Two Weeks at IJM and Feeding the Giraffes

Today is a national holiday in Kenya. You won’t find it in any of the guidebooks, however. The reason is that, in order to kick off and facilitate the national census which takes place every ten years, just yesterday Kenyan President Kibaki announced that today would be a national holiday. Things just tend to work a little differently over here . . .


We are now three weeks into our year in Kenya, and all is well. I have now had two full weeks in the IJM office and I wanted to give you all a little glimpse into the work we are doing. Every week IJM Kenya gets referrals from people all over Nairobi(missionaries, good Samaritans, other NGOs, police, etc.) about people who have allegedly suffered injustices. One day per week, we have these referred potential clients come into the office for “interviews” to see if their cases are credible, compelling, doable, and the kind of cases we can and do handle (primarily cases involving (1) sexual assault against women and children, or (2) illegal detention). Often the cases require further investigation before we can make a final determination on whether or not to accept the case. And, often we are unable to accept the cases that are brought to us, for many reasons. Nevertheless, we always try to make sure people leave the office better off than they arrived, in the sense of having more hope, direction, referrals for further assistance, etc. However, when we do accept cases, we then work pro bono to see that justice is done for our clients. Over the next several months, I hope to be able to give you broad sketches of some of these cases as they develop.

As for our life here, we have gotten to do some fun things as a family. A fun/funny story from today to relate. As I mentioned, today is a national holiday. So, we decided to make the most of it and head out and see one of the many “adventure” parks near the city. Anna and the kids chose the Giraffe Center, a little ways outside Nairobi. (Now, we got a car a couple weeks ago, and, mind you, I am still getting accustomed to driving.) We needed to get a little gas before heading out but I hadn’t yet been to a gas station here, and I wasn’t quite sure which side of the car the tank was on, and I still haven’t quite gotten the spatial thing figured out from driving on the right-hand side of the car (in other words, I am never sure where the left-hand side of the car is when I am driving: on the road, off the road). Anyway, we get to the full-service gas station (so several Kenyan attendants are watching us), I realize the gas tank is on the left-hand side of the car, I pull in, and I proceed to knock the two gas pumps out of their “holsters” because I pulled in too closely. Ummm . . . a little embarrassed was I. The kind and laughing attendants then guided me back so that I would not back over the pumps and then into proper place so that I could properly fill up. Once full, I paid and pulled back onto the road for the drive to the Giraffe Center(with my confidence a bit shaken!).

Nevertheless, (praise God!) we made the 40-minute drive with no problems. Once we arrived at the Giraffe Center, we dropped the bit of Kiswahili that we know, said we lived in Kenya, and got the resident entry fee (so it cost us a little more than $3 USD for the 5 of us). The Giraffe Center (www.giraffecenter.org) is home to 9 rescued Rothschild giraffes and several warthogs. The kids (and their parents) were in awe of having these giraffes eat food pellets out of their hands. Pictures will follow soon.

Beyond this adventure, we are doing well. Anna and the kids made popcorn on the stovetop today when we got home; Anna and I are meeting more people and have begun to build some individual and couple relationships that look promising; Caleb is excelling in school, getting good marks in reading and math so far; Abigail is still enjoying her unicorn preschool, learning her alphabet and numbers; and Luke is eating and sleeping well.

Thank you for your prayers! No, really, thank you for every prayer. As we were talking last night, we are really aware and thankful for the family and friends we have praying for us. We know that His hand is upon us guiding each step of our path. Your prayers are helping lead the way and making it possible for us to be here and work for IJM. Please continue to pray for:

• our health (all’s been good, other than some very minor stomach issues)
• our times with Jesus (frankly, it has been as hard here to make the time for QT as it was in Austin; I know, no excuses!)
• my work (same as before, I continue to hear about awful cases of abuse)

