Another Truck Update

I keep telling myself that the Lord has things in His Hands, and I can trust Him to take care of it all.  And yes, with this whole accident thing, I have done it, and now I can praise Him for how HE is doing it.

Pastor Cebien, Belfort and another policeman friend came this afternoon.  Now, we do have a lawyer, but pastor Cebien didn't want him involved.  He had been out to the judge one time before with them.  Today was a culmination of many things.  

First, the man finally showed up at the courts.  He had THREE lawyers with him there.  The judge called in OUR lawyer to be there.  Mr. Durand (Charlie) is our lawyer for the adoption and we had called him in on this case.  We are so happy the judge wanted him there.  Charlie started out by asking the fellow, do you have an identity card (required in Haiti).  He said no.  Do you have a voters registration?  He said no.  Do you have a drivers license?  He said no.  Okay, then the policeman asked, why are you driving without a license?  No answer.  Then Charlie asked him if he saw Don's truck coming.  He said yes.  Why didn't you move over?  I was going to fast.  At this point, the fellows brother stepped in and called him aside.  So, he turned and walked over to him to talk.  WRONG decision.  The judge turned to the policeman and said, Put cuffs on him and arrest him.  He has no respect for this court."  So, off he went.  His lawyers all left just before he did.  They had already written the whole incident down before Charlie got there.  So, papers are filed, and the decision will be made in two days.  Don can pick up the truck at that time.  

Evidently EVERYONE is of the opinion that there is no case here and things will go in Don's favor.  Yes, Don paid the hospital bills.  And he will pay to repair the bike.  And he did settle an amount with the judge.  So, all in all, even with the cost, we are glad it is over.  

Something that happened the first time Charlie went out there still upsets us a bit.  This other lawyer got Charlie aside and said, "These are WHITE people, with MONEY.  You need to charge them a LOT."  Charlie told them, "No, that is not how I work.  These are missionaries and we are to help them."  The response?  "You are against the rest of us and we will make it hard for you to do anything."  But Praise God, Charlie stood his ground.  YES we will pay him.  He was there immediately for Don the same day of the accident.  And he has stood by, in case he was needed again.  When the judge called, he came immediately.  He is a Christian and has stood on his beliefs.  God will honor him for that, and we will praise God for putting us in contact with someone so good.

I have to laugh, though.  If you had seen Pastor Cebien telling us all of this, you would have enjoyed it.  He started laughing and said, "It's been a REALLY good day today.  And I really like your lawyer.  He takes no nonsense from anyone!!"  And Charlie did do a great job.  Listening to all three of them tell about it, I wondered how they didn't laugh right there in court.    And it was obvious why his lawyers didn't want him in court.

It's true, we don't have the truck right here in the yard.  But are we worried?  Not at all.  Even Don has a calmness that he didn't have before.  And that is due in large part to all of you praying.  We thank you so much for those prayers.  So now we ask you to PRAISE GOD with us.  And yes, pray the truck does get released as everyone says it will.  God went before these men and prepared a way.  Don, Belfort and I prayed before Belfort left to go to court.  I had such a calm and restful spirit, I KNEW God was already working.  

So, again... i repeat, WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD!!!!!