Seth is out of the Big House, the Slammer, the Pen, the Clink, The Prison.
And a picture is worth a thousand words.
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 171 (again)
As I mentioned earlier, Seth has been granted his freedom.
For this we are very thankful.
Thankful for all those who encouraged us during this trial.
Thankful for all those who prayed for us during this trial.
Thankful for all those who wrote letters to us during this trial.
Thankful for all those who supported us during this trial.
Thankful for a Messiah who delights in showing mercy to His children.
Although he is still in detention until the judges orders are processed, Seth can sleep tonight, knowing that his freedom is just around the corner.
Now – story time!
Seth’s Day in Immigration Court.
We left for court @ 7 AM for an 8:30 AM court appearance. We knew we would face heavy traffic, going into the center of Houston so we figgered 90 minutes would be plenty.
We were 10 minutes late. Dang!
Even with this, it turns out the court was late and we did not miss much.
Due to the previous judge retiring, Seth was assigned to an alternate judge, which “happened” to be female. This turned out to be a very important occurrence!
If you remember our last court appointment, we were not allowed in the court during Seth’s appearance. For some reason unbeknownst to us, we were allowed in the court this time.
Another difference was that Seth remained at the detention facility, while the judge convened over the presiding’s via teleconference. With this setup, we were able to watch both the judge and the prosecutor/defense tables from a very comfortable position. At least physically. Emotionally, a very tense time!
During the prosecutors questioning, Seth answered the prosecutor, many times answering the same question from multiple perspectives. The prosecutor seemed to drill Seth fairly hard (I know I am a bit biased on this but you can believe me!)
During this prosecutors questioning, I took notice of the judge. It appeared she was nonplussed, unconcerned, a bit stoic. Not so for my favorite. She should not have worn mascara! As I listened to Seth field all the questions, and sensed Paula melting down, I noticed the judge connect with my wife. I watched the judge go from an impartial enforcer of laws, seemingly unconcerned about my son’s future, to a woman who could feel my wife’s pain.
A most amazing transformation.
Pro 21:1
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
I realize a little bit better now that the Lord uses His children as instruments to do His work. (I believe the Lord used my favorite’s pain to break the judge.)
And it is amazing to be involved with Him.
Our next post will have a picture of Seth coming out of the detention center.
And it will be our last post.
For this we are thankful.
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 171
FREEDOM HAS BEEN GRANTED TO SETH!
Thank you to all y’all for all your support and prayers.
More information for y’all tonight!
There will be bbq!
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 169
Less than three days now.
If you are a church going person and would be willing to share Seth’s story with your church or Sunday School class, it would be greatly appreciated.
As a reminder, Seth’s case is a discretionary case and as such, depends highly on the judge’s impressions/opinions/attitudes/feelings/health/etc. leading up to and including the time of Seth’s appearance.
Although this scenario may seem like a roll of the dice for Seth, we have been praying that Jesus would override any “arbitrariness” and supply freedom to Seth through this judge. When we first started going down this road, I was directed to the verse in Proverbs that states…
Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
Please pray for Seth.
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If you are moved to help, a good friend has set up a convenient method of helping financially.
http://www.gofundme.com/1p672s?pc=fb_cr
Thank you for reading
Thank you for caring
Thank you for praying
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 162
Less than ten days now.
Was chatting with Seth an hour or so ago – told him I am looking forward to getting him home on the BBQ. We bought some pork ribs during our grocery shopping today along with some BBQ sauce. Paula is gonna get a rain-check for the brisket she found for sale at the store, so Seth will be busy when he comes home.
Seth has now become the longest “resident” of the dorm he is in.
Of course most of the “residents” that are in his dorm are of the Hispanic persuasion, and Seth hasn’t voluntarily learned Spanish yet, so the odd English speaking “resident” that is in the dorm becomes an important social contact. Out of the few English speaking “residents”, most are either odd or odder. (One fella believes that taking showers ages you, so…)
One fella that Seth was able to discuss with was recently deported. This, I think, simply brought into focus a real possibility of Seth’s court result next Monday. Also, Seth is now without anyone to chat with, and in the middle of a crowd, it must be difficult to be alone!
Seth is experiencing the final days and the uncertainty that includes. It must be difficult waiting for someone else to decide the future of your family. He is burdened with the possibility of loosing contact with his son due to his possible deportation. But I think the heavier issue is the uncertainty.
Please pray for Seth.
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If you are moved to help, a good friend has set up a convenient method of helping financially.
http://www.gofundme.com/1p672s?pc=fb_cr
Thank you for reading
Thank you for caring
Thank you for praying
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 152
Happy Birthday Seth
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 148
Last Saturday we were out and about, getting junk done, when I got an email on my phone. It seems the court date for Seth has been moved. May 20th is no longer the day we are looking for resolution on.
The lawyer let us know that the court has moved the case to June 3rd, as the earliest possible date. He had mentioned that he had a conflict and would need to coordinate with the court for a better date. After discussing with him the importance of representing my son, it seems he was able to adjust his calendar. Smart lawyer, eh?
Anyway, when we first heard of this delay, Paula and I decided that it was not a loving thing to inform Seth of this set back until we knew exactly when his date would be. That next two nights of chatting with Seth went well, and since the future court appearance didn’t come up, we didn’t have to burden him with the uncertainty.
