October Update...Flying Termites!

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. 
That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s been almost a month since I’ve sent you all an update and in that time we at IJM Kenya have experienced some bumps on the road to securing justice for the victims of injustice here. In mid-September, a judge acquitted [found innocent] a man who had defiled one of our clients. It was a blow, as we believed (and continue to believe) the evidence of guilt was solid. Nevertheless, we as a staff met to see what lessons we could learn from the case to avoid a similar result in future cases. In the meantime, please pray for our client, the girl who was defiled, that she would find healing, through God and our counselors, understanding of her true worth, and a vision for her future.

Next, you’ll recall that in my last update (September 8, 2009), I wrote about an 8 year-old girl I called Lucy. I jumped the gun in taking it upon myself to assign this little girl a pseudonym without checking with IJM headquarters. From now on, I will refer to her in this and any future updates as Daisy. Sorry for the confusion; it’s my mistake. Anyway, to the update: If you recall, Daisy was sexually abused by a police officer in a police station. At this point, we still do not know which officer was the abuser, and we are encountering some opposition in discovering that truth. Please continue to pray for wisdom for our lawyers and investigators, as well as for the judge overseeing the case, for God’s truth to reign, and for Daisy to know His deep love for her.

Despite the setbacks and obstacles in these and other cases, we believe, as Dr. King espoused years ago, that we are fighting for the right, that these are temporary setbacks, and that God’s love for justice is stronger than any power of the enemy to stop His ultimate victory. Thank you for joining us in this battle!

Two months ago this week, we landed in Nairobi. It’s hard to believe how fast time is flying by. In fact, I have felt acutely of late that time is flying by too quickly! While I do deeply miss my family and friends, I have never loved what I am doing as much as I do right now (no offense to any of my former bosses or co-workers who may be reading this!). I feel made for this, that I can’t imagine doing anything else, that this fits like a glove, and all the other clichés you can think of. Thanks to you for allowing me to be here doing this!

And, the family is doing well, too. I’ll spend the rest of the update giving you some snapshots of what our life here has been like.  This picture is of Caleb and Abigail riding a camel on her 4th birthday! (along with some other kid in the middle, not Luke).

Recently while walking back from lunch with a friend, a homeless woman approached me and told me she’s been looking for a mzungu (white man) like me to marry her and take care of her. I thanked her for her kind offer, but I politely declined. (Anna liked that).

A few weeks ago, an old friend flew into Nairobi for an engineering mission trip. He was good enough to bring some necessities for us (read: ranch dressing, laptop battery), so I drove out to the airport early in the morning to meet him as he flew in. As I got into the airport grounds, I was pulled over at a police checkpoint, a commonly-encountered thing here, but my first experience being pulled over. I was a little nervous, as I had heard others tell unpleasant stories of their experiences at such checkpoints. Nevertheless, I was as polite as I could be. The officer wanted to know what was in the “boot” of the car (for those of you have not been to England, the “boot” is the trunk). We had bought the car from a missionary only a couple weeks previously and I had no idea what all was in the boot, so I was a little nervous as I popped the trunk (you never know about those missionaries ;) ). As I walked around back, I noticed that all that was in the truck were two tires and two Bibles. Whew! The officer picked up one of the Bibles and asked me what I do with it I said, “Read it.” He said, “Can I have it?” I said, “Of course!” He then picked up the other Bible and pointed to another officer and asked if she could have the other one. When I assured him she could, he took it and sent me on my way. Just here spreadin’ the Word in Kenya.

As I am sure most of you know by now, I am a baseball addict ([Me]: “Hi, my name is Lane, and I am a baseball addict.” [The Group]: “Hi, Lane!”). When I came to Nairobi in June on a scouting trip, I heard about a softball league that plays on Saturdays here which, as you can imagine, excited me just a little bit. So, once we moved here, I got in touch with the coach and got on the team. We’ve now played four games (there are four teams in the league —two American teams, a Canadian team, and a Japanese team) and we’re 4-0 and this dude’s not playing half-bad, if I can say so myself! On Sunday afternoons, virtually the same group gets together to play 3 hours of ultimate frisbee (like soccer but with a frisbee for you uninitiated). Anna’s the frisbee player of the two of us, so that is generally her time to shine (and get some exercise). It’s so cool to have these outlets here. God is good.


