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.

All About Me

Well, this is really supposed to be in the "All About Me" section of my profile, but it's too long.  Shocker.  Anyone who knows me knows I tend toward loquaciousness.  Summarize? Me?  Anyway, it was too long, so....tada!  It's here (It's 2:30am and I have insomnia from typhoid, brucellosis, and the anti-biotics.  I'm a bit punchy).

The first thing you should know about me is that I am first and foremost a Christian;  then, I am a wife and mother.  This is an important distinction because in the first statement lies my identity – the core of who I am is what God has made me in Christ.  Period. 

The second thing you should know is that – as Jo March said in Little Women – "I am hopelessly flawed…"  I'm much too serious for my own good, I'm quite sensitive to smells and noise, I'm a picky eater,  I don't like change (nor does it like me), I'm a bit lazy (yes, I was the spoiled baby of the family :-) ), I'm not very good at staying organized, I worry too much, and I'm rather opinionated – although I've learned to temper my opinions with grace (my family laughs as they remember my recent and very vocal assertion that "Romney's a Snake!" shouted from my dining room in the direction of my father-in-law).  Okay, mostly tempered with grace. 

All of the above doesn't make a fantastic recipe for a missionary's wife, but it does make an ideal recipe for God's grace.  It also doesn't make the best home school mom, but somehow (probably God's grace at work again) Emily's turned out okay so far. :-)

My family and I moved to Kenya, East Africa in 2008 where my husband does evangelism, discipleship, and church planting work with his partner, Nathan Radford.  Though Roger teaches math to our kids, I do the rest of their schooling – Emily, however, goes to Rift Valley Academy – a missionary boarding school 6 hours away from us; she will graduate from there in July of 2013.  I also do some volunteer work once a month at In-Step Children's Home about 30 minutes from our home and teach Kiswahili to a few missionaries here.

Roger and I have been married 20 years.  Actually, he proposed for the first time when I was 7 and he was 9.  I said yes.  He proposed again when I was 18 and he was 20.  I said yes.  He proposed then – with a ring and on one knee – when I was 19 and he was 21.  I said yes. I’m still deeply in love with him. :-)  We have 3 children here on earth, and one in Heaven (Emily 17, Amy 12, Josiah 10, and Nathaniel would have been 13 this August).

I love reading, writing, teaching, and the REAL American dream (not the selfish thing it has become).  I really get into politics (should that have been written in my "hopelessly flawed" section?), and I have a weakness for anything with 4 legs and fur (uh…3 dogs, 5 cats, 2 sheep...did I mention how much my husband loves me?).  Well, almost anything.  I'm not real crazy about the rats in our ceiling (don't forget, we live in Africa…) I also have a passion for Biblical counseling, and I am slowly-by-slowly (as we say in Kiswahili) working my way to a counseling certificate.  I love Truth, and I love the way that embracing Truth (in the form of the God of all Truth) changes people and sets them free – me included. 

I have a love/hate relationship with Kenya and with being missionaries.  Oooh, is that too brutally honest?  Uh, in reality, don't most people have a love/hate relationship with what they do in life?  The "hate" part mostly comprises of dealing with corruption (read about Roger's arrest in my blog for a sample), malaria, typhoid, brucellosis (that's a new one for me just added this week), and never really having a place that's called "home."  Actually, that's not true.  God continues to teach me that this world is NOT my home – that "I'm just a-passin' through" as an ambassador.  But, that can be difficult from time-to-time. Did I mention I really, really hate Nairobi eye flies?  I also don't like saying "good-bye" all the time to people I come to love and care about, and I really don't like missing my friends and family and church back in the States when I'm here and then missing my friends here when I'm there.  I don't like the way that nothing is the same, including relationship dynamics, when I go back to the States, nor is it the same here when I come back as as it was when I left.

