This has been a real challenge. Working with a foreign government is taxing. Literally! I think Steve and I are needing to come up with better communication skills. Twenty seven years of marriage and we are entering new waters. We speak completely differently (this we knew.) God is with us.
Currently, the estimate is $13,000. They may be able to reduce it to $9000. We don't have $9000, so next week we will find out if we can just give them items with the highest VAT tax. We have donated socks and booties from either Austin Samaritans or Medical Bridges, plus lotion and shampoo. The taxes on those items are over $1000 each. We can live without those. We need the chairs and tables we purchased at Sams Club along with a large fan and some shelving. Those are new items and they have a high fee and we will pay it. Every day brings new demands or questions or fees or decisions. It reminds me of buying our first house. They always needed one more thing each day or week. One more proof of some bill 2 years ago or some crazy thing that seemed so obscure--but everything hinged on it.
For example, today we were asked for the original Bill of Lading. We would need to send it by Fed Ex (which takes FOREVER to get to Kenya--five days to Kakamega) or we would need to call our shipping line and get them to Telex the original. We wrote back to say that the "original" is an electronic document which is already there. There is no original--there is only the first one. Then our TGD Kenya informed us that the Port Authority required a change in wording that cost us $75 to say "In Care of Walter Ingutia" instead of it saying "To Walter Ingutia" (WHATEVER!!)
So there is no change on any Bill of Lading or inventory. Nothing has been changed except that one thing. But we resent everything electronically anyway. I called the shipping line but it is Saturday so i'll talk to them on Monday. There is no "original" in the old sense of the word. We do not need to Telex anything because what is there in the harbor on the ship IS the original and what our team has is the original and they match perfectly. See? Stuff like that constantly.
It's a small price to pay for something so important, but it does grate on the nerves. God gives us grace. God has given us this privilege of serving Him in this way. I can do this and more.
We heard the ship would be in the harbor by Tuesday night (I'm writing this on a Saturday) and that it would take about four days to dock. We expected it to dock any time now. However, it turns out the ship is not even sighted by the country (Kenya) yet. Which is fabulous because it probably buys us another week before the container is in our TGD building. We need to finish out the building and secure it so it can hold all the valuables.
There can be so much to coordinate, plus trying to work on the orphan plans. With everything in me, I give Glory to the Lord and bow myself before Him who created the universe. He can handle the chaos of the whole earth and the horror of death and abuse amongst mankind. He sees the daily killing of one animal by another for the survival of species to endure. He sees our fallen state and the evil in our hearts. Praise God for Jesus Christ who took the sin of the whole world to reconcile man to God through the cross. Praise God that the earth will be restored. Until then, may God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Come Lord Jesus.
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