I cant believe we will be boarding a one-way flight to Changsha in 10 days. I cant believe that originally we wouldve boarded that flight yesterday. I am sooooo thankful for the extra 10 days we get in this country. These extra days are going to go faster then we can blink our eyes. Our week is packed with visiting friends and last minute details. I wouldnt have it any other way!!!
10 days. Wow. Almost 3 years since our first trip to China and these last 9 months of finalizing plans and we are down to 10 days. I guess this is our 'baby'. As I reflect over the past 17 months since our journey began with ICC, I am amazed at all God has done for us and through us. I remember reading the email that said 'your application has been accepted' and telling everyone the good news. It was a time of celebration. Within a month or so, when our first financial supported joined our journey, the reality set in. In only a few months we would be on our way to Changsha.
We took time to share our passion and good news with everyone. I conquered my fear of being on stage and talking into a microphone as I stood up at church and shared where God was/is taking us. Slowly the financial partners came. The prayer partners came. Personal supporters came. A friend suggested doing a fundraiser for us. What an amazing night that was!! Then it felt as though we were stuck. Stuck at 37% support in. Where was the minimum 33% more going to come from? As much as I hated to write financial support emails and send them off, I had no choice. Without coming right out and asking, no one would know. Those were hard to write and even harder to hit the send button. But word got out.
The fundraiser was the very end of April. We were going for our Cross-Canada trip at the end of June. 2 months to double the support that had come in. We wanted to be at 70% before heading out. We werent there, but continued to trust God to bring the partners to us as we traveled. We continued to pray and ask for prayer. The end of July we were at 70%. Time to book flights (I'll get to that in a minute). We had said from day one that although ICC required a minimum of 70% support committed to us, wouldnt it be great if we were at 80-90% before leaving? That was impossible on our own, but we knew God could do anything. We have been home for 3 weeks. God has raised up partners and we are now at 83% (with a few more coming in!)!! Wow. God is more then good, He is great!
So, onto the flights. Flights are only possible when accompanied with the proper visa. We booked flights to leave Aug 23, 2012 with the faith that our visas would be in. Well, the paperwork came in time. However, the Chinese gov't decided that they didnt want us to arrive before Sept 1, 2012. We really had no other choice but to change our flights. Now we leave on Sept 3, 2012. 10 days.
There was still the issue of the visa. We took all the paperwork to the Chinese Visa Application Service Center. Of course it didnt go smoothly. I was told that even the 3 girls needed a medical done. In the spring we were told Andrew, Brendin and I needed a few things done (13 yrs and up) but now the guy said everyone had to have the work done!! He gave us 3 options: 1) change the flights and get into the doctor and get all the work done...2) enter China on a tourist visa but that was only good for 3 months and somehow work on the work visa while in China or 3) take the Foreigner Medical Form to the doctor and have the doctor fill out what they could and where the x-rays/ECC/blood work is requested, to put "child is too young" and come back. We chose option 3. Thankfully Brendin's, Andrew's and my medical work was copied and put in our file at the dr office and the dr was able to print it off and gave us another copy. We returned to the Visa Center today and submitted our papers. It was accepted!! We can pick up our work visas on Aug 29. Yay! There is still a possibility that it will be denied, but we have faith that it will be fine. So, as it stands now, we are outta here on Sept 3!
Now that flights are confirmed & visas are pretty much here, i guess its time to pack. Packing only 12 suitcases, 6 carry-ons and 6 back packs. This is what our life has come down to. Its a daunting task. But Im looking forward to it. We bought some of those vacuum sealed bags so hopefully that will create a lot more space for us. This weekend we will start packing, between visits with friends and family.
I will send out an email of what can/cannot be written in a comment here or on an email to us. Things like God has to be written Gd or G. Pray needs to be pr or pr*y. I will send you all a full email on these 'codes'.
With only 10 days to go, I'm not sure I will get on here again to write. I will write again within our first few days in China, assuming we have internet coverage. I will also send out an email to everyone on our email chain. If you arent on our email chain, and want to be, please send an email to thepensare@gmail.com and i will add you.
Take care everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment