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!!! :)