The lawyer was to confirm early last week, but by Monday night, had not been able to give us any further info. We thought we had informed our girls that we had refrained from informing Seth, but one of them let it slip Monday night. We tried to explain but no matter what we said, it was obvious that Seth was experiencing pain. Disappointment is a relentless enemy at times, but it can drive a man to seek hope. We are looking for glimpses of light and we know He will provide.
A few days after this, as we were discussing our concerns with the lawyer, we asked if he knew the reason for the rescheduled court date. You see, on Saturday, the lawyer mentioned in the email that the court supplied no reason for the changed date. By Wednesday, the lawyer informed us that the current judge has decided to retire, and the need to assign another judge to the case has caused some delay. (Only two weeks! This alone is a small miracle since we are talking of the bureaucratic red tape involved with the BCIS.)
Another item that we see as being from the Lord is that the new judge is relatively more lenient to the type of case Seth represents. Please continue to pray. He hears our prayers.
1 John 5:14-15
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
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If you are moved to help, a good friend has set up a convenient method of helping financially.
http://www.gofundme.com/1p672s?pc=fb_cr
Thank you for reading
Thank you for caring
Thank you for praying
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 125
Friends
This morning, my wifey and I ventured off to the Fox News 26 studio to discuss both Jedidiah’s and Seth’s experiences with the U.S. immigration process. It was a real pleasure to visit with Melissa and Gordon, (and to get a peek at how a news studio works – pretty fascinating!)
(If you would like to take a gander at the video I have supplied a link below.)
Otherwise, I would like to let you know about Seth.
He is in fairly good spirits tonight. He usually volunteers for the morning shift at the Removal and Departure Section of the detention facility, but stayed in the dorm this morning to see if his momma and I would faint/fall or freak out on the TV. He said we did good. Then he chuckled!
As we were chatting this afternoon, he mentioned how he has lost 25 pounds in the last 4 months. He eats once a day, and then let it slip that he is cooking for some of the other detainees in the detention facility.
Said something about others having it much worse than himself.
Kinda proud when he thinks of others like that!
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8783319
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If you are moved to help, a good friend has set up a convenient method of helping financially.
http://www.gofundme.com/1p672s?pc=fb_cr
Thank you for reading
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Thank you for praying
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 122
Over six years ago Jedidiah, my second son was taken from us.
Jed and I had travelled to the San Antonio BCIS office to ask if there was any problem with processing Jed’s Green Card. (It was taking an uncharacteristically exceptionally long time for Jed’s Green Card to clear!) During our second visit to the BCIS office, Jed was arrested and taken from me. I stayed as long as I could, trying to find some solution, but eventually I simply drove home.
During the drive home, a good friend called. I still remember the intersection when the phone rang.
Joe patiently listened to me ramble on, trying to explain how my son was taken into custody due to a incorrectly addressed envelope from the BCIS. (We never recieved any letter informing us of any concerns the INS had with Jed!)
During our chat, Joe mentioned a friend he knew in Houston who might be interested in our story. At that time, I wanted to pursue the injustice via legal avenues, “knowing” that it was simply a mistake and would be cleared up within a few days.
Jed was in the Karnes County Correctional Facility for over 90 days, and eventually signed papers for voluntary deportation. He hasn’t been able to visit his family for over 6 years.
Fast forward to December 14th of 2012, when three men dressed in black arrived at our door, hours before sunrise, asking for Seth. They only wanted to ask him a question about one of his friends(?) If you have been reading this blog, you know what has transpired since.
Except for one thing – Joe contacted his friend.
Her name is Melissa Wilson. If you live in Houston, I am sure you recognise the name. She is Co-Anchor for FOX 26 Morning News weekdays from 7 to 10 a.m.
If all goes well, we will be on her show Wednesday morning, telling our story and seeking to raise awareness of both of our son’s experiences.
We would appreciate your prayers, first for Seth while he is waiting for May 20th, and secondly for Paula and I, as we endeavor to clearly and calmly explain our situation.
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If you are moved to help, a good friend has set up a convenient method of helping financially.
http://www.gofundme.com/1p672s?pc=fb_cr
Thank you for reading
Thank you for caring
Thank you for praying
Rescue Seth Simpson – Day 106
As you may remember, Seth’s first appearance on March 13th was frustrated due to the government not supplying the court with his biometrics. This caused the judge to offer Seth two options, that is, either accept deportation or stay in the detention facility another 9 weeks.
Of course Seth chose to stay in order to have some hope to remain in the country and raise his son.
When Seth was sent back to the detention facility, he sent a letter to ICE, requesting his biometrics to be performed in order to satisfy the courts requirements.
Two days ago, an ICE official came to let him know that ICE would not perform the biometrics for Seth.
(See https://rescuesethsimpson.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/rescue-seth-simpson-day-104/ for more information)
Today Seth called and informed us that he rec’d a letter from ICE stating that the biometrics taken when he arrived at the facility (December 14th, 2012) will be sufficient for the court.
As you may understand, this is very frustrating.
Why would the court not be supplied with the biometrics if they had these documents available?
Sometimes I just shake my head.
Please continue to pray for Seth.
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If you are moved to help, a good friend has set up a convenient method of helping financially.
http://www.gofundme.com/1p672s?pc=fb_cr
Thank you for reading
Thank you for caring
Thank you for praying
Rescue Seth Simpson 