Back in Ukraine

Well, the trials are over. I am now sitting safely at my own computer in my apartment here in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine. God's presence couldn't have been more evident in the time I needed Him most. I can recall yesterday with great detail as I stood in line at the customs check at Kiev. All my mind was searching for was to hear that THUMP noise of the stamp slamming down on my passport. And there it was... THUMP! :)

All day yesterday while traveling, I had so much fear and anxiety of the potential risk of being rejected for entry into Ukraine. I got up at 5:00am in order to catch the bus. After a 20 minute drive, I got off and went down, into the metro station. I had to ride the subway train for a good half hour at least. It was weird being underground for so long. The whole time I was reading my Bible and praying for God's deliverance, since I had so much worry about the entrance into Ukraine. Usually I have anxiety and nervousness about flying, but this time those fears were replaced with the fear of not being allowed back into Ukraine to see the kids I love so dearly. No clammy hands on landing, no fear of the plane blowing up due to poor maintenance. All that was on my mind was getting that stamp of entrance into Ukraine. :) I prayed that God would show me that I can trust in Him, and to give him all my worries. I realized that I need to fully trust in Him and give Him the reins in my life, and all would turn out the way it's meant to. I did that in the past, and He led me to Ukraine to do His will. The experiences here have given me so many amazing memories, emotions and love of which I would never have even fathomed of, if it weren't for God being there every step of the way. So all day, through my two flights (Berlin - Warsaw, Warsaw - Kiev), I prayed, and prayed some more, and focused on shedding my fears and worries, and letting God do His work behind the scenes as I opened the doors He knocked on.

When our plane taxied to the terminal in Kiev, that's when I just gave it all over. I said to God, "I am yours; just show me which line to be in, and whatever happens, I know it's where you want me. If I get turned away and told to fly back home, then I know it's what you want." I started waiting in a particular line (I ALWAYS choose the slowest one!!), and before long, I noticed that there was a different line that was particularly shorter than all the others, with only one person waiting there, while 4 more were in my line. So, I picked up my duffel bag and spoke, "Thank-you God for your signs," and with a sudden surge of confidence and faith, I walked over and up to the desk where the woman customs guard sat. I submitted my passport and spoke "Zdrastvuytye" (Hello). She nodded and greeted me back. As she flipped through the pages of my new, clean passport, she looked up and asked, "Where will you be going to, here in Ukraine?" I told her Krivoy Rog. At this moment, time seemed to slow. I watched (perhaps with a gaping mouth :) as she reached for the stamp. THUMP! Then came the passport, through the window. With a smile, she said, "Welcome to Ukraine."

Now, I had a sick stomach, clammy hands, and my soul seemed to carry bags weighing a thousand pounds all day long. I was that full of worry. But let me tell you, that the moment the passport returned into my hands, I felt like I could fly! I suddenly felt more giddy and full of joy than I have been for a long time! I started to dance a bit as I made my way to the public area of the airport, but then thought better of it as taxi drivers started to hound me for rides! :) What freedom I felt!! I can't put it into words. All I know is that I kept praising the LORD of my life! I always wondered throughout my life why God made me such an emotional person. Well, let me tell you, my emotional side has proven to be an essential tool in this ministry here with the wonderful children from the orphanages. Every time I saw a child while I was in Germany, I saw those kids in Ukraine whom I love so dearly, and I would want to cry. But then these kids would look into my eyes and give me a nice, big smile from ear to ear. I saw God smiling at me through their smiles. (No lies! This happened with 4 or 5 different times from various children I met in Germany, and it was God comforting me - holding me over until I can be with the kids in Ukraine again!) God's allowing me to be here in Ukraine again tells me that I am exactly where I ought to be: using the gifts of emotion and compassion and love to further His Kingdom! AMEN.

The train ride to Krivoy Rog was better than expected, because some friends of mine were there too! They were 5 cars down from me, but I walked over to them and visited with them for most of the evening. In the morning I was greeted by our whole Ukraine team at the train station! What a nice surprise that was!

Anyways, so here I am alone at home. Time to do laundry! Then to see the kids later this afternoon! :):):)

GOT THE VISA!!

Yeah read right - I got the visa today!! No hassles. Hardly a wait. But I'll get to that in a bit!

