More than Casual Observers

Written by Merle "Pops" Stoltzfus (Corinne's father)

“Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him.” (James 2:5)

Not everyone is invited to have dinner in Nyenga Village. In fact, few have this privilege of an entire meal cooked over charcoal. The location is remote, the kitchen simple, the dining room small and we won’t mention the restrooms. But, it is a priceless experience.

Upon arrival, the Honda CRV squeezed between two buildings to park in a front yard of dirt sprinkled by clumps of grass and litter. The neighborhood trash bin is convenient for this home but creates some challenges as well. By the time we pried ourselves out of the packed car, we heard the chant of children’s voices, “Dan—eee’, Dan—eee’, Dan-eee’. “ Neighbors; children and mothers (fathers were still at work) came from 3 directions to greet the family who, three weeks earlier had suddenly departed for a medical leave. “How are you? Welcome. Daniel, are you better.” It was evident the Iya family was greatly missed but none as much as Danny.

After the multiple locks and latches of the house were released, it was evident the neighbors had provided good 24 hour security surveillance. Danny broke out his new soccer ball which quickly hatched a pick up soccer game between buildings, trash bin and the car. Rules were quickly established followed by the shouts of competitors echoing off the concrete walls. Too young to compete, Danny turned his attention to a three year old girl chewing a piece of potato from each fist. She generously offered Danny a bite. True to his self, he accepted more than her offer and relieved her sticky left hand to share in what remained of its entire contents. Grandpa (“Pops”) quickly protested but then realized sharing food was the common practice in Nyenga Village. After all, we were one of the few privileged outsiders invited to dinner. Gratefully sharing, receiving and accepting were far more important than sanitation.

The coveted pace of life in Nyenga allows for lengthy greetings. Time is never more valued than relationships. “This is my mother and father” was responded to by the Ugandan handshake which initially feels like we had joined their secret society. By the end of the visit, the handshake was endearing. These Nyenga neighbors have been through a lot together. The mother who gave birth in the back seat of Daniel's truck 2 years ago accompanied by her daughter were one of the first to greet us. It was obvious how Danny and the commonality of young children has been used by God to build strong relationships. “All of this for your benefit, so the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” (2 Cor. 4:15)

Fifteen months ago when Danny was born there was question about whether the continuation of this living environment could continue. Each month this question continues to become more difficult. Danny is sick more days than healthy. Does God intend for missionaries to put their children in continual health risk for the sake of the gospel? This question is asked every day and the answer is only sufficient for that day. Corinne & Daniel are committed to follow God in both their responsibility as parents and ministry. Like all of us, each day demands a new commitment to follow Jesus and make the choices related to being His bond-Servant.

The days of living in Nyenga Village are likely numbered. Five years of building relationships have born eternal fruit. The whole experience has been very much a 2-way Street. Just the thought of moving away from this loving adopted home is sorrowful to contemplate. The joy of the relationships far exceed the difficulty of the primitive environment. But the responsibility of parenting seemingly is demanding a change. For God’s people, the momentary troubles of this life are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Pray with Daniel & Corinne through this challenging decision. “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

Welcome Home; Sorry

Sunday, October 21st brought significant changes to what we were anticipating in our lives for this last quarter of 2018. Sundays are for rest from our labors. A Sunday afternoon nap, kicking back to read a good book, strumming a six string or a pick up game with friends; rest looks different for each of us. For Daniel, a competitive game of soccer with friends is true rest from the stresses of ministry.

The Lord specifically knows what we most need. We trust His wisdom in having Daniel’s Patellar tendon rupture while leaping for a head ball on the soccer field. The injury was much more complicated than we could have imagined. Necessary surgery in the United States, 8 weeks on crutches followed by 6 months of physical therapy is daunting. Fortunately, the physical, emotional and financial challenges of this seeming interruption have dribbled into our lives in a divinely controlled rate. God is faithful in His promise; “I will not test you above what you are able.”

Five days later upon arrival in Newark, NJ, on Friday, Oct. 26th we first heard, “welcome home” from Mom & Dad Stoltzfus. “We’re so sorry.” Sunday worship at Brick Lane Church initiated dozens of friends lovingly greeting us with: “welcome home; sorry.” The greetings were much more than words. Hearts reached out to us backed by generous gifts verifying the promises of Jesus to supply all our needs according to His riches.

God’s obvious care for us has been a daily evidence of His grace. The timely wisdom of Dr. Dan Iya (Daniel’s father, a general surgeon) and the Amazima medical director prompted us to immediately get an MRI. That information was emailed to Dr. Iya, who urged a trip to the US to have the surgery performed by a specialist. God went before us in providing a miraculous chain of events, people, and timing too numerous to tell in order to accomplish successful surgery on Tuesday, October 30th.

This past February, God worked miraculously to get Daniel’s US citizenship. We cannot imagine the difficulty this trip would have been without Daniel’s US passport. May we look back and again see this grace and be encouraged to have faith in the specific loving providence of God to us.

Since returning to Good Shepherds Fold, to Amazima, and to Nyenga village we have heard hundreds of friends and co-workers greet us with “welcome home; sorry.” Going before us, God provided Corinne’s Mom & Dad as our assistants for this first 10 days of our return to Uganda. Their trip to spend Thanksgiving with us was purchased a month before the injury occurred. This perfectly provided for our needs to travel back to Uganda and get back into ministry after 2 1/2 weeks away. And it is our prayer that Daniel’s recovery will progress to allow us to spend Christmas in Jos, Nigeria with Daniel’s family. We know the “welcome home” greeting there will be repeated.

