into the price you pay. Single people can get by without a vehicle here, but once you have a spouse and/or children, it gets a lot more difficult - especially with Emily at boarding school 6 hours away.  Public transportation isn't always a possibility, and there are times we have to be in Nairobi - if we use public transportation while in Nairobi, it costs us a fortune.  Also, here, to get a taxi, you often have to wait a very long time because they will tell you they are on their way, when they are 45 minutes away.  

In fact, we are supposed to take Emily back to school in just 3 weeks and we are supposed to stay in Nairobi and get some medical things taken care of as well as passport things with the Embassy.  I don’t know if that will be able to happen now.

Well, that's the news for now.  I know God is still in control.  He has a purpose; I don't' know what it is yet, but we have to trust Him.  It doesn't mean the circumstances don’t stink though. I'm reminded of a verse in the Bible, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  I Thessalonians 5:16-18   I am also reminded of this one, "...but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."  Romans 5:3-5

Please pray for our attitudes.  Roger is discouraged that we're out so much money (on top of that, he had to deal with dishonest public transportation people on the way home.  If you want that story, see the PS down below).  It's not like we have money laying around to buy another 4-wheel drive vehicle.  All the money we put into that vehicle is just...gone.  POOF.  And I'm a little angry at the moment on a couple of different fronts, one being the corruption that allowed this to happen.  Pray that we continue to entrust ourselves to God, who judges rightly.  He knows that we are victims in this whole situation.  He sees.  He will supply our need - maybe not by our definition of need, but by His, and His is the correct one.  

If anything changes, I'll let you know.

In the mean-time, thanks for all your prayers!!!!

In Christ - Held by His Grip (so glad its not dependent on my grip!)

Julie

P.S.  So, Roger just got home and told me a heart-warming story of corruption on a much lower level.  Roger used public transportation to get to Eldoret and back today.  It costs 200/=  (that’s 200 Kenyan shillings).  On the way back, he sat down on the shuttle and when the lady came by to give him his riding ticket, it was a fake ticket that said 300/= on it.  Roger gave it back to her and told her she was a thief for trying to steal from the white people (that’s what they call us, by the way).  He told her that he’d ridden this shuttle 5 times in the last 3 weeks and he knew exactly how much it should cost.  She denied trying to steal from him and blamed it on another guy who had written the ticket.  She went away and then returned with the proper, official ticket with the correct price on it.  She even told him it was an official ticket.  So, Roger pointed out to her that she knew the other ticket was fake, and so that made her a thief as well.  He asked her if she was a Christian, to which she answered, “yes.”  He then asked her if she knew what the Bible says about stealing.  At that point she started pretending to not understand his English, and another Kenyan man standing there said, “I don’t think she understands you.”  So, Roger said, “Oh, you don’t understand my English, well then,  I’ll speak in Kiswahili,” which he proceeded to do much to her surprise.  She turned and walked away at that point.  So, this is just a taste of what we live with day in and day out, and it is why we really need your prayers – prayers for love and patience in our hearts.

Another Vehicle Situation Update...Aug 6

Just a quick update here for those of you who are following our car situation:

Over the weekend, I talked with a friend of mine here who strongly recommended that Roger contact the US Embassy in Nairobi to let them know what was going on and to get advice from them.  It seems they have departments that are there for this very purpose – to help American citizens who find themselves in questionable situations like this.  We found out some very interesting things.  First of all, they told us to under no circumstance turn our vehicle over to the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) rather, they are supposed to be helping us investigate the problem and fix the problem.  Second, we have been advised that they cannot impound the vehicle unless it is proven to be illegal.  In our case, there is nothing yet that proves our vehicle is the one with the problem.  It might be, but we don’t have (and they don’t have) proof of that yet.  If there are two log books, and two license plates, we need an investigation done to see which one is legitimate.  No vehicle has been reported stole, no license plate has been reported stolen – it’s possible the other guy could have died or the car could have been totaled at some point and isn’t even in existence anymore.  Anyway, more investigation needs to be done before anyone can know for sure whether or not our car is illegal. The embassy gave us some things to say to the CID and some things to ask them to do for us.  Obviously, if we find the car has been registered illegally (which would actually mean it’s not registered at all), then we need to make the car legal and we don’t know yet if they will impound it during the time we’re trying to work it out.  We should find out more about that tomorrow after Roger goes to Eldoret again – IF it turns out the vehicle is not legal.