But you want to know something?  I really wouldn't change my life (okay, most of the time, I wouldn't change my life – I do have my moments).  I have been so blessed. That's where the "love" part comes in.  I love that my man and I love one another.  I love that my teen-age daughter, already living away from home, misses her mom and dad and calls us to tell us everything going on in her life at school. I love seeing God work in the lives of my children, revealing Himself to them and changing them – making them see things from a level deeper than I did at their age.  I love that they are growing up seeing how most of the world lives, having friends who are orphans or who are HIV positive, knowing people who live in one or two room mud huts. and  having close relationships with adults from other cultures – even other religions (and I don't just mean denominations).  I love the daily reminder that we have so much to be thankful for.  I even love the gentle rebuking of the Holy Spirit that pricks my conscience and points out my tendency to lack contentment.  I love His gentle embrace around my spirit when I am acutely aware of His closeness.  I love the red dirt roads (though I must admit to "hating" them when they are mud), the cows, sheep, and goats who graze all along the roads (even in Nairobi), the quiet and unhurried pace of living in an agricultural town, knowing a lot of people including shop owners and greeting them by name as I walk or drive through town, the weaver birds making a ruckus as they weave their nests in the tops of the bamboo thicket behind our house, the SHWOOSH of air being moved under the powerful wings of the hornbill as it flies overhead – even the obnoxious cry of the ibis bird that shouts of Africa.  I love that my good missionary friend down the street owns a pet donkey.  I love the people of Kenya (though culturally, they drive me absolutely crazy sometimes – as I must drive them :-) ). I love that I can speak a strange and exotic language like Kiswahili.  I love meeting and getting to know people from all over the world – Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, England, Pakistan, India, South Korea, Germany, France, Canada, Denmark, Holland, Ireland – just to name the first ones that come off the top of my head.  Oh, wait.  I forgot Alaska and Texas!  Ooops – Alaska is part of the USA isnt' it?  Not so sure about Texas :-).  I love not having to worry about tornadoes during thunderstorms – okay, that was totally random.

So, there it is; all about me.  I hope you enjoy my blog.  Look around, click on the links – there, you will read about the lives of other missionaries here in Kenya.  Well, Piper's not a missionary in Kenya, but click there anyway :-).

Lessons From Rome...

                I have realized one of the reasons I don’t multi-task well.  It isn’t because I can’t do two things at once, it is because I am doing HUNDREDS of things at once all the time!  At least, in my brain.  I don’t know if I ever process things just on a surface level; sometimes I wish I could! But, alas, this is how God made me.  It makes living with me a constant safari into the wilds of the soul.  Just ask Roger…poor guy.

                

               So, Rome was so much fun.  Roger and I had a wonderful week to re-connect and focus on one another as we “bashed around Rome” – to almost quote a movie.  We walked everywhere, close to 7 hours a day.  My feet paid the price for that one as they swelled up to twice their normal size.  Oh well, they’re back to normal now.  At least it made it so I didn’t put on any weight during the whole trip!!!!  Italy has the BEST ice cream!

               

                 But for me, Rome was more than a romantic adventure with my husband (though it was definitely that); it was a study in the finiteness of man despite his seemingly unquenchable drive for earthly significance and immortality.  Everywhere we went, there were monuments raised for heroes of the people: national heroes who conquered foreign lands and peoples, religious heroes who lived to serve the people but are now worshipped as gods – and some religious men who were not heroes at all, but who wanted to be remembered and worshipped as gods though they were merely men.

                

               Two examples of this stand out to me that I would like to share with you. 

                

Inside the Vatican

              On Monday, Roger and I visited the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel.  Now, all my good Baptist friends are going to say, “Why would you go there?”  But, you can’t really go to Rome and not see something so famous – at least, we can’t.  Let me just say, it was absolutely stunning.  Oh my goodness.  The sculptures, paintings, tapestries…I don’t even have words for their beauty.  The building that is St. Peter’s is magnificent.  Even the ceilings of the Vatican are inordinately beautiful.  Art in various forms by Raphael, Michelangelo, and others adorns every niche and cranny; it is a feast for the eyes – sometimes a gluttonous feast. 

Now, I must say that I at least have a new appreciation for their use of art during those days. Many of the people were illiterate, and so they used the art as a constant visual way of teaching them. But here was my impression. The Vatican is not a monument to God…it is a monument to man; a specific man – the Pope. And in it, the Pope is worshipped as god. It is the palace of a king. It actually reminds me of the old Roman emperors who ruled the kingdom and demanded to be worshipped as a god. That was the culture of the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of the New Testament; it was their default, and they sadly reverted to it with a new twist – a “Christian” twist – during the first couple of centuries after Christ. Did you know the Pope is called the “Vicar of Christ”? Do you know what that means? Vicar means, “in the stead of” or “in the place of”. So, literally, the Pope is considered Christ on earth. He is considered the mediator between God and man. There is a problem, though. The Bible says that there is only ONE mediator between God and man– the man, Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5).