Thank you all! We love and miss you. 
Peace, 
Lane, for the Kenya Mears

Driving and the Snake Museum

Well, we ventured out into the world of driving on the wrong side of the road, or should I say the opposite side of the road. And to add to that driving from the right seat of the car instead of the left, which is what I am used to in the states. We purchased a used car this past week, just enough to get us around, nothing fancy. Lane was braver than I and drove the first day we got it. Home from getting the car and then to work the next day. I on the other hand wanted to "practice" around the block before I ventured much farther. I wanted to feel what it was like to sit on the "passenger side". Well, it ended up being not to bad. It was weird getting my spacial bearings on the left side. I kept bumping the edge of the road on the left. I think that will just take some time to get used to. Lane drove us to Caleb's school this morning and I must say he did a great job, not only with driving on the left side, but also navigating directions to get there (the street signs are not all visible :-). Way to go honey!

On Saturday last week, we decided to visit the Snake Museum here in Nairobi. It is part of the Nairobi National Museum. We met another family from Caleb's class at the museum, Connor & Erik. The kids LOVED it. I will try to get some pictures posted. I tried a few times tonight but for some reason it didn't work. Anyways, we saw lots of snakes native to Kenya. Thankfully, they were all behind glass walls. whew, I didn't want to touch any of them. We also got to see lots of other reptiles, such as chameleons, crocodiles, fish, and turtles. I think the kids would say their favorite animals to see were the chameleons!! There was an area that we could look into and see so many of them. Some were hard to find as they blended into the background. Pretty neat.

This past week we went to a playdate at Connor and Erik's house and the kids caught a chameleon in the backyard. So COOL!! They put it in a little box with leaves and twigs to make a little home for it. It was the hit of the afternoon. Well, and the rice krispy treats too :-).

Tonight, I got my first glimpse of the need for prayer for people in this city. We invited the intern gal Jen, over to join our family for dinner and a fun game of Uno with the kids. After the kids were down in bed she got a call from some street kids she has been ministering to and helping get placed into children's homes in the city. We stopped looking at random travel brochures and prayed for these kids and the ladies running the home. They need our prayers and yours too, if you think about it. Lord, I lift up these kids and all of the other kids without parents and homes around the city. Protect them and provide for them in ways that only you can.

That's all for now! Just a few highlights from our second week here in Kenya.
Anna

New Beginnings

Outside the gate of our apartment complex at 7:15am on Friday morning, I stand with Caleb as we wait for the bus to pick him up for the 40-minute ride to his school where he attends first grade. As the bus approaches, his excitement builds. Without even a goodbye, he bounds onto the bus and assumes his seat next to a new friend, excited for the day.

I would say that Caleb is adjusting well to Nairobi.

Once I see Caleb off, I begin my 30-minute walk to the IJM office. It is somewhat brisk in the mornings (upper-50s/low-60s) in August, which is late-winter here, so I usually wear a jacket over my shirt and tie. My walk is along heavily-trafficked roads, both auto and foot traffic, and I greet people with the traditional "Habari yako" greeting, which essentialy means, "How are you?" The response is "Mzuri sano," or "I'm fine." Along the way, my shoes get covered with the red dirt of Kenya, a pitfall of walking here.

I have been in the office for three days so far, and have already heard some sad, tragic stories of injustice. It is amazing how little respect for the innocence of children some people have. But, thanks to all of you, you and I get to be a part of helping people who have suffered great injustices here get an advocate they would not have otherwise. As some of the cases I am hearing here develop, I hope to be able to relay some general details of what is going on. As for my office, my co-workers are 12 Kenyans and one other North American. Great, passionate people. I am learning a lot very quickly.

As for Anna, she met a new friend at Caleb's school orientation who was also new to Nairobi, and has two kids, one Caleb's age and one a little older than Abigail. Anna and the other mom hit it off and have set up a couple "play dates" for the kids and look forward to time together as newbies in this city.

