I went to the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC last week with Solomon and Becky Jones to check into Abby's paperwork. Praise God, it was a successful day!
Abby was born in Bolivia and got a visa to travel here, but now needs either a passport or a traveling certificate to go with her parents to Kenya on January 24th. (Though she is adorable and we all love her, we do want her going to Kenya with her parents:)
Her paperwork had been sent to the embassy before the holidays, but repeated phone calls from Solomon since then had resulted in little affect. He was told they had lost it ... this was her original birth certificate along with other papers.
We arrived at the embassy soon after they opened ... large imposing building, but once inside the visa office was a tired non-descript area. The ceilings were at least 15 foot high with large windows on one wall. The original intent of the windows must have been reconsidered as the shutters were partially closed and only a peek of sunshine streamed in. A large portrait of the president of Kenya was the first thing seen as we entered the room.
President Mwai Kibaki
There was an attempt to bring a touch of Kenya here ... a glassed-covered case in one corner had a few dusty items displayed in it; craved wooden animals, beaded flip-flops and a bag of coffee. An animal hide drum held a few African travel brochures as if to convince readers to actually go through with getting a visa and/or passport. A counter with a few workers behind it took up one corner of the room. One of the women approached Solomon with a kind "what can I do for you today". I overheard her tell Solomon that the person (her boss) he had sent the papers to was not in for another week, but she could help. She proved to be very helpful and efficient and had us walking out the door two hours later with an "Emergency Traveling Certificate" for Abby.
Solomon introduced Becky and I to her (Rebecca) as we were leaving. She seemed confident that as soon as her boss is back, the papers will be found and they will then send Abby a passport, so further travels would be taken care of. The good news of meeting Rebecca continued as we discovered she is our 'sister' in the faith. Also, in the 'its a small world' category, Rebecca's home town is none other than
Eldoret, Kenya and she is traveling home for the first time in ten years this July. She was impressed with Solomon's plans of helping the orphans of the city. She hopes to visit them this summer in Eldoret, plus just as Abby has won each of our hearts with her good looks, Rebecca was also won over by the photo Solomon had brought and she wants to meet her :)
We thank God for a day of good ... travel, paperwork and connections. The relationship with Rebecca, who is not only a nice, kind woman, but she has been in the states for 18 years and has worked at the Embassy for 10 years, is a connection that we thank God for.
Janet Oberholtzer
