Whirlwind of Surprise!
God has given Deborah and David a heart for the Nenet people.
The Nenet live in northern Siberia.
The traditional Nenet are nomadic reindeer herders.
The Nenet are an unreached people group.
One wouldn't think that getting into Siberia would be difficult, but experience has taught us that getting things done in Russia is an arduous process.
Deborah and David applied for a 3 month visitor visa. Through this process we learned that asking "officials" how things need to be done before you do them is no guarantee that you will get the right information and when you do get it, it may not be in a timely manner. They did finally get their visa's but by the time they received it they were able to spend only 7 weeks in Siberia before it expired. One thing you do not want to do is be on any part of Russia with an expired visa!
They went to Salekhard to begin the process of applying for a 3 year temporary residency visa.
They had to be in Siberia to begin the appplication process.
They did not get all of the paperwork completed, but they had to fly out of Salekhard Sunday Oct.7th.
Their plan was fly from Salekhard to Moscow, then on to Budapest Hungary, renew their passports and sometime in November come to the states.
I got a phone call from Palmdale California Sunday evening at about 6:15 pm on our way home from the Surprise! weekend my family planned for me to enjoy.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I knew it was Deborah calling, that they had arrived in Budapest and were safely at theCalvary Chapel Bible College Europe where they attended and David's mom still teaches. Even though the call didn't go through, I was excited to know they were done with travelling. (Somehow the college has their phone and computer system through California.)
Then I got a phone call from David's Russian phone number.
It was Deborah.
"Hi mommy, I was reading your blog post about Surprise..."bzzzzzz.
Dead phone.
I was smiling, thinking about how nice it was to hear her voice, even if only for a few seconds.
Another call.
"Mommy, I wasn't able to read very far because we don't have Internet, but I have a surprise."
I am thinking "okay, are you expecting my next grandchild?"
"Our flight from Salekhard was delayed five hours. We missed our flight to Budapest. We are sitting in an airport in St. Petersburg,"
My heart starts pounding-
"Florida?!!!!!"
"No, Russia."
I begin to breath again.
"We looked at flights to Kiev, and they were too expensive. So we are flying to Cincinnati-we will be there at 2:35 tomorrow afternoon. We need prayer because we have not gone through security yet. And we are here in Russia with expired visa's. We asked a guy here at the airport and he said it would be okay, we would just have to pay a fine..."
Based on their experiences in Russia so far, I am not reassured by that man's assurances.
At this point I am beyond surprised,I am in a bit of a panic-
will they