Abigail was very sad when her playmate Caleb went off to school, so Anna started preschool for Abigail at home. Abigail coined it "Unicorn Preschool," and Anna incorporated books and tea time on the couch (as the Brits were here for decades, tea is part of the culture). Though, as bloody Americans, Anna and Abigail use hot chocolate, crackers and peanut butter in addition to tea. Abigail sure feels like a big girl during tea time!

Luke is doing well, too. After an initial period of jet lag, he's sleeping fine. The thing he seems to love most about Nairobi so far are the stairs in our apartment -- we can't seem to keep him from climbing them.

I apologize for the delay in getting this first full update out, but we just got reliable internet hooked up in our apartment this weekend. Now that we are officially on-line, however, I expect we will be in more consistent contact. That said, please feel free to send any e-mails our way, as an e-mail from home is like gold!

Please pray for us in the following ways:

Family: No matter where you are (Austin or Nairobi), three kids can be exhausting. Please pray for Anna and me that we would have grace and patience to parent well and find sufficient rest. We have both had periods of being overtaxed.

Time with Jesus: This goes hand-in-hand with the first. Please pray for wisdom and grace in our time to meet with Jesus consistently.

Cultural Adjustment: We are doing remarkably well, I think, for being here 11 days, but please pray for our continued adjustment. Please pray for new friends and familiarity with the city, language and culture.

My work: Please pray for me as I work, that I would have the wisdom to engage in the battle for justice, that I would stand against the enemy's attacks, and that I would not bring home any of the emotional scars of what I have seen and heard.

Health: Anna feels like she pulled something in her back today toting the kids around. And we are having some tummy issues, probably the new foods. Please pray for complete healing!

Thank you all for standing with us. We love you and miss you. Next update, we hope to link to some video of our home and some street scenes.

Peace,

Lane, for the family

Our Luggage Arrived!

All,

Sorry for the lack of communications so far, but we have not had internet access much at all yet. Hopefully, we will have regular access soon. I am at a coffee house in a local mall with very slow internet, so this update will be a little short, but I will try to give as much info as I can.

As Anna told you some of you in her initial update, we had an adventure getting here. Since then, praise God all of our luggage has arrived. It was on the same flight we were on, only the next day, so all is good on that front. Caleb and Abigail are doing wonderfully with their sleep, seemingly not jet-lagging at all. Luke, not so much. He is really struggling with his sleep cycles, which, of course, is causing me and Anna to miss a lot of sleep. This is all exacerbated by the fact that our place (which is very nice, by the way) is all tile with nothing on the walls, so everything echoes, including little baby wails. Please pray that Luke would quickly get over his jet lag.

Also, Luke has had diarrhea for 2 days now. He is eating and drinking fine, so we are not worried about any sickness or dehydration, but please just pray that this would pass (nice pun, huh?), too.

With the lack of sleep Anna and I are getting, and the "settling in", Anna and I are feeling a little overwhelmed with family life right now, so once again, please pray for us that we would rest and have extra grace and patience with the kiddoes and each other.

We did go out to Caleb's school on Thursday and talked with his teacher and toured the grounds. It is a very nice and beautiful place. Caleb is really excited about the playgrounds. There is a student/parent orientation on Monday morning and school starts on Tuesday. I think I will start work on Tuesday as well.

Other little tid-bits: I bought a stove today that we'll be able to sell when we leave next year; it's been nice and chilly and night and even a bit during the day (August is the coldest month of the year - I have a fleece on as I type); I haven't missed baseball that much (talk about miracles!).

Anyway, we love and miss you all and look forward to having internet access at home to we can start communicating more regularly.

Peace,

Lane, for the Kenya Mears

Made it to Kenya...Jambo (Hello!)

