- Sunday the 23rd, at 10:15 AM 10:55 AM:Leave for the bus station.
- 12:30 PM: Bus leaves for Recife.
- Monday the 24th, at 6:15 AM arrive in Recife.
- 1:30 PM: Arrive at US Consulate.
- 2:30 or 3:00 PM Leave US Consulate.
- 7:15 PM: Bus leaves Recife for Teresina (with us aboard).
- Tuesday the 25th, noon: Arrive in Teresina.
It is a fairly common thing among Evangelicals when traveling to ask for hospitality and give it in turn. So we thought we would try to save on the hotel that way. On the advice of our pastor here (who had tried to find other arrangements for us ahead of time, as one needs the commendation of a pastor) we asked to be taken to this Baptist Church/Seminary, but ended up at a slightly different church.We walked in at about 7:15 AM, and to my wonder there was a service going on. On the way to the church from the bus garage Kylie had put her diaper to good use, so we were really in need of somewhere we could change her quickly. Nádya asked someone sitting in the back who the pastor was.
I went down front to where he was sitting, and asked him if we could talk outside for a moment (the music was playing so loud that it was difficult to communicate). It turns out that he was not the pastor—in fact, he did not even go to that church!
He is a missionary from the United States. He was also kind enough to invite us to his home and rest there. It was a beautiful apartment with a wonderful view of the city—which is drastically different from Teresina, and far more beautiful. They were very gracious in offering their home, taking us to lunch, and even offering s'mores (marshmallows are impossible to find). They even dropped us off at the consulate!
At the consulate we were treated very cordially (in stark contrast to last time), and all the applications, forms, and other documents were accepted. I did need two more documents for Kylie's registration, but those can be emailed when I get them. So, it was a successful trip.
I have already had a couple people ask me when we were coming home since the trip was successful. We don't know. This is the first step in the process, now we wait to be called for our big interview in Rio de Janeiro. There will also be some more documents to get for that, as I recall, but hopefully they will inform us what we need to do before we get there. They say they will.
Now we just wait.
[More panoramas of Recife here, and other photos of the trip are coming.]
[composed and posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: eventful trip, bus station, missionary, commendation, recife, cordially, marshmallows, drastically, baptist church, Our Activities, Our Story, leaves, rundown, itinerary, bus garage, s'mores, Teresina, evangelicals, stark contrast, kylie, grueling
Cool happenings are afoot in the Wine Garden. That's really cool that you actually did that. I always think of doing that... looking for a church or other Christians who would be hospitable. If we are all acting even a little bit how we should as Christians, it really should be a worldwide community like that... brothers and sisters. I just never had the guts to go through with it. Great that you did. It's a good thing you didn't have to shake the dust off your feet :)
ReplyDeleteI think we as Americans as a general rule don't like to hassle each other because we ourselves don't like to be hassled. I would fear rejection asking such a thing of a church in America. Probably you would not be turned away, but it might be difficult to find someone who cares enough to act, offering their hospitality. Who knows, maybe this is all wrong and the response would be surprisingly favorable... it would be a good experiment.
Glad to hear things went so well! And what a blessing that you "just happened" to run into those missionaries...a God thing, for sure!
ReplyDeleteHey there Karl, thanks for dropping me a note on my blog. Its always fun to find out how old friends are doing in life! I will pray that the wheels will turn quickly in your process of getting back to the US!
ReplyDeletePhil: Of all the variations on my (our) last names I have heard in my life, I think that is a first. :) I tend to agree with you about the church, too.
ReplyDeleteSarah: Yes, it was. When I realized what had happened I was pretty amazed at the whole thing. Wrong place, wrong time turned right place, right time.
Beth: No problem, and thank you for commenting here. I have been "lurking" on your blog looking at the darling pictures of your family for a couple of months now. Thanks for praying!