The Dome of St. Peter's Basilica

One of Raphael's Rooms - Apartment of one of the Pope's that was painted by Raphael

                Another thing that troubled my soul was the shrine-like atmosphere of all the buildings of worship (I don’t just have this problem in Rome with the Catholic places of worship, by the way…).  It’s as if the early simplicity of the Gospel and of the followers of Jesus themselves being the temple of God         

 was lost in the first couple centuries as the people reverted back to a physical temple mentality which was common to both Judaism and paganism.  Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit,”   (did you know that early Christians in the Roman Empire were feared and hated as Atheists because they didn’t worship a god who could be seen, they didn’t worship in a visible temple, and they didn’t offer physical sacrifices?).   It was sad, really.  So many people going into temples to do some religious ritual in order to appease God’s wrath and gain some favor in His sight when Jesus has already done all that for them!  Paul said in Galatians 2:16, “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we (the Jewish apostles) have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.”   

               

                Then, on Saturday, our last day in Rome, Roger and I wandered around and stumbled onto some of the ruins of Nero’s palace.  

This area is called Domus Aurea – it was Nero’s famed Golden Palace which he started building after the great fire of 64A.D burned down all the aristocratic dwellings on the same area. It housed his famous revolving dining room which had a ceiling that opened to let in light and that also rained down flower petal and perfume on his dining guests. Estimates put the palace (which was really a landscaped Roman villa complete with orchards and an artificial lake) at roughly one square mile in size! Outside the entrance, Nero had sculpted a gargantuan 100ft bronze statue of himself. This was later moved to just outside the Flavian Amphitheater – which is now known by us as the Colosseum in honor of the Colossus Neronis (the statue) which stood beside it. The palace’s walls and ceilings were covered with marble, ivory, mosaics of precious stone, and beautiful frescoes as well as much gold. It was a palace built for a god; 300 rooms meant solely for entertainment purposes. In it, Nero threw fantastic and morally corrupt parties that lasted 12 hours at a time.

            
                Trouble is, Nero committed suicide 4 years later and within 10 years the palace was stripped of most of its marble, ivory, and precious stones, and the grounds were filled in with dirt so it could be built over.  Within 40 years, the “Golden House” was completely…gone…  Today, you can see only some of the remains.  We were not able to go inside because it has been closed due to the instability of the structure.  

But, there is a children’s playground there where parents sit on benches and watch their children play on slides and swings, and there is a basketball court where young men can play a pick-up game of hoops. 

    Nero – one of the most deranged of the Roman emperors – one of the most bloody persecutors of early Christians – built for himself a great kingdom and made himself out to be god. Where is he now? Where is his Golden Palace? It’s been made into nothing and in fact was wiped out of existence for thousands of years before its crumbling remains were discovered. Nero lived for a short 31 years and was emperor for 14 of them. The Roman empire is now gone. 2000 years later, we are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over its crumbling remains, and though Nero tried to wipe out the Christians of his day, we are all over the world – part of a Kingdom that will never be destroyed. What a very visual reminder that this world and all its kingdoms will pass away. Life is but a vapor; here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus asked this question; “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” Which kingdom am I most concerned about? The kingdom of “me”? Making much of myself and wanting others to do the same? Building a legacy for…me? Leaving my mark of the world? Or living for the Kingdom that will never pass away? The Kingdom of light and love – the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

               

                In 2000 years, I wonder who will be walking the grounds where the White House used to stand, or the Lincoln Memorial, or the Washington Monument, or the Supreme Court, or the Pentagon…or one of our mega-churches.  Will there even be anything there? In the end, does it even really matter? What lasts forever? Man’s opinions of me? My opinion of me? The world’s opinion of me? What good is it if I feed a starving body but neglect a lost and dying soul? What does it profit if I provide basic necessities to the masses but don’t lead them to the Bread of Life? What have I accomplished if I build my company into a multi-billion dollar success, but don’t teach my children the love of Christ? So what if I go back to school and earn my degree and find myself and fulfill my dreams at the expense of time and energy to disciple my children in the ways of the Cross.  Oh, my kingdom is so insignificant a thing to pour so much of my time and energy and resources into by stressing over the things that won’t matter in 10 years, much less in 2,000 years.  Oh that I would be freed from this compulsion to fret over my kingdom (i.e. what people think of me, making something for myself…of myself…). Let me live to make God’s name big rather than my own.  Let me live for God’s eternal Kingdom that will never pass away!

               

         

Our Life in Kenya

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Ministry Update

Roger has written a new ministry update.  Take a look at it on our Ministry page!