The morning started early once again - I wanted to get the visa thing done and over with! So I went downtown to where I understood I could find the particular bank I had to pay the fee at for my Ukrainian visa. The procedure is to pay at the said bank by presenting them the bill from the embassy. On the bill is written all the bank account information for the Ukrainina  embassy. Then I would get a reciept from them, and then submit that reciept at the embassy to get my passport back, visa and all.  But first of all, all the trains and subway trains were SLOW today. At each connection, I had to wait at least 10 minutes, and even when I got on them, they drove way slower than usual. Not sure why. So I went downtown to where my map said I could find the bank I needed. I got there only to find that this location was only their offices. No tellers. So then I rushed a way's accross town to another branch. This one had tellers. I made the payment, and headed on to the embassy, several blocks away.

At first when I came into the embassy, there were many people standing around the outside doors. They were the overflow line! I thought, 'wow, how long will I have to be here in this line up?' But then one person entered and asked, 'Who here is last in line for window number 2?' Thinking back to the other day I remembered that I was in line 4: the visa line. So then I asked everyone there in Russian, 'Is anyone here in line for window number 4?' One lady replied, 'Nobody here needs a visa; you should just be able to go right in! ' So I went in, told the guard what I was there for, and I onlz had to wait for two people in front of me. They were both helped really quickly, and when I submitted the reciept from the bank, the man left the window, and 30 seconds later had my passport in hand. With a smile he said, 'Das vidanya' ('Goodbye' in Russian).

As I received the passport, I looked over the visa inside for any possible mistakes. Under 'Visa Type' was written 'P'. I thought, OH NO!!!!' This is because I have always had 'Private visas' in the past. They have given me nothing but trouble. It's why I am stuck out of Ukraine! I figured, 'Well, I gave them the invitation letter which clearly stated that I am going to be in Ukraine for religious matters, so it must be right.' Then I realised: I read it in English!! 'P' in Russian is actually the letter 'R'!! This means I did indeed get the 'Religious visa' as requested. You don't know how the 'P' in my visa scared me. I almost P'd my pants! :) But now I know for certain that all is well with that!! Praise the Lord!!

I'll be flying out to Kiev tomorrow morning! Please pray for my safe travels, and that the customs agents don't give me any hassles! Thanks so much for following me on my travels! God bless!

Application submitted

Yesterday I didn't get a good chance to post, so I apologize for that. First off, let me say that the visa application has been submitted and I was told that it will be ready on Friday! That's tomorrow already! They wouldn't process it any faster, so I'll take what I can get! The only catch is that it costs twice as much here as it costs to get it done in Canada. At this point I'll pay anything to get back to Ukraine just to see the precious children again. The other day on the train I found myself in tears just thinking of the kids in the orphanages. If all goes well, I should be back in Ukraine on Saturday, and in Krivoy Rog early sunday morning, so it won't be long before I will see them again. It's incredible how much I miss them; I've only been gone 3 weeks! It'll soon all be over. I feel God's hand leading me every step of the way.

In the morning yesterday I went straight to the Canadian embassy as planned and got the passport with no hassles. The woman there was really nice and wished me well on my journey. I then went to a local coffee shop, and as I drank a nice latté machiatto, I filled out the rest of my visa application. Then I was off to the Ukrainian embassy! It was a way's across town, but found I it no problem because I drew myself a detailed map with instructions. Well, when I got there, I couldn't figure out which entrance to go in. I asked a Ukrainian who was walking by, and he showed me the door. Inside there was a security guard who told me to stand in line behind a woman who was already waiting in front of an empty window for some time. I could see the tired look in her face. We stood there for at least 20 minutes before an embassy worker came and sat in front of the window to start helping her. He spent at least 20 minutes helping her, and even after that woman left, he took another 15 minutes just to acknowledge my presence. At first I asked if he knew English. Well, he didn't. So I switched on my Russian (which I wanted to conceal), and submitted my documents. Everything went fine, and he told me to pick up the visa on Friday! Please pray that all goes well with that. Right now I am finishing up booking my saturday flight to Kiev. I should be in Ukraine by saturday, just after lunch. That'll give me ample time to get to the train station to get a ticket to Krivoy Rog! I am so pumped!!!

