There is absolutely no way I could have been ready to leave the country if it were not for the help of friends. Forrest Layton and Derek Gibson especially deserve honorable mention. They kept working when I had to stop packing and moving stuff to make phone calls and backup plans for backup plans! They got me up early and kept me up late to make sure everything got done. Derek pulled an all-nighter to help me get packed just in time for my flight out of Nashville this morning. Without their energy and motivation I would have been at great loss. All the extra time going into passport issues and replanning every day would have kept me from making it out of the country when the opportunity actually arose. Thank you guys.
The last few days in Nashville proved the kind of friendships I have there. Even if that was all I learned out of the passport hassles and flight changes, I suppose it is good enough reason for it all. That's important to know going into a year where I need the support of friends who are far way.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Writing From JFK
It took hours and hours of phone calls. It cost expenses for brand new flight tickets to compensate for the late mailing of the passport from the embassy. It came with a lot of uncertainty due to a change of tracking number (not relayed by the embassy) and no ability to contact the embassy to follow up. But I am sitting at JFK airport awaiting the check-in time for my international flight and I do have my passport. I am so thankful for this!
I can say that I had more peace about all of this the last 24-36 hours (although it really looked just as uncertain as before) than I had earlier. I came to the realization that the timing which I think is important is not necessarily the timing God sees as important. And if God knows what is truly best (and I do believe that He does) He will make sure things work out. I need to be flexible. I need to be willing to put the time and extra phone calls and effort in. And most of all, I just need to learn not to be frustrated by frustrating circumstances :)
I should arrive in Kiev at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, which is 9:00 AM EST. I will be running straight to a rehearsal so I won't have a chance to update immediately when I get in. But I will try to get something up as soon as possible.
Thank you for all your prayers.
I can say that I had more peace about all of this the last 24-36 hours (although it really looked just as uncertain as before) than I had earlier. I came to the realization that the timing which I think is important is not necessarily the timing God sees as important. And if God knows what is truly best (and I do believe that He does) He will make sure things work out. I need to be flexible. I need to be willing to put the time and extra phone calls and effort in. And most of all, I just need to learn not to be frustrated by frustrating circumstances :)
I should arrive in Kiev at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, which is 9:00 AM EST. I will be running straight to a rehearsal so I won't have a chance to update immediately when I get in. But I will try to get something up as soon as possible.
Thank you for all your prayers.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Not Much Of An Update To Share...
Well, I really don't know what's happening at this point with my passport :) I made 59 calls yesterday to the embassy along with a fax and three e-mails. Probably made more calls than that today. I also was able to enlist the services of my US Congressman's office. One of his aides was extremely helpful. She had me fill out some paperwork and write a letter and headed over personally to the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington DC (which is where my passport is at) to see if she could retrieve it. Unfortunately it was closed to walk-in traffic at that point (afternoons are reserved for phone call clientele, although that hasn't worked out for me yet either).
It is looking probable that I will be rescheduling my flight to leave on a later day. I am not sure yet what the fees for that will be. I suppose anything is possible so I am not completely banking on that option yet.
Wish I had more news for you! :) At this point I would like prayers for wisdom to know what to do. If I'm supposed to leave at a later date that's fine. But without knowing that it's difficult to move forward in changing flights and plans. Having either direction or resolution would be a helpful measure.
It is looking probable that I will be rescheduling my flight to leave on a later day. I am not sure yet what the fees for that will be. I suppose anything is possible so I am not completely banking on that option yet.
Wish I had more news for you! :) At this point I would like prayers for wisdom to know what to do. If I'm supposed to leave at a later date that's fine. But without knowing that it's difficult to move forward in changing flights and plans. Having either direction or resolution would be a helpful measure.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
An Item to Pray About
The Ukrainian Embassy currently has my passport and I really Really REALLY need it back soon! I have been trying to call all week to ask them to return my visa application and passport (read the March 15 post for more information on my visa status). New Life Church is working out the visa details on their end. But I need to have my passport to get into the country. So far today I have made about twenty phone calls. Please pray that I will be able to contact them. Thank you.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Home For A Bit
I am flying to New Hampshire tomorrow to see my family for a few days before leaving the country. I am looking forward to sharing with my church there about what is going on in my life and what is about to happen. It is a challenge for me to really unpack what events have led to today and where things are going from here. There's not really a beginning or end to the journeys we take because there are influences that exist before a journey and there is an impact a journey makes on us that lives on to affect us after. But I can hope to share what is going on today, in this part of the journey. Thank you New Hope Fellowship for your amazing support!
Follow By Email
If you would like to be notified by e-mail when I post updates on this blog, you can enter your e-mail address in the "FOLLOW BY EMAIL" box on the right hand side of the page. This will be the best way to hear day-to-day or week-to-week news and prayer requests once I am in Ukraine!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Visa Complications
Not an immediate concern but something that could use a little prayer.
The Ukrainian embassy is quite difficult to attain information from. The website is very confusing (with broken links and a copy/pasted mishmash of material) and someone picks up the phone more often to tell you "We are closed" than they do during the four hour period of the day in which they will answer questions. Another intern and I have learned the hard way that getting a Ukrainian Visa for a year will be more complicated than it used to be. But not impossible.
I can spend three months in Ukraine on my Passport, before even needing a visa. This gives New Life Church time to work out how to get me and Jenny (another American intern) one-year religious visas. Unfortunately, they do not have any connections in the Ukrainian State Committee of Religious Matters, which tends to be much more congenial to Eastern Orthodox churches. But since this appears to be the only option, they will pursue that and see what can be done. Once I am in the country and this is taken care of, New Life Church will send Jenny and me across the border to Poland to reapply for our visas.
Please keep this in prayer. Ukrainian government pretty much works on a basis of knowing who to pay to get something done. Otherwise, nothing happens. It's a sad reality but it is reality nonetheless. The whole visa experience thus far has been only a foreshadowing of some of the bumps and aggravation I will run across once I am actually in the country. But that will be part of the experience and growing process!
The Ukrainian embassy is quite difficult to attain information from. The website is very confusing (with broken links and a copy/pasted mishmash of material) and someone picks up the phone more often to tell you "We are closed" than they do during the four hour period of the day in which they will answer questions. Another intern and I have learned the hard way that getting a Ukrainian Visa for a year will be more complicated than it used to be. But not impossible.
I can spend three months in Ukraine on my Passport, before even needing a visa. This gives New Life Church time to work out how to get me and Jenny (another American intern) one-year religious visas. Unfortunately, they do not have any connections in the Ukrainian State Committee of Religious Matters, which tends to be much more congenial to Eastern Orthodox churches. But since this appears to be the only option, they will pursue that and see what can be done. Once I am in the country and this is taken care of, New Life Church will send Jenny and me across the border to Poland to reapply for our visas.
Please keep this in prayer. Ukrainian government pretty much works on a basis of knowing who to pay to get something done. Otherwise, nothing happens. It's a sad reality but it is reality nonetheless. The whole visa experience thus far has been only a foreshadowing of some of the bumps and aggravation I will run across once I am actually in the country. But that will be part of the experience and growing process!
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