Many of you know, by now, of the changes and challenges our family is beginning to navigate which Ashley alluded to in her last post. In summary, I am facing criminal charges as a result of an incident which occurred in April 2021 while I was working on patrol as a police officer. In 2022, after several lengthy investigations carried out by the City of Alameda, the Alameda County Sheriff, and an independent firm, the previous Alameda County District Attorney declined to file criminal charges in connection with the incident. Weeks before we left for South Africa, the City of Alameda settled two lawsuits stemming from this incident, freeing me to focus on and devote myself to the work here. In my mind, this chapter was over.
Last month, a day before the three-year anniversary of the incident marking the expiration of the statute of limitations, the newly-elected District Attorney announced, in a live-broadcast press conference, her office’s decision to bring this incident before the court.
This means many things, but significantly and presently, it requires me to appear in court (in person) many times, possibly over the course of the next two years or more. We discussed, as a family and with trusted counsel, many possibilities to face this new challenge. Among them were plans that I would, alone, fly back and forth between South Africa and the US for each required court appearance, leaving Ashley and the kids here in South Africa for days or weeks at a time, and possibly a month or more during the impending jury trial.
As we shared and prayed with some of you, we agreed with those here and back home that this family separation would be an unnecessary challenge for our family to face amidst an already challenging set of circumstances. The elders of Hands at Work have released us to return home in July, ending our one-year commitment at about the halfway point.
When I first heard this news last month I was crushed, emotionally spiraling back to a dark place which God had already rescued me from over the course of the last three years. But then we shared this news, narrowly at first, with some of you. And people started praying. Earnestly praying. On the third day after feeling my world had been turned upside down yet again, I learned something I can now say I didn’t truly understand before.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
I still can’t really explain it (as promised above), but I can tell you it is genuine and supernatural and just what I needed. How do I know this was brought about through prayer? Do you see how the verse above starts with “And?” It’s because it’s a continuing thought. Let’s see the previous verse:
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6
Verse six issues a command, verse seven offers a promise contingent on our obedience to the command. And that’s what I’ve experienced: inexplicable peace from God. While there are many, many things that could be bringing me worry right now, God has freed me from the most significant ones. I still face them, but I now know I am not alone and my God is bigger than these things. I still need to face them, to complete the tasks, to be present and not retreat into myself as I had been doing. But I get to do this without worry. For those of you who prayed, thank you. For those who are praying, thank you. God hears you.
As you would expect, this was a complete surprise to our family and everyone we work with. But it wasn’t a surprise to God. I caught myself when sharing with a couple of guys here about the news. I started to say, “unfortunately,” but there is no fortune involved here. This is God’s will. So instead of “unfortunately,” I use the word “unexpectedly.” It reminds me to wait expectantly on the Lord, and on nothing of this world.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
The kids have started a countdown on our family chalkboard. If I am to believe their math, we have less than six weeks here in South Africa, and we want to finish this race well. The kids will get to complete term two of school right before we fly home, so there will be some semblance of closure for them. The work I still have ahead includes traveling to Malawi for two weeks next month to help introduce memorandums of understanding within the communities we serve there, ensuring their status is known by the local governments and understood by the Care Workers. I’ll also get to visit with those from the US team who are coming to meet the communities. Ashley is diligently serving on the Regional Support Team, performing budget amendments to ensure there are funds for every need in each community among a myriad of other responsibilities including planning and executing training events for many of the workers in our region.
A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9
Ashley and I are saddened to share this news with all those who have opened their hearts and their lives to us here, caring for and loving us as family, pouring into us their time and experience. We struggle with guilt over the responsibilities that have been handed us which we will not be able to continue. These are conversations we wrestle with together before falling asleep or when alone in the car after dropping off the kids at school. But then we share with one another about the time we have already had, challenging each other to find the reasons God has called us here for these six months.
My answer is easy, and in fact I was already meditating on this and thanking God in the days before our plans all changed. I have not been some invaluable resource here. I have rescued no one with my unique skills here. There are many here who could complete the tasks I have been assigned (and in fact were already completing just fine before my arrival). No, the reason God brought me here wasn’t so I could do something amazing and become indispensable to the organization. It was so I could witness what true faith walked out in so many different but genuine and God-honoring ways looks like. So I could realize there are ways to incorporate faithful obedience and constant focus on God into every facet of my life, no matter the circumstances. That there are real and valuable, even life-changing benefits to this faithful walk. From those I work with day in and day out to the poorest grandmother caring, alone, for her half-dozen grandchildren in a one room hut made of mud and sticks you’ve never met, so many are displaying incredible transformation, full of hope not explainable by the world.
We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
I am so grateful for the time we have spent here, for the ways God has revealed Himself. I struggle with the thought that some will hear of our unexpected change of plans and chalk it up to the idea that God did not, in fact, call our family to South Africa. All I can say is God has given me peace and I do not doubt what I have heard from Him. If you are one thinking this way, I pray you’ll open your heart to God’s call in every season of your life. For if you cannot acknowledge His call on me, surely you aren’t listening for His call on you. As Jesus called the church in Ephesus to return to their first love, to repent from how far they had fallen, I urge you to do the same and have faith that when you return to Him and His will, He will shower you with His grace.
“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.” Revelation 2:7
If the Lord wills, I will see you all soon.
On a lighter note:
This is kota. Three slices of white bread sandwiching chips (french fries), some peri-peri sauce (a pepper marinade) and some mango atchar. Some versions have polony (similar to bologna), russian (a smoked sausage), or cheese added. Widely available in most rural communities from roadside stands for 20-30 Rand ($1.00-$1.50)
Almost every kids menu here includes milkshakes, about 30 Rand.
I taught some kids in Seville B how to really annoy their primary caregivers with a blade of grass. Free.
Ashley wrote this song in 2019 but it's been stuck in my head lately.