The Big Day is Here

Well, I made it back to Berlin in the afternoon today. Tomorrow's the big day. First, I'm going to drop by the Canadian embassy to pick up my passport, then I am going to head straight to the Ukrainian embassy to apply for my visa. I know I've asked this before more than once, but I am going to ask you again: please keep me in your prayers. Pray for God's will to be done here. It is He who is running the show. Thank you all who pray for me and the precious kids who I miss so much.

On the Road in Germany: Part 2

<Continued from the previous post, 'On the Road in Germany: Part 1'. >

I arrived in Bielefeld, in the company of some old church friends of my parents who are missionaries working as pastors at the local church here in town. They are very generous and kind, and have been very hospitible. I have my own room to use, all the ammenities, and am fed very well! The weather here has been very chilly, foggy, and rainy. So I have no pictures to show of this beautiful town. For the most part I have spent my time doing paperwork for our ministry and even went shopping one day and bought a lot of nice warm clothes needed for the Ukrainian winters! :)

Due to my expectation of having to wait for my passport for two weeks, I planned to stay here in their company for about a week before heading back to Berlin to wait off the rest of the period for my passport. Well, as luck and blessings would have it, I got a phone call on the second day of my stay here. Sure enough, it was the Canadian embassy in Berlin calling to tell me that my passport was ready - ALREADY!!! That means it only took only ONE WEEK for them to process, not even the 2 weeks that the lady promised me! Praise God!!! But this new turn of events left me with a change of plans. So, now I plan to leave for Berlin tomorrow, but along the way I plan to stop over along the way at an old friend's place for the night. This means I will be in Berlin on Tuesday. Due to the Canadian embsasy only being open until 12 noon, I'll head over there as early as possible on Wednesday morning to grab my passport, then straight on to the Ukrainian embassy to apply for my visa. If all goes well and good, I should have the visa in hand by Friday, meaning I could potentially be back in Ukraine come Sunday or Monday!!!!!!!

The application of the Ukrainian visa is of utmost importance to my entrance into Ukraine earlier than Feb 28. So, I ask of all those who read this: PLEASE PRAY for the visa application to go through QUICKLY and SMOOTHLY, with no troubles!! And then, for a quick booking of a cheap flight back to Ukraine. The final hurdle will be actual entrance into the country by the airport customs agent! All these things require prayer, and I ask for your help in prayer with all these things. Thanks so much, and I'll keep you all posted as things happen!

On the Road in Germany: Part 1

As many of you know, I have been on the road in Europe for about two and a half weeks now. It feels longer, trust me! So far my travels have brought me to Chisinau, Moldova, then on to Berlin, Germany, and now I am in Bielefeld, Germany.

When I last posted, I told you of how I had just applied for my passport, and that it would take 2 weeks or so. So, since I had the time, I decided to travel down to Frankfurt to visit a second-cousin of mine named Margarita, whom I had never met. She was only available to visit in the evening of the day, so I planned to travel to Frankfurt early in the morning so that I would be able to see some sights during the daylight, and then meet up with her in the evening. Well, it was well worth it, because Frankfurt is a beautiful city, and I took lots of pictures, and simply wandered aimlessly around the downtown area.

That day was the best day yet weather-wise, and made for great photos! So that evening I met up with my second-cousin, and we had dinner, then I crashed at her boyfriend's place for the night. The next morning I went to the train station and boarded a train for a city called Bielefeld, about 5 hours on the slower regional trains away. Well, my schedule on the train required me to switch trains at 4 different staions along the way, and I was nervous about that. So, on the first leg of the trip, my train split in half at a certain station, sending me (unaware) to a location in the opposite direction of my first transfer. So, after my train stopped in a no-name town, I spoke to the engineer and inquired how to get back on track, and he wrote up a new schedule for me to follow. The catch was that I was stuck in the current town for 40 minutes. Instead of sitting around, twittling my thumbs, I decided to take a walk into the village. The following pictures were what I was able to get, and it was a very pleasant place to wander!

After my wandering time was up, I boarded the train back, in the direction I arrived from, and made all my connections smoothly until my final destination where I am residing now: with some family friends who are missionaries here at a local church.

This adventure continues on the next post! It's up already!! Check it out to see the progress of my trip!

