More "Stuff" to Pray For

Well we thought the week couldn't get weirder or more stressful but it did. Yesterday our house was burglarized while we were at work. I got home at 4:45 PM and noticed that our door was wide open. When I went in I saw that our house had been ransacked and several things were missing. They got my new TV, our sound system, camera (the pictures here were taken by Melody Plaxton), MP3 players and a few other electronics. They also got most of Joyce's jewelry. ATTENTION - THIEVES - We have nothing left that you can pawn! They got in to our house by prying out the window frame in our carport and pushing the window in. The police got some good fingerprints so I hope that the perp will be caught. I know it's only stuff, but we worked hard for it and enjoyed sharing it with our friends - sorry guys no more "football breakfast" for a while. A couple of the other ministers on island told me that security services are very good and affordable, so I will check on it tomorrow before I go on my recruiting trip.

On the other big issue... This morning we went to the office of our congressional rep, Madeline Bordallo. Her staff was very helpful. They are writing on our behalf to the INS. They seemed hopeful that Jens and Karin's situation could be favorably resolved. The lawyer that we visited in the afternoon was much less hopeful. She said that it was possible but we would need to make a strong case for the religious nature of Jens' job. It seems preposterous to me that the INS has the right to tell a mission that has been in business for over 100 years what is "religious" and what is "secular." Anyway, please pray that we will make a good response to the INS and that Jens and Karin will be able to stay. We have to have our response in by November 2nd.

I am running around like crazy to take care of all this and to get ready for my trip. Thank you for your prayers for Joyce and me.