When African Realities Meet American
Sensibilities—
We are back in
Thank you to all who were praying, because we needed
it! Maybe we let ourselves get too spoiled by our year in
And we do have a wonderful house, again with a
breathtaking view of the Rift Valley. We have a nice central location on the
campus and there are loads of gardens for me to tend. Ben & Kate are loving
all the fellow pre-schoolers here. The older boys are settling in and are glad
to be back.
* * * * * * *
* *
The above words were written 2 weeks after
arriving. And we have settled in now. The showers are usually hot,
the sheets aren’t always damp, I’m regaining my cooking style and ability
to stay stocked up on the things I need to make a complete meal, and I’ve
generally relaxed into being able to go with the flow (or non-flow) of life in a
developing nation.
That was until Friday. Then it all hit me again.
Within 30 minutes of each other I got 2 very disturbing pieces of news.
First, I received an email telling me that my step mom,
whom I love dearly, had a stroke. It was not a major stroke, she is back
home and is recovering well. But the helplessness of being 10,000 miles
away when someone you love is ill, is not an easy thing to deal with. And
my still-fresh American sensibilities tell me that I should have access to
information right now and in a very personal and continuing manner. I have
called and talked with my sister, but you have to figure in time differences and
wait till people are awake and available, and when I spoke with her she hadn’t
yet talked with my dad, yet it was a $10 phone call. And then you hate that you
are counting dollars, but you have to and so it’s not easy.
The second piece of news was that Theresa’s husband
(Theresa works for us 5 days a week and is like a part of the family) had been
taken by the police and was in jail for something he didn’t do. Here is the
story in a nutshell: A little over a week ago a man in the village where
she lives was suspected of robbery by the police. They went to his house
in the middle of the night, woke him and started beating him. He tried to
flee so they shot him and killed him.
The people in the village believed the man to be
innocent and so were outraged at what the police had done. A group of
them, feeling they had no recourse through lawful means, took things into their
own hands and went to the police station and burned it. The police station
compound shares a wall with the compound of the little place where Theresa and
Michael and their 3 year old daughter Maureen live. The next day Theresa came to
work rather shaken by what had happened. Michael is a night guard here at
RVA and was at work that night so she and Maureen were alone while a group of
men were breaking windows and burning the police station. Then, the police
arrived and started shooting. Fortunately no one was killed, but the whole
village is scared and unsettled.
About 3 days after this, in the middle of the night, the
police started knocking at doors and rounding up men who they thought had done
it. They came to Theresa’s door, after breaking down the gate to the
compound, and asked for Michael. She told them he was at work and had been
on the night of the burning too. They asked where he worked, she told them
and they came down to RVA at 4 am and took Michael off to jail after roughing
him up. He has been there since 4am on Friday morning. The missionary who
oversees the guards has seen Michael and talked with the police, but since their
evidence against him is non-existent, anything we say appears to be non-existent
too.
The injustice of the situation is just unreal to my
American mind. The helplessness of Theresa hurts so much. This shouldn’t be
happening! And no matter what the verdict from the trial he will probably
have to pay a heavy fine just to be released from jail. I’ve been very angry and
frustrated and wondered how one can bear such
injustice…
Then the Lord reminded me that His own son bore such
injustice all the way to the cross. And because He did, we can appeal to him
even under the most unjust and corrupt situations. So if you would, please join
us in appealing to the Righteous Judge on Michael’s behalf. We will keep
you posted and anticipate the Lord being glorified even in such an unlikely
circumstance.
Thank you for sharing in our burdens. I hope our next
missive will contain joys to share.
PS I’ve just talked with Theresa and things have
gotten worse. He was detained after a brief court session and told to get
a lawyer. He will go to court in 2 weeks and faces 15 years in prison if
convicted. Please pray for justice…
Steve and Nancy
Peifer
Stateside Address: AIM
Home Number:
011-254-20-32046-458
Office Number:
011-254-20-32046-170
Steve's Cell:
011-254-0734-124292
Website: http://peifer.kijabe.org/index.html?intro.html&1
Foundation:
http://www.solutionbeaconfoundation.org/programs.htm