Just last weekend we were hosting for dinner a family with whom we are quickly becoming good friends when it began to rain in a downpour. As we were eating during the rains, the husband (who grew up in Africa as a missionary kid) mentioned that we may want to consider shutting our windows soon, which are usually open all day. When we inquired why (as the rain sounded really nice and it was not coming in because of our eaves), he responded that when the ground got sufficiently saturated, the "flying termites” would come out and seek the light in our house because their homes in the ground would be flooded. Well that didn’t sound very good. Sure enough, not five minutes later we saw the first of these critters (see a sample picture below) in our living room. You should have seen the speed with which we scrambled to shut all of the windows of the house! By the time we got them all shut, only five of the said termites had gotten in and were easily terminated. We did have fun watching the hundreds of them gathering on our front and back porch, along with the opportunistic geckos who had a nice feast that night (as did we, Anna had cooked up some nice enchiladas).

I had promised Caleb that if he got five “green lights” in class in one week, I would take him to lunch at a restaurant of his choice on Saturday. (The kids in his class get green, yellow, or red lights in class every day depending on their behavior that day). Well, he got five greens this week and he picked “Pizza Inn” for lunch. Now all you trademark lawyers stop reading at this point, because this is not the American chain. Regardless, Caleb loved it, and he earned it. Well done.

Lastly, Anna went to her first Bible Study Fellowship class this past week and enjoyed being surrounded by over 130 Kenyan women all desiring to study’s God’s word. Abigail is excited that there is a class for her there, too!  At home, they are reading lots of books, doing some crafts, and working on ABC’s. Luke wants so bad to draw and color like Abigail, so he usually joins us at the table, at least for a few seconds to scribble and then runs off!

We would appreciate you prayers on a few things:

• Lane’s work and all of the battles they face everyday fighting for what is right. Pray for grace, wisdom, and favor to win the battles.

• Cultural adjustment to a new city and a new country. Most days, I (Anna) enjoy the new adventure and the challenge to figure out how to do something or where to go to set such and such, other days I get frustrated. Pray for fewer of the latter.

• Times with God. No matter where we are, He is still there. I long to spend more time in his Word and journaling what he is teaching me.

Well, that’s it for now. Thank you all so much for all of your support and prayers. We are so thankful to be here and owe it all to each one of you. Please feel free to write us with any questions about my work or about the family. Or, just drop us an update on how you’re doing!

Peace,

Lane, for Anna, Caleb, Abigail, and Luke

Would you choose Water or Electricity?

We often don't have either water or electricity, so I have a new appreciation for both. There is barely any water pressure from the city water, so all of the families in our complex have a storage tank that  slowly fills at night. But, due to the drought our tank isn't getting replenished very much lately. So we  by necessity are being very conservative with our water.  I figured out a few tricks to washing dishes to use the least amount of water possible.  And for showering, instead of letting the water run during the shower, I just get wet, turn off the water, wash, and then turn the water back on to rinse. Yesterday was a great day because our water tank got filled. yeah!

As for the electricity, the city of Nairobi depends on water to generate the electricity. So, with low water, comes the a shortage of electricity as well.  Today, I went to get a gas tank for cooking  when the electricity is out, and there is evidently a shortage of gas as well. But they said come back tomorrow to check again. Glad our stove is gas and electric for just this reason. 

In light of the city’s water shortage, our housing complex is installing a well on the property.  So, Anna, the civil engineer, has been closely watching the progress. As of today, they have drilled the well...

 

installed the pump...

and lifted a huge 10,000 liter tank over 30 feet in the air with only Kenyan men and ropes...(there are 4-5 men on the top platform pulling the tank up in the air).

The final step is to get a new power line from the city to run the pump, hopefully in the next week or so. We are really looking forward to the well water. It will be a breath of life.  

Please pray for others in the city and around the country that still do not have water at their homes. I couldn't imagine not having water at all. 

4 and 40...our September birthdays

September brings two birthdays in our family and more in our extended families. It is a fun month in our house!

On September 9th, Lane turned 40 years old! We celebrated at home with a good ole' Mexican meal of our family favorite tacos with a little lime juice squeezed on top. Then after dinner we had a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate icing. The kids decorated the top of the cake with Lane's favorite Whopper candies. yum! I am so thankful that you heard the voice of God in leading us in this huge leap of faith to do this work and be in this place. Thank you for listening and trusting Him. My prayer for you, my husband and friend, is that this next year will be marked with fulfilling the destiny and calling God has placed on your life.I also pray that you will continue to listen and hear the voice of God all throughout the year. I love you dear.