Family & Friends,

Hey everyone . . . we made it safely to Kenya last night about 10pm. The flights were great and the kids did awesome. We are so thankful. There were some snags leaving the Dallas airport. Some paperwork they said we needed from the Kenyan government. But, after about and an hour and a half and prayer it got worked out and we got to our gate just in time to board the plane to London. The kids watched movies and put on their pajamas and slept several hours through the night. We arrived in London and ran to our connection just in time to get the flight to Nairobi. Our flight to Nairobi went smooth and we arrived about 9:30pm. Unfortunately, none of our crates arrived. ugh! So, Lane will go back tonight to hopefully claim our luggage which is supposed to arrive this evening.

We got to visit and sleep in our new home last night. Our friends who work in Lane's new office helped set up the beds and put linens on them and put some food in the fridge for us. What a blessing to us!!! Luke had a hard time sleeping during the night since we didn't have a crib for him to sleep in. But, one of out visits today was to Caleb's new school Rosslyn Academy and one of the ladies up there had a pack-n-play for us to borrow this week.

Today... Lane's new boss Scott & his wife Sally and their two girls Maggie & Anna took us to breakfast and then grocery shopping. After that we stopped by a furniture maker on the side of the road to get a crib. Or should I say we got to design a crib for him to make and we will pick up on Monday or Tuesday. That was cool! That may sounds weird but to buy a crib at a store would be about $300 and to get one made is about $150. So, it made sense to me to get it made. I brought Luke with me and held him up and the guy measured him and then I told him how tall it needs to be so he won't climb out.

That's all for now. We just got done eating dinner and are headed back to go to bed. We've made it this far today without naps so that should help with the the jet lag.

We should get e-mail at home this weekend so we will write again then.

Please pray for all 9 of our crates to arrive tonight.

love,

Anna & Lane

Thank You to the Prayer Warriors

Here is a quick email sent out to our entire church while we were in the midst of trying to check-in for our first flight on our way to Kenya.... (The prayers worked and we got to board the plane after about 1 and 1/2 hours at the ticket counter. Thanks to Lane :-) we were there early enough to still get through security and to our gate just as it was boarding.)

Hello church, we have just received word that Lane & Anna Mears are being barred from boarding their plane to Kenya. There is a misunderstanding with the airline. Please pray that their mission planners, IJM, will have successful communication with airline and that they will be able to board their plane on time!

Let's go into battle prayer warriors!!

Ethan Hill

HITC Receptionist

Leavin' on a Jetplane

All,

Today is the day! We board American Airlines flight #50 at 4:45pm today for London Heathrow on our way to Nairobi for our year overseas with International Justice Mission. It's a bit surreal that the departure day is here. We've been so wrapped up in the details of packing and moving that for a while now our eyes have been off the ball of why we're going. When we lose sight of why we're going, we can very easily slip into being overwhelmed, fearful, and stressed. Please pray with us that as we travel today God would bring to mind anew why He has called us to this. Even this morning as I was praying, I was thinking of the women and children who have suffered unjustly, and the men who have languished in prison for no good reason, and I am excited to go and do the good work of justice you all have made it possible for me to do.


Please pray that we would have good connection time with our families today before we leave. We want to bless them and end our time here well. Please also pray for us as we travel, that the kids would travel well, sleep, and that we would all arrive without any (new) sickness, and that our luggage would arrive intact with us. We arrive in Nairobi at 8:55pm local time Wednesday (12:55pm CST Wed).


Please pray for peace in every respect for the next week, as we travel, get over jetlag, and settle into life in Nairobi. Caleb's school starts next Tuesday, as will my job, so we will only have a few days of "settling in" but we look forward to that time of exploring the city. Please pray for new friends for us and the kids.


We will update everyone as soon as we can upon arrival in Kenya, although I am not sure how soon I will have internet access.

Once again, Anna and I thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for all of your love, prayers, and support in making this year with IJM in Kenya possible. I intend to do all I can to make sure those who have suffered here have stories of thankfulness to pass onto you there by the time the year is over.

Peace,

Lane, on behalf of Anna and the kids.