Hope in the Midst of Loss

JAMIE

Jamie's burned hands

The accommodations of the windowless house seemed to mock her: a bed, a nightstand and a single candle for light. She was not a guest in this house; she was a prisoner, locked inside by two men who had promised her a job but instead abducted and raped her the night before. As memories of the attack and the resulting despair overcame her, she fell asleep.

She awoke to smoke and heat. Disoriented, it took her a minute to realize that the house was on fire. Then, terror struck as she recalled that she was locked inside. She banged on the walls of the house and screamed for help. Meanwhile, the fire raged. Eventually, she heard voices outside the house calling her name, and she screamed all the louder. Yet, the flames found her before others could. When the neighbors finally broke down the door and pulled Jamie* to safety, they could see that her chest, arms and legs had been badly burned.

At the hospital, it was evident to the doctors that her legs were burned so badly that they were beyond their power to save. They amputated both legs below the knee. It seemed clear she would never walk again.

Lane and his Dad - Father's Day 2013

Thankfully, someone at the hospital knew of IJM, and referred the family to us for assistance. IJM immediately began to ensure that the abusers were arrested, and their files were sent to the prosecution so the men could be held accountable for their heinous crimes. IJM also worked to have Jamie transferred to a rehabilitation center, and arranged for prosthetic legs to be made for her. Upon her arrival at the rehab center, Jamie saw that she was not alone in her plight, and began to have hope that she might indeed walk again.

Today, Jamie is still at the rehab center and is taking part in IJM’s trauma counseling program. She seems to have hope, and is thankful that IJM staff and those praying for and supporting IJM are with her. Please pray for Jamie, as she is not out of the woods yet. When the doctors amputated her legs, they did not believe that she would be able to afford prosthetics. So, they amputated the legs in a way that was not compatible with prosthetics, and now Jamie may have to undergo a second surgery on her legs so that she can wear the prosthetics. Also pray that she would continue to recover emotionally and spiritually from the trauma, and that her abusers would be held accountable under the law.
(*Jamie is a pseudonym)

Caleb and his Great-Grandmother

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Our Life in RWANDA
Greetings, friends and family. It’s been months since we posted an update of any real substance, and for that we apologize. The longer we live overseas, the more routine life here becomes and the less we are prompted to write. But, the truth is, I need to write. It’s cathartic, and I’ve sensed a growing need to do so.

It’s been a season of transition and loss over the last several months. Several families in our inner circle of community left Rwanda in May/June, generally for new opportunities in the US. Over a period of two weeks, it seemed we were at the airport seeing dear friends off three times a week. It caused us to reflect how blessed we have felt here to develop such solid friendships in a relatively short time. And it caused us to mourn the fact that we might never see some of these dear friends again, let alone have deep conversations, memorable times and sweet dance parties with them. Such is the life overseas: very transient. 

Family wedding

But, God has been very good to us. Not long after all these friends left, some old friends arrived. Our best friends when we lived in Nairobi were an American family with two boys Caleb and Abigail’s age. Just last week, this family arrived in Kigali for a 2-3 year Foreign Service assignment. We are very thankful and excited to have them here, as our families get along famously. And, we’re beginning to develop good friendships with other new families as well. We are seeing God’s provision for our emotional and spiritual needs in these new, and old, friends.

Catching up with long time friends

Trip to USA
This summer, we headed back to the US for our annual home leave. We are thankful that we got to spend some good time with our families and friends (Lane for a month and Anna and the kids for nearly 2 months). 

We were a part of Anna’s sister Kelley’s wedding in DC, spent lots of time with our parents in Dallas, had eight great days in Austin seeing friends, went to three baseball games, and I (Lane) got to visit my sister, Cara, in San Diego, along with my brother-in-law, niece, and four-day-old nephew, Cason. 

Kids seeing their Great-Grandfather 

The time went by so quickly! We are so thankful that IJM provides this great benefit, so that we can remain connected with those people and things we miss most. 

Praises:
- God answered so many prayers about our time in the states. From providing a car, to housing, to flights, and so much more. We give God the glory for walking ahead of us and providing in abundant ways!