So, next time Roger goes in to talk with the CID, he’ll probably take our new lawyer with us, and this information from the Embassy, so the CID will know we’ve been in communication with our Embassy. 

We also found out something else interesting.  The police are not supposed to arrest an American citizen without proof of a crime.  The lady Roger spoke with at the Embassy today said that a lot of times, the police will arrest an American citizen for supposedly speeding.  For those of you who have kept up with our blog, that will sound familiar J    She even mentioned the town Roger was arrested in for just that very thing (he wasn’t speeding, by the way).  If that happens, the American citizen is supposed to call the Embassy immediately.  The Embassy will call the head of the police station and say, “Uh, what are you doing…?”  and the police station will say, “Just a moment please.”  Then they will come back on the phone a few minutes later and say, “That person has been released,” and the Embassy will say, “Thank you very much.”  Too bad we didn’t know that before!  But we know it now.

So, please continue to pray for our situation.

On a lighter note…we’ve been borrowing a car from some friends of mine.  It is a very small, white, hard-top Jeep kind of vehicle with two doors.  Before I tell you the funny, let me say how extremely thankful we are for this vehicle.  Without it, we’d really be hurting.  Because of its size and color, our friends affectionately call it “The Marshmallow,” so that is what we also call it.  Two more pieces of background information on The Marshmallow – it has no shocks.  I mean – ZERO.  Nothing.  Nada.  Imagine 4-wheeling in the mud over very bumpy roads – washboard roads with 2 foot deep gorges running through them in places – in a small Jeep like thing with no shocks.  BUT…it has a high ceiling on the inside.  Okay, so our family went to town to eat dinner tonight and when the kids (all 3 of them) started piling into the back of the car to go home Josiah said, “You know one of the good things about this car?  When Mom is driving and she misses a speed bump, we won’t hit our heads on the ceiling of the car!”  All three children burst out laughing. Thanks, guys, for that vote of confidence.  Yes, that has happened – he speaks from experience J.

Vehicle Situation Update - August 3

Well,  today could have been worse.  In short, my husband came home and the car is still on our compound.    So, we're thankful for that today.

It sure does look like what happened is the following:  One or the other (or both) of the Kenyan officials who imported the vehicle for the previous owner were corrupt.  In Kenya, all cars are imported, and there are laws you have to follow and also certain criteria for the cars that are imported.  When you have a car imported, you have to pay duty on the car (which normally is half or more of the value of the car).  Once you pay the duty, you get the license plate which is registered to you and to the car (by way of make/model/year of manufacture and also the chassis number one the car (not sure if I spelled that correctly).  It is very possible that, though the previous owner paid the duty, one or both of the Kenyan officials pocketed the money and falsified the license plate and the log book (the official paperwork you get when you own the car).  If this is indeed the situation, then our vehicle is an unregistered vehicle and thus - illegal.

Roger went to see the lawyer this morning, then took a friend with him to the police station.  The police were not happy that he hadn't brought the car, but they have to issue a summons to legally take the car; they can't just force him to bring it.  And since they hadn't done that, there was only so much they could say.  They accused him of going back on his word and said that he'd promised to bring the car in today.  Roger reminded him that he expressly said he would NOT bring the car in today and that he won't bring it in next time either (more of that later).  After about 1/2 hour of talking, Roger and his friend got them to admit that it is possible the problem is with the other car - that its the one that is illegal, or, that there was an administrative problem in the filing of the paper work.  Once they admitted that possibility, they had to give Roger time to do some more investigating, but then they quickly back-tracked and wouldn't talk about those possibilities anymore, even to the point saying they didn't want to talk about that.

Bottom line at this point is that Roger is going back to Eldoret next Wednesday to have the chassis number on our car investigated and to see if that chassis number is registered, or to see if there is any vehicle registered to the former owner of our car.  If there is, then we're in a better situation.  If not, then our car will be taken and we have been driving an illegal car. Roger has to return to the police station next Thursday to tell them what he found and show them any new paperwork that he gets.   I looked in the Kenyan traffic law, and I don't see any place it says Roger can be jailed.  It just says the police can seize the car.  But that may not be definitive.  Worst case scenario would be that our car is seized and Roger goes to jail.  Next is that Roger doesn't go to jail, but the car is seized and we have to buy a new vehicle (extremely expensive).  Next is that we can get the car legally registered, which means we have to pay the impounding fees (daily, about $120.00) and then we have to pay the duty - half the value of the vehicle, which could be up to $10,000.00. Best case scenario is that there was an administrative error.  I'm not saying its not possible, but given the circumstances, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

So, that's where things stand as of now.  I'll know more after next Wednesday when Roger goes to Eldoret. Meanwhile, we can't drive the car at all, but there is a car we can borrow when needed - for the most part.