Passport Application

Well dear friends and family, I have been to the Canadian embassy, and boy was it strict in there!! Full airport-style security with baggage check and all. Cell phones and cameras not allowed. In fact my cell phone had to be turned off before being put away for safe keeping while I was inside!

Anyways, onto business. After being told to correct several things and top up other info on my form, I was told that I had to find another Guarantor since my pastor friend cannot qualify. In fact, pastors are no longer at all able to be used as Guarantors. Anyone know why that is? Does the government have something against pastors in this area? Since I didn't know who else to get as a Guarantor, I had to fill out a "Decloration of Identity in Lieu of a Guarantor" that costed me an extra 35€!! Oh well. Either way, the woman said that even though the standard processing time for passports is 3 weeks, she would do her best to get it done in under 2 weeks, even perhaps 10 days!! What a blessing it was to hear that. So gotta make plans of what to do here for the coming 2 or less weeks. Any ideas? :) Please note: I am NOT made of money! Simply riding a train across country goes for no less than 80 Euros, and that's on a slow train...

In Berlin

Well I left Chisinau at 5am and made it to Berlin by lunch (flew to Frankfurt and then took the ICE Train to Berlin). Worked out to save me 50 Euros instead of having a connector flight into Berlin. I like - I REALLY REALLY LIKE the ICE Trains!!! 250 kms/hour!!!!!! And so very smooth and quiet!! Frankfurt to Berlin in 4.5 hours! :O Even though it took me a couple hours longer than flying, it was an awesome experience on the train. The scenery was amazing too!!

Since in Berlin I have already got my passport photos done, ate lunch at Subway (Eat Fresh!), got a local phone number for my cell, and now am off to the church I'll be staying at on the other side of town.

Pictures will be up as soon as I find a place to upload them! :)

Flight is booked

Today I went down to the travel agency and booked a flight to Frankfurt, Germany leaving 5:00am from Chisinau airport on Wednesday. My deal includes (in the ticket price)a one day fare on the ICE trains in Germany! So looks like I'll have a scenic first day in Germany as I travel by train from Frankfurt to Berlin, where I will be staying at a Mennonite church which was planted by some old friends of mine. Once there, I will head out to the Canadian embassy to get a new passport. Problem is, as I read on the embassy website, it can take up to 3 weeks to process a passport!!!! I really don't want to be out of Ukraine so long, so I am praying that God will pave a clear, quick way for me back into Ukraine.

Christmas Caroling

On the Orthodox Christmas (January 7) the American friends I am staying with invited me to join them in traveling 2 hours west from Chisinau, by bus, to a town called Ungheni which is located right on the border of Moldova and Romania. There we joined a local church youth group in going door to door singing Christmas carols in Romanian! We got around the town in a big Ford van. It was rather fun, and we were caroling from 8pm-12am or so. Here is a taste of what I experienced!

Here are my new American friends. Jessie (left), and Sarah (right)

We were allowed into people's homes!

Sometimes we simply stood in the stairwells.

Here we are preparing our really late dinner.

This is our caroling group, complete with an accordion, drum, and tamborine.

After caroling for hours, we all headed back to the church and had a small feast of pizza, sandwiches, pop, and sweets. We then played a bunch of games and then took everyone home in this beast Ford E-350 imported from California! The white van still had the California plates on it! Check it out...

Our stylin' ride straight from Cali! :) Gas guzzler...

The next day we (me and the Americans with our Moldavian translator friend Igor) headed back to Chisinau on the bus, and that's where I am now. Today I will head out to the market with my friends here, and hopefully get in contact with a travel agent in order to book a flight to Germany! 

Thanks again everyone for all your thoughts and prayers. I am having a very good time here, despite my situation. I'll keep you all posted as things happen! 

Trapped in Moldova!

Well, this past week I headed out to cross the border into Moldova again, but this time I planned to be out of Ukraine for the period of time that my visa ran out. My plan was to run the visa out, then return to Ukraine under the "no-visa" regime which allows one to be in Ukraine for up to 90 days out of every 180. My plan  was to, during those 90 days, process a new passport (since mine expires in April), and then I would have left the country one more time after that to process a new Ukrainian visa. Apparently the it's not that simple.