On September 13th our daughter Abigail turned 4 years old!  We celebrated with a vanilla cake with sprinkles inside and a family outing later that day. We went to a place called Paradise Lost just on the outskirts of town. For her fouth birthday, she got to ride a horse and a camel! So cool. She rode the camel twice (the rides cost 50 shillings each = about 50 cents) but said it was not as much fun as the horse because the camel was "too slow" and on the horse she got to gallop. The place was surrounded by a beautiful coffee plantation and also had a beautiful lake and a cave to hike. We all enjoyed the outing! Our  prayer for our daughter is that during this next year you would know the love of God in a deeper way, that you would know that you are cherished by the King of Kings, and that you would know that you are a daughter of the King. We love you very much.

Fighting for Daisy*

She has nowhere to go — she was duped into coming to Nairobi. She left her home far from here on the promise that she would be placed in a good school; instead, she ended up forced into serving as house help in an abusive home. So, Daisy (not her real name) runs away to the streets of Nairobi. The local police pick her up and take her to the police station where she is safe, presumably, as they seek to find a place for her to stay. Instead, the officers on duty hold Daisy at the station for four days and one officer repeatedly sexually abuses her while she is detained. The four other police officers on duty do nothing to stop the abuse.

Daisy is eight years old.

We at IJM Kenya found out about Daisy’s case not long after she was “released” from police custody. We have since made it our passion to see that Daisy gets justice: that her abuser(s) goes to jail for what he has done to her, and that she gets the counseling she needs so that she can heal from the pain she has suffered. The path to justice in this case is not without its challenges, however, so please pray for Daisy as she presses on in the face of the incredible suffering she has undergone. Please also pray for us at IJM Kenya as we endeavor to ensure that those responsible for Daisy’s suffering are held accountable for their actions.

It has now been one month since we arrived in Nairobi. Time sure is flying by. Even in the down times, God has been faithful and good. And He’s been good to me in ways that show me He knows me intimately. This may sound really simple (or even heretical to some of you super-spiritual folks ☺) but on two separate really hard moments early on, I was sitting in a taxi and close to despair. Yet, in the middle of Nairobi, Kenya, our God sent me as a pick-me-up (on Kenyan radio, mind you) two great songs: Kenny Rogers’ “Coward of the County” on one occasion, and “Wish You Were Here,” my favorite Pink Floyd song, on another occasion. Now, if you want to debate whether or not our Holy God would send me a Pink Floyd song, go for it; I just know it really brightened my day when I needed it. I chalked it up to Him!

Overall, I am loving it here. The work is eminently fulfilling and I feel like I can make a real difference in the lives of these real people who have suffered real injustices (all because you have sent me here). And, I want to say that I could not be more impressed with the people that I am working with. In addition to one other North American, my co-workers are composed of fifteen Kenyans (lawyers, investigators, counselors, administrators, etc.) and they are some of the most passionate, intelligent, hard-working, and faithful people I have ever met. I am so blessed to be a part of this team, and I am learning so much about what it means to be an advocate for individuals who have suffered more than we could ever know. Please pray for the staff, that they would continue to have the strength and vision to carry the individual causes of justice daily.

Our family is doing very well also. Caleb began cub scouts last week. He’s a Tiger Cub, and got a cool Kenya patch which will make all the kids back home in the states jealous when we return. In Unicorn Preschool, Abigail is learning to write her letters and her name, and she’s very excited about it — she shows me her work every day when I come home. Luke is also doing well — he is definitely the monkey of our kids. The maintenance man of the complex recently built a gate on our stairs so that monkey-boy would not climb the stairs anymore and risk a tumble. Luke’s going to be an athlete. That’s my boy!

Anna is also acclimating well. She’s grown more comfortable driving to the grocery store and to Caleb’s school, which makes it much easier for her and Abigail to connect with other moms and kids during the day. She has more and more “playdates” on the calendar, it seems. We hope to get a date night sometime next week, as a coworker from the office has been offering to babysit.

That’s about it for now. Please continue to pray for our health, as we’ve all suffered a little gastro-intestinally recently. Please also pray for Daisy, as noted above. This case has hit me more than any other thus far. Finally, please pray for Kenya, as there is much suffering country-wide right now with regards to famine and drought.

Thank you and know that we miss you.

Peace,
Lane

Just different...

I've noticed several things around me are different than what I was accustomed to back in Austin. I realize that these things are not better or worse, just different.