Please continue to pray - for our attitudes as well as the situation.  We and the former owner (who's name is still legally on the registration) are the victim's in this situation that was caused by government corruption, but it is we who will bear the brunt of the consequences, and human beings that we are, its easy to play the blame game rather than just deal with the situation at hand and recognize the HAND of our loving Father who is in control and allowed us to be caught up in this.  It is this we must focus on and then deal with the situation in a way that honors Him.

In Christ - Held in His Grip
Julie

Vehicle Situation Update...

Just a quick update...
We have a Kenyan friend who knows one of the best lawyers in Kitale (we've heard this about this particular lawyer from a couple of sources).  Roger has an appointment with him around 8:00am to meet and talk before going to the police station.  Roger has already decided not to take the car, his rings, his i-phone, or anything else valuable.  We've been assured that jail won't be likely (praise God, I hope they're correct), but they also shouldn't impound the car without further investigation.  Doesn't mean they won't try - they already told Roger on the phone that the car would be impounded.  Roger is - not unreasonable - stressed, but is trusting God with the situation.  He's taking a friend with him to the station - and also, our Kenyan friend is meeting the lawyer with him.  I am strangely at peace (or maybe not so strangely?  I recall something about peace that passes understanding...) over the whole thing, even thinking about more serious outcomes.  God's got this and He has a purpose for it all, and it is a purpose for our good and His glory.  I can't think of a better reason for allowing it.  Our enemy may intend it for evil, but God intends it for good.  Please continue praying for us that we will rest in the One who alone is our Hope and that we would be ministers of the Gospel of Peace.

Urgent Prayer Requested in our Vehicle Situation

Well, I would normally put this on my prayer request page, but its rather urgent, so I'm just putting it here.  We need lots of prayer concerning our car situation.  The CID (Criminal Investigation Department) in Kitale is harassing Roger.  If you don't know about our situation, we have recently found out that the license plate on our car is registered to a different person and a different vehicle.  This has been the plate on the car ever since it was imported by another missionary several years ago, and the Kenya Tax Revenue helped to import the car.  The guy that authorized the license plate is some police authority dude in Nairobi.  We don't know if the plate is actually illegal (in which case, the police guy that got the plate is corrupt) or if there is an administration error in the paper work, but Roger has been having it investigated this week.  We are working with the guy who got the plate in the first place, to try to find out what is going on, but this is not good enough for the CID.  Roger is supposed to take the car in tomorrow and it will be impounded - we will have to pay about 10,000 Kenyan Shillings every day it is impounded.  This is about $119.00 per day.  We are also a bit afraid that they will arrest Roger at that time.  Please, please pray for this situation.  You've never seen a Kenyan jail - it's not like in the States.

Roger is still in touch with our guy in Nairobi trying to figure it all out.  It is true that we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with powers and principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. This is why we ask for your prayers.  God is not out of control, no matter the outcome - or the process of getting to the outcome - of this situation.  Please - I do wish you to pray for a resolution that doesn't a) cost us a fortune, or b) land Roger in jail, but I also ask you to pray for us spiritually - that we not become discouraged, that we not loose hope, that we not loose sight of the fact that God is in control and that He works all things together for good to those who love Him, that we put on the full armor of God - including the Gospel of PEACE - that we are good ambassadors for Christ during this time, that we trust Fully in Him, and that all will work out to the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Pray that the peace of God would rule in our hearts - even as we have contact with those who would not pursue peace with us.  These (as difficult as it is to say at the moment) are much more important and eternal factors of this situation in which we find ourselves.  But we desperately need GRACE in which to stand.  It is available to us.  We need to grasp it and trust it rather than trusting in ourselves - either in our own physical resources or in our own emotional resources.  I will keep you posted.  Thank you.