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!!!
January 27, 2011
January 25, 2011
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.
January 23, 2011
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!
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.
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!
January 13, 2011
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...
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...
January 12, 2011
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.
January 10, 2011
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.
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