For example:
+ WATER - Nairobi is in a drought right now, a serious drought. Enough to where the animals are not migrating the way they used to be because of the lack of water. As for how that affects us, the water from the "city council" is just a trickle. So, in order to have running water in our home there is a tank outside in the ground that fills with the city water. And twice so far that tank has run dry. ugh! bad problem for a house of five people. We had to call the landlord and pay for water to be hand carried bucket by bucket to fill our tank. Each day or so, I flip a switch and pump water from this underground tank up to a tank on our roof. This is the water that will gravity flow to our sinks and toilets in the house.

+ HOT WATER - So, if I want to take a hot or even warm shower, I have to turn on the water heater located in our bathroom at least 30 minutes beforehand. And then when we are done showering in the morning, we turn it off for the rest of the day. I am not sure what would happen if we left the heater on all day. This is just what we were told to do. This was very frustrating the first week or so, but now we have the hang of it.

+ OUTLETS - all of the outlets have these nifty OFF and ON switches. I guess this is so you can turn off the power to each socket. Interesting concept, not sure why they do this, maybe it saves power. Also, all of the plugs are 3-pronged. So, that means anything I brought from the states needs a converter on it. You should see all of the cables behind our computer desk! I finally put a big piece of cardboard to cover all of those wires up. You think we were a power station with all those wires and converters :-).

+ ELECTRICITY - Speaking of power, because of the extreme drought here, this is causing other trickle down effects throughout the rest of the city, and probably country. Such as, rotating power outages. Some neighborhoods have NO power up to 3 days per week. We evidently, got lucky and aren't in one of those areas, but we have had several power outages. Good thing we don't have lots of digital clocks around the house. That would drive someone like my husband nuts to be resetting clocks so often. :-) We had a power outage just tonight! The first time it kind of scared the kids, but once we got out the headlamps (thankfully recommended by our friends Scott & Sally to bring!) and light a candle it turned out to be fun.

This is just a start. I have several more to go like...driving on the left, converting money to Schillings, Fahrenheit to Celsius, etc. I will save those for a later post!

Blessings,
Anna

Our Mailing Address - updated Nov 2009

Some folks have asked if we can receive mail. The answer is..YES!!! It doesn't come to our apartment, rather it goes to a post office box. None of the houses have street addresses near us. I am not sure if this is the case for all of Nairobi, or just for our area. Seems like most places have PO boxes as the normal route of receiving mail. We'd love to hear from you! And we promise to write back. I think it takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive here from the states.


Here goes...

Lane & Anna Mears
P.O. Box 25743
Nairobi 00603
Kenya

A few notes on sending mail to us...take off any price tags. Don't send cash, it won't get to us. Evidently, if you write "God bless you" or words like it, it is more likely to arrive. And don't talk politics or say anything about the Kenyan government. When I hear more tips on sending mail, I'll post those as well.

My mom just found out it costs about $0.98 to send a small letter to us. And so I went to our post office for the first time and found out it costs about the same for us to send a letter to the states.cool!

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.

We got plane tickets!

Dear Family & Friends,
Yes, that is right we got plane tickets to leave Texas on Tuesday, August 4th, which is about 3 weeks away! Wow! This is really happening I keep thinking in my mind. If this is your first update from us, welcome! We are planning to use this blog to share about our year living overseas serving with International Justice Mission. First of all, I want to say thank you to so many of you walking with us in this journey in so many different creative ways - prayer, financial, helping with errands, packing boxes, etc, etc. I am realizing the power of people helping people. And I am realizing the power of God to move in mighty ways all around us. Thank you Lord. (pictures - family pic at a 4th of July parade, Abigail & Caleb at the parade, packing crates, our new home in Kenya, and Abigail learning to ride a bike).

The big news is that we got tickets to Africa! We will leave Austin on August 1st and head to Dallas to spend a few days with both sides of our families. Then we will fly out of Dallas on Tuesday, August 4th at 4:45pm. crazy! Pray for smooth travel, favor with any customs, and all of our baggage to arrive with us.

At home we are in the midst of packing. First, we are packing our stuff going to Kenya. Each of us get 2 crates as our checked baggage and so we will have 10 crates plus our carry-on items. Seems like a lot when you look at the sea of crates in my bedroom, but they are filling up rather quickly, if each person gets one for clothes and then the rest of them are for toys and family items. Second, everything else that is left over is getting packed for storage since we will be renting out our house here in Austin. Which, by the way, we are almost set on renters for the house. Continue to pray that works out.