So where is home for us? It is good to have many places we call home. It is even better to have friends who see us as “coming home” to them. Multiple places to call home and the people there who embrace us in the challenges of life in ministry is God’s specific and continuous grace to us.

But ultimately, in all the challenges of life, it is good to be reminded that true home is not anywhere in this world. On this Thanksgiving Day, we want to express our thanks to EVERYONE; we cannot thank you enough for the means of grace you have been for us. God has used you and your generosity in an eternal way. But no place or people or even family can be the ultimate grace to sustain us. Ultimately, we give thanks to Jesus. We look forward to the final and ultimate welcome to our true home, that welcome from Jesus our King! And no “sorry” then!

“Then the King will say... Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
Matthew 25:34 (NIV)

Thank God with us. Your continuous coming beside us through prayer is vital for us.

Daniel, Corinne, & Danny Iya

Remembering — to Forget God’s Miracles is Unbelief

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?’” (Numbers 14:11)

The past six days are ones we should never forget; the miraculous signs of Jesus and his grace in our lives were evident and cumulative. Just over a week ago we wrote: “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! (Isaiah 30:18)”

During Daniel’s citizenship interview in New Jersey this past Tuesday, he heard the sobering words from the USCIS interviewer, “You will not receive your citizenship today.” Thirty minutes later the USCIS Supervisory Officer at that same office told Corinne and Daniel that there was one missing piece needed: an application Daniel mailed over a year ago. This USCIS Supervisory Officer (Keith) further told us the application was in Vermont and filed with literally millions of other applications.

The miracle began with what Keith said next. Despite the "seemingly impossible” task to get the application from Vermont to New Jersey and have the application approved before our Saturday travel date, Keith said he would personally see to getting it done. Taking at least 20 minutes of his time to speak with us, Keith asked to exchange personal cell phone numbers and said he would communicate with us how it was going and when to come back to the office. We were beginning to think your prayers planted an angel in that USCIS office called Keith.

As the result was still pending, we asked and you continued to pray. At 10:00am on Thursday morning, we received a call from Keith describing his incredible and unexpected ability to find the perfect contact person in Vermont, who in turn miraculously located Daniel's application (among millions of other applications) and mailed it overnight to New Jersey. Keith asked Daniel to report to the Mount Laurel, New Jersey USCIS Field Office that same day at 2:00pm, with a 98% chance his citizenship would be approved and Daniel sworn in as an American citizen at 3:30pm. That afternoon, some from our family joined Corinne and baby Danny to share the tears of joy and witness Daniel's Oath Ceremony.

“And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” (Exodus 12:51)

This short verse describes something seemingly routine - if not embedded in the context of the miraculous signs God performed in the previous 10 chapters. Forgetting these miraculous signs showed contempt for God and resulted in the loss of rest in the Promised Land for all, except Joshua and Caleb, who witnessed them.

On Thursday, Daniel became a US citizen. This short sentence has a long and complex back story including years of your prayers. Thank you! We have experienced the miraculous grace of God together. 

After the Oath Ceremony, when we told Keith of hundreds of people who had prayed for this moment, he was not surprised. He told us how his staff scolded him for “giving us hope” after the Tuesday interview. Finding and retrieving that application, among other things, was a miracle.

We should never forget this week. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him” (Isaiah 30:18). We together have asked, and we return to Uganda as a family of US citizens now - able to more freely travel in this ministry to which we have been called.

Remember with us as God calls us — as God calls you. Have faith in the future by not forgetting his past grace.

Daniel & Corinne

Grace, Compassion, and Blessed Waiting

“The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! (Is: 30:18)

We thank so many of you who have petitioned the Lord for us many times regarding Daniel’s citizenship and related travel documents. We believe we are nearing the end of a long process towards US citizenship for Daniel, and for that we are grateful. We are still waiting on the Lord and asking you to pray. 

Compared to citizens of most other nations, international travel for US citizens is relatively easy. International travel is very important for a missionary and this is the primary reason we are working so hard on Daniel’s US citizenship; it would give Daniel the freedom to travel into and out of the US as well as open doors for travel to other countries. Nigeria and the US both honor dual-citizenship, so Daniel can be a US citizen and a Nigerian citizen! Moreover, Corinne and Danny are both US citizens, and we believe it would be wise to have unified citizenship in our family. 

This citizenship process has been complicated by Daniel’s missionary work. An important aspect of acquiring citizenship in the US is the establishment of residency in the US. Typically people applying for citizenship are living in full-time and continuous residence in the US. Given our station abroad as missionaries, this is not the case for our family! An attorney hired to assist in the process suggested Daniel stay in America for two years without traveling abroad. This was not an option for our missionary calling so instead, we asked people (you) to pray.

And God has answered your prayers. After all these long years of working through the mountain of paper work, repeated applications, interviews, and biometrics appointments, we recently received a naturalization interview appointment in New Jersey on February 27th. On short notice, we were able to arrange for our travel on the 26th and then immediately return to our work on Saturday, March 3rd; losing just one week of ministry time. In his short 6 months of life, Danny will have logged more air miles than most travel in a lifetime.

But we are not assuming anything. Instead, we are asking for your prayers for God’s grace one more time to get us over this citizenship finish line. Please pray on February 27^th at 12:30pm Eastern Time for Daniel’s naturalization interview. Pray that God would give Daniel favor and that his naturalization would be granted during the interview. For, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” (Is: 30:18)

Thank you for praying with us. If God wills, we will return to Uganda on March 3rd; a whole family of US citizens with all three of us having US passports. Blessed are those who wait for Him.