Park and picnic with Nana

- Thank you for your prayers for Lane's knee. After seeing a specialist in Dallas, we found out Lane did not need surgery. yeah! Thank you Lord. However, the pain he feels now is due to arthritis, so pray for continued healing as Lane figures out ways deal with this new diagnosis.

- The kids are back to school and settled in quickly with their new classes. Luke started Kindergarten and is thrilled to be at the same school as his big brother and sister.

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for our IJM office in Rwanda. We are going through the annual process of registration. Pray for favor and all of the details with this process. Many of the staff are setting aside a day of prayer and fasting during this next month. If you want to join with us, please email Anna for more details.

Playdates with friends from school in Austin

Thank you for your prayers. Any scriptures or prayers that you want to share with us, we would love that. Thanks again for walking with our family as we live overseas working for justice for the poor. We truly believe that each one of you are in this with us. WE are a body, we are the hands of Jesus ministering to the poor.


In Christ,
Lane & Anna Mears

Pruning

Here in Rwanda we have a guy that helps us with the yard and gardening at our house. It is a treat for me because I get to pick out the plants or vegetables and he does the work. Yesterday, I asked him to cut back the long row of geranium flowers on our fence line because they were getting too tall. When, I came home a few hours later, I almost cried. What I saw was not what I expected. He was halfway down the fence and my beautiful pink flowers were in piles on the yard. Now, they looked even worse in my mind but I didn't know what needed to happen in order to fix what I saw. I tried to cut some myself and see if I could fix it or what I would have done differently if I was the one with the cutting shears. But, that didn't do any good either.

Before...way overgrown!

My first thought was to put a row of small grassy looking border type flowers between the grass yard and the mess of cut flowers. I had wanted to do that for a while anyways. I thought it would create a nice border and so now may be the perfect time for that. So, I went down the street to the guy selling flowers and bought 20 of these small border plants. I brought them home and placed them where I wanted them planted. I was beginning to have hope, I liked these new little plants. Then I looked back at the stringy geranium mess and struggled with what to do with them and in a moment of defeat told the gardener to just cut them back all the way to about 10 inches from the ground, which would leave them totally bare, no flowers, no leaves, just stalks. Also, on the fence there is a white ledge on the bottom and so I asked him to sweep all of the old brown leaves and dirt off so we could see the nice white ledge.

After...pruned and new plants added

Now, I am looking outside after he has been working this morning and it hit me! I was afraid to prune these flowers. I loved them. I looked at them everyday. But they needed it. They will grow bigger and thicker after being pruned. I am such a novice at gardening that I couldn't see past the pain to know what it will look like some day after they regrow. Now, it looks clean, a bit bare, but clean and no longer an overgrown tangled mess. These little border plants are spaced enough so that they have room to grow, but they are pretty enough now, I think, just as they are. I have hope for the geraniums to grow back. Maybe someone with a little greener thumb, might read this and tell me I did it all wrong and cut them too much. But, today, I am hearing God speak to me and I will accept this message. It is a season right now for me, of feeling the pain of loosing the daily relationships that are now many miles away. This whisper from God to me today says, that those relationships do value but there is a season and a time for everything. New relationships will grow, new things are happening, new plants are being planted near me. I hated cutting those plants, but after wrestling with the decision, I finally did what needed to be done. Is OUR HEAVENLY FATHER the same way? Does he hesitate in pruning us? Does he shed tears when he sees the blossoms cut and laying on the grass no longer attached to the plant? But, unlike me, does he have the experience and all knowing and all loving power to see to the other side that ... THIS IS GOOD.

Surprise blessings

I couldn't stand to see handfuls of these pruned flowers on the grass just get tossed into the compost pile. So, like little children, I scooped them up and took them in the car with me on the way to pick up my kids from school. Maybe, just maybe, my 3 kids could give them to teachers to bless and encourage them. That is what we did and I found a joy in seeing each child hand their teacher a bundle of flowers from our own yard. They enjoyed doing it and you could see the delight in their teacher's eyes. A surprise blessing. Again, thank you Lord!

Thank you LORD for this lesson today. I write with tears to know that YOU DO CARE and I am thankful that you do speak in the everyday moments of my life. You do want to show me things and yes, I want to listen. If it takes the geraniums in my yard to reach me then go for it. It is a sweet reminder for me to keep my eyes open to other areas and ways that you show yourself to me.

Anna