Since this year long fellowship is a volunteer position, we are fundraising for our costs and we are so thankful that God is bringing people to help us financially. We are still in the midst of this and have raised 80% of our budget. Thank you Lord. Pray with us for the remaining $13,000 we are hoping to raise in the next few weeks. Here is the link to donate online.

Good news! Lane went on a scouting trip in June to meet the staff at the IJM office, get a feel for the city, visit Caleb's school, and find a place for us to live. This is a huge answered prayer!! He found a place for us and we can move in the day we arrive. wohoo! One thing I was praying for specifically was for some space for the kids to play outside. Evidently, grassy play areas can be hard to find in the city, but this place opened up and I am SO thankful. The place is unfurnished, but we have connected with two families moving, that are selling a bunch of their stuff (beds, tables, pots & pans, dishes) at a bulk price. Pray for our first few weeks there getting set up and making it a home for our family. We are praying that all of the furniture arrives in the house before we get there.

There are lots of things we need to do to close life in Austin for a year and then try to plan and pack for a new life in Kenya for a year. Pray for the kids in this transistion. They are having fun so far this summer playing in the backyard kid pool and using the crates and boxes as forts at home. They keep talking about Africa and seeing the animals, which is super cute, but I had to tell them that we will live in the city and hopefully get to go visit the elephants and giraffes sometime. I think Abigail thinks we will live with the animals. :-)

Pray for me and Lane in this as well. In the midst of taking care of details and Lane working full-time, we can miss the time together to connect. Pray for grace and patience with each other and wisdom to know what to focus on each day. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:6.

We are so thankful for each of you in our lives and pray that this update finds you well. We'll hopefully send out another update before we get on the plane in a few weeks!

love,
Anna, Lane & the kids.

More Stuff Happening...

Dear Friends,
A quick update from the Mears!!

- Lane is currently on a scouting trip to Kenya for a week to find us a place to live, meet folks at the IJM office, and get a feel for the city before the whole family arrives. Here is an email from Lane...

I arrived in Nairobi last night after nearly 24 hours of travel. All is well. I spent today looking at apartments/houses for us to live in this next year, and saw a couple that are real possibilities. I met the IJM staff I will be working with, had lunch with a couple of them, and it is now 5pm local time and I am seriously jet-lagging.

Thank you for praying for me during this trip. Please continue to pray that I would find the right apartment/house/condo for us as a family. Please also pray for the IJM staff, as they are in the midst of investigating and/or prosecuting several key cases right now. I am so looking forward to being a part of this team and using my legal skills to fight for justice for those here in Jesus' name. Tomorrow I will visit Caleb's school and look at a few more housing possibilities.

- Good news...we jumped to 60% of our budget raised in the last week. Thank you Lord! We are praying now for the remaining amount to get us all of the way there. Our goal is to get there before school starts on August 10th. Pray with us that God would provide the funds for us to get to Kenya to do this amazing work!

- Our friend, Tom Landis, is hosting a Fund-raising dinner at Texadelphia in Dallas at Lovers & Greenville on Saturday June 27, 6-8pm. Cost is $20 per person for all-you-can eat. Wohoo! Pray for lots of people to come!

- We are also having a Dessert and Info night in Austin at 7pm on Thursday July 2nd at the "Awake, Awake" coffee shop on 4407 Monterey Oaks Blvd (same building as Hope in the City church). Mark your calendars, we'd love to see you there!

- Keep praying for us to find renters for our house. We have had a few nibbles. Pray for the right folks.

Many blessings to you!
Anna

Preparing To Go...

Friends,
We love knowing that you are praying for us in this journey. It has been a while and so I thought I would update you. There has been a lot going on...please keep praying! We just realized that we are two months away from when we want to leave.

IJM Training Week in DC Last week, Lane and I both went to DC for our training week. It was awesome. Lane had to be there, but I am so glad we both went. It really helped me see what this is all about, because as you know, Lane was really the one with a passion for this work. At some point I asked Lane if this is still what we should be doing. And he said 'Absolutely!'. We also got to meet the 2 other interns/fellows that will be in the Kenya office with us. And listen to this... one lawyer gal named Jennifer is staying for a year like us, loves kids, and offered to babysit for us while we are there. Yeah! That is an answer to a little prayer I had for living there which was that we would probably never get a date night since we wouldn't know anyone who could do that. Thank you Lord for that surprise blessing! Thank you for your prayers for the kids. They did great with both sets of grandparents. Oh, that was such a relief!

