Under arrest!

This isn’t as bad as it sounds though it was a scary experience!  On our way back from Georgetown last week we were stopped at one of a number of regular police checks and asked for our paperwork.  They discovered that our car insurance expired at the end of July which we hadn’t twigged as the district office deal with our car paperwork and we assumed (wrongly!) that the insurance was for a year as it always is in the UK.  The police asked us to accompany them to the police station and it was a pretty scary experience!  They were talking about Mark having to go to court and making bail payment so we felt very intimidated.  Mark explained to the officer in charge what had happened and by the grace of God he took pity on us and said he would let us go if we promised to sort it out that day.  We were so thankful.  It turned out that the district office had in fact paid to renew the insurance for another 6 months but it had ‘slipped their mind’ to pass on the paperwork to us!  AAGGHH!  We are used to the disorganisation and poor time keeping causing us inconvenience and annoyance but this was the first time it could have got us into serious trouble.  Mark explained to the leaders here that if had been summoned to court on Tuesday we would have been on the plane to England on the Monday! 

Lesson learned – in future we make sure we check all our own paperwork.  We have been criticized for not checking the paperwork but in our defence and for those of you who were supporting us back then, you will remember that it was a time of extreme bewilderment, disorientation and loss so it is hardly surprising that we overlooked a date on a slip of paper!  More of a miracle that we weren’t on a plane back to the UK all those months ago with all we had to contend with.  A little pastoral care, grace and understanding goes a long way.  

Youth service

 

We continue to struggle with life here while trying to remain positive and trust God for each day.  Some days it is easier than others.  We encouraged the youth in one church to take a service with Mark a couple of weeks ago and of course when we arrived at the church not a soul had arrived before the service was meant to start.  The girl who was meant to be leading opening prayers arrived 45 mins late so missed doing that, the girl who was preaching came over an hour late and then was inappropriately dressed so I had to drive her home to change into something more modest.  The youth (who were leading the service!) gradually drifted in and finally the service got underway but we have spoken to them afterwards and expressed our disappointment that they did not take the responsibility we offered them and if they want to lead worship and make things more lively they HAVE to step up and act more maturely. 

Sex talk!

Last Wednesday we were asked to go to a district youth camp for the day to lead sessions on ‘Healthy Relationships’ which we were delighted to do.  No-one seems to speak openly about personal matters and it was great to talk about issues like pornography, dating, masturbation, marriage, domestic violence, rape, incest and other such matters in a frank way!  There were a few gasps to start with and a bit of giggling but they soon settled down and mostly listened well.  We offered prayer at the end for anyone who was struggling or needed help and one young lady (aged 16) came up to ask me to pray for her as she said her step brother had abused her when she was 11 and he was 18. 

I asked if she had told anyone and she told her mother - her mother apparently said, 'If I find out you're lying I will throw you out of this house' and nothing was done about it.  I said to her (as I'd explained in my talk) that it was not her fault - I said 'Do you understand that it was not your fault' and she shrugged and started to cry so I think she has carried the guilt of it all these years. poor girl and poor girl not being believed.  I told her I believed her and prayed for God to heal her. 

I got right on my soap box and told the girls that they must NEVER accept physical violence against them and that they have a chance to change the culture of this country by not standing for it!  I told them they are worth more than that and should not stand for it (or being raped either!).   All we can do is a drop in the ocean but maybe if it helps one person it will be worth it.  I had the girls and Mark had the boys for one session so he got to talk to the boys about how it is not acceptable to force a girl to have sex or hit her!  Sounds obvious to us but it isn't obvious here!  Mark told them to treat their women like princesses not whores!!  LOL