One of the terrible and shocking realities we discovered was that a couple that we trusted were actually liars, cheaters and thieves. These are not accusations that I am making towards them, but it is documented text sent by them. On several occasions, I tried to restore the situation by Biblical principles. They refused and the lies grew still. They are in charge of running a school. At one point, I asked them what they paid the teachers. They said 6,000 shillings to 12,000 shillings depending on the education. We had never talked about compensation for them. What we did talk about was that their wages would go towards paying for the house, that we loaned money for, as many years as necessary. I have those exact words in a text from them. Even with the proof, they repeatedly say it was a gift.
On top of that, they say that I had agreed to $6,000 a month for wages, 100 times the going rate. They refused to give the van back, that they had acknowledged in one of the texts as the “Echo Africa Kenya van.” God had worked the timing out when we drove by there house and he was in the process of stealing all of the furniture from the Echo mission house. I begged him to repent and do what was right in the eyes of God. He refused and continued to steal things that were not his. My continued desire is to demonstrate mercy as God has demonstrated mercy for me. The more the two of them are caught in their lies, the harder their hearts get. Their cultural practice of taking advantage of missionaries and donors is rampant. When I say nearly everyone, I mean nearly everyone does it. These are not my words but the words of people that live there. I have first-hand knowledge of at least six such situations. It is all the more reason to continue on for kingdom work.
Repeatedly, this man was told to put the house and the van in Echo’s name. Now it has become obvious that all of the excuses we got from him were delay tactics. Unfortunately his wife is involved in the deception. What she does not understand is that God knows and has made things known to us. How someone can continue to lie and fabricate stories and believe that they are in God’s will is very troubling. Our desire has always been to restore them in brotherly love. As they became more aware that we would not give in to their lies and deceit, they resorted to any means necessary to perpetuate evil.
The man had contacted an attorney to bring charges against me. None of his charges had any basis in reality. In fact, the first charge he brought against me would have ultimately involved the people that were visiting from another country. These are the same people that I love, but we differed on opinion of what Scripture said and we therefore could not allow them to participate in the teaching of pastors. This goes to show the true nature of those involved and their intentions to fulfill their greedy desires.
I thank the Lord for burdening my heart in the situation. Only by pushing him very hard did his true nature and the nature of his wife get revealed. The Holy Spirit kept me up all night continually prompting me that this couple were not who they portrayed themselves to be. Now as that evil is exposed, it continues to expose itself more. More false conversations, more lies, and more people testify against them, all the while heaping more coals upon their heads. By them making the choice to get the outside court system involved they have stepped outside of the guidelines the Bible prescribes. Many in this country are under the delusion that they can get away with this shenanigan. This is one case where that could not be further from the truth. We will continue to be obedient to how God directs us and His timeline. When that timeline expires, things will drastically change.
Their intention was to get the papers served to me so that I would be deported from Kenya for making false accusations. Because of the severity of these accusations, I would not have been allowed to come back into the country. In addition to that, and a greater concern was the safety of the visitors. These false charges would have involved them as they were named as part of the complaint. What I mean by this is that the allegations put forth would have become public knowledge. Part of what I did was to help them avoid such a situation. I have a strong sense in my spirit that someday this couple will be set free from the delusion that has trapped them, and we will rejoice together in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. God’s Word is God’s Word there is no variation.
Around 7:30 PM Tuesday evening, someone knocked on my door at the orphanage. When I opened the door, Linda and Henry were standing there looking a bit distraught. Henry had just met someone at the entrance to the compound that was looking for me. The gentleman was wanting to serve me papers to appear in court Thursday morning. My flight was Wednesday evening. They desperately urged me to leave right away. In my spirit, I was not fearful. God has continued to be faithful in every encounter that I have had. However, in this situation, it seemed prudent to take action. We all agreed that we would depart as soon as we gathered our belongings. Soon it became clear why certain things happened the way they did earlier in the week, particularly the supernatural ability to fix the Nissan Land Cruiser Prado. Had we not been able to fix that vehicle, escaping down a very treacherous road would not have been an option.