Support Letters & Meetings
We are in the middle of fund raising and as of today we are about 38% of our budget. Thank you Lord. We are trying to follow up with folks right now that we sent letters to already. (Email me if you want a letter or go to the link in the last blog entry). Lane had several meetings with people this past week, so pray for those folks to partner with us. I am specifically praying for 50 more people to join our support team. Good news: a friend in Dallas who owns a Texadelphia restaurant has offered to do a fundraiser night for us on Saturday, June 27th. We are sending out lots of invites to Dallas friends (high school, etc) and we'll go up to be there for the event. Pray for lots of folks to come to that! School starts August 10, so that is our goal to get to Kenya. Pray for God to provide the funds for us to go. We are confident that God has called us to this next step so we pray that God will provide the finances. Please pray with us!

Lane's Scouting Trip
Lane will leave tomorrow Tues 6/16 for a week to go to Kenya for a scouting trip. The goal is to go to the IJM office to get acquainted, visit Caleb's school called Rosslyn (www.rosslynacademy.com) , find us a place to live, and get a feel for the city. Pray for the trip and me at home with the kids while Lane is gone. He'll be back on Tues 6/23. Today, I am packing 2 boxes of our stuff for him to take and leave there.

Life at Home
- A BIG PRAYER right now is that we find someone to rent our house for one year starting in August. Spread the word if you know anyone.
- We are down to one car! We just sold the Xterra to our neighbor and are loaning the Jeep out to a friend while we are gone. Actually, I am kind of enjoying this right now, because it means time for us as a family in the car together. :-)
- I think we found someone to take Lizzy, our dog for the year. yeah!
- Things were kind of comical at our house this weekend. The other day a light went on in the car that had to get repaired. The A/C broke this weekend, ugh. Pray that we can get it repaired quickly in the next few days. And then, Lane was opening a cabinet door in the kitchen yesterday and it cracked in half and fell off. Ha! I just started laughing and praising God for our wonderful family and kids and anything else I could think of. :-) All we could do was laugh :-) Now, Luke is pulling out all of the tupperware. Oh my!
- Luke turned one year old!! He is running everywhere now and his favorite thing is to put his hand on his ear and say "Hada" and start babbling like he is on the phone.

Thanks for walking with us in this journey!
Anna

Our Next Step...Kenya!!

Dear Friends & Family,

We have some big news...We have been praying about our next step (aka, Lane's job) after he finishes his job directing a missions training school at our church this coming fall. Long story short, Lane is really interested in using his law background to help the poor and oppressed around the world. About 2 years ago he learned about a huge Christian human-rights organization called International Justice Mission (www.IJM.org) and has been stirred by their cause ever since.

So in this spring Lane applied to do a one-year fellowship with them overseas to be a lawyer and help rescue women & children from human trafficking, brothels, abuse cases, etc. We talked to our parents about the idea over Easter weekend in April. Since then, Lane got an offer and we accepted! Now we are beginning the process to prepare to go. So, where and when you ask? He got accepted to work in the Kenya office starting this August/September 2009....so that means in about 4 months we are planning to move overseas to Africa for a year. We have prayed a lot about this and feel like this is where God is calling us for the next step in our life. The plan now is to do fund raising, rent our house and just store our stuff for a year.

Thanks for walking with us in this new journey. I'll keep you posted!

If you want more info about this or want to talk about it, please email me at annamears01@yahoo.com. Also, this is an unpaid volunteer position so we are in the process of fund raising for our living costs for a year. If you are interesting in donating, go directly to the IJM website at http://www.ijm.org/getinvolved/internshipsupport and choose Lane Mears from the list of Intern/Fellows. All gifts are tax-deductible. Thanks!

Blessings,
Anna

Texas Bluebonnets

The tradition in Texas every spring is to take pictures with the bluebonnet flowers.

This year we were heading back from Easter weekend with both sides of our families and saw this patch of bluebonnets on the side of the road. We had to stop.

I love the bluebonnets. In some places they are so thick, it is just a sea of blue. It was really much prettier than these pictures show.

Luke 4 months old!

September 2008
Luke is growing and moving so much now!

Trip to San Diego

October 2008

What a great vacation! It seems like it had been forever, since we had been on a vacation.

And ohh, was it so great to relax, go to the beach and just enjoy being together as a family. 

Lane's sister lives out on SD and so we decided to go visit. 

We went to the beach several times and even got a visit to Legoland, which the kids loved of course.