I took the overnight train from Krivoy Rog to Odessa, where I met this rather interesting drunk man and friendly elderly woman who shared the room on the train with me. The drunk man's name was Tolya, and he spoke to me of many things in his life, most of which was vefry hard to understand since he was so drunk and mumbled lots. I did my best to witness to him and also spoke to the woman who was very interested in hearing about the ministry I am involved in. By morning our train arrived and I was off to the bus station to catch a bus into Moldova. It was FREEZING outside!! Thankfully I brought my heavier winter gear. The bus station had no heat, and ends up that I had to wait there for 2 hours. I walked around lots to maintain body heat to no avail. Soon enough my bus came and we hit the road!

As we pulled up to the Ukrainian checkpoint, as usual, we all submitted our passports. We all sat there patiently for them to be returned to us, and lo and behold, the driver came onto the bus asking who the person from Canada was. He said to come with him, and to take my belongings with me. Right away I knew there was trouble. The guard pulled me inside the office (thankfully there was heating there!!) and explained to me my predicament. According to all that I gathered, being that I was never invited to Ukraine with an invitation letter, I am not allowed to register. I knew this already, which is why I have been leaving the border as I have in the past. The thing is, I was never told that this fact makes my visa pretty much useless, meaning I (like those without visas) officially am only allowed to be in Ukraine 90 days out of every 180. I repeatedly asked the head guard what the point of me paying $364 for my vissa was if it didn't help me in the first place. He couldn't give a solid answer, since I had discovered a very silly loophole that couldn't be explained away. The guard then told me that I could not return to Ukraine until february 28 since this date marks the end of my current 180 day cycle. That leaves me with almost 2 months to...do what? :( I already had some tears in my eyes thinking of how I would miss the kids in the orphanages.  I always hate not seeing them for a while, and this period of time seemed difficult to bear. I then called Luba (my brother's wife for those of you who don't know who she is), and got the guard to tell her everything in case I missed some details.

After a while of thinking, I asked him if there was any possible way out of my situation - like if there was any way I could enter Ukraine again sooner than Feb 28. I suggested him my plan. I asked if I got a new passport done, and a new (this time) religious visa, if that would allow me to enter Ukraine at an earlier date. He said with a sparkle in his eyes, "Yes! Clean slate!" Let me tell you, this man was very kind, and seemed to feel empathy for me in my situation. When he told me that not only did I have to pay a fine, but also that they had the legal right to hold me for three hours, I thought it was a bit much. But then, while in my waiting period, he came into the room with coffee and cookies from their break room and told me to help myself. On top of that, he offered me a cigarette, which I had to turn down, of course! :) When I had to pay the fine, I was submitted with an official document to pay at the bank next door. He handed me the paper saying, "You must go to the bank to pay it. This way you know it's not going into my pocket. In between his duties he would come in to check on me and would even start up some honest small-talk. I was impressed, and so thankful to God that I was blessed with having one of the nicest, most honest man possible at this border crossing.

When the time was up, the guard put me on the next bus to Chisinau, Moldova with wishes of luck on my road. The bus took us through the Moldovan checkpoint without a hint of trouble, and we made a pit stop right there. Below I attached some pictures I took there. Remember how I said that day was cold? Well, it was freezing and foggy, and all the trees and fences were covered in hoarfrost. Below are pictures I captured on my phone of my surroundings. The land around the border crossing is desolate to say the least.

Upon entering Moldova, I was at ease. I successfully made it to my friends' apartment, and they had a nice hot dinner to serve when I got there. Thank God for such amazing people with warm hearts and open arms to take me in! My plan at that point was to go to the Canadian embassy in Moldova and get my passport done ASAP, and then the visa at the local Ukrainian embassy. Well, by that night I discovered that there is no Canadian embassy here in Moldova. The closest one is in Romania. Trouble is, I don't know anyone there, and the time to process a passport can take a week or longer for all I know. During that time I would have to stick around, and without people I know, that would be a daunting thing to go through. So, I decided to see if some missionary friends of ours in Germany were willing to take me in. There is an embassy there. This is the next step in my adventure. They have replied saying they can take me in, so I will head out to Germany sometime this week!

Thank you so much to all of you who are keeping me in your prayers! It is such a blessing to know that so many people care! I'll keep you all posted as things happen! Gotta get back to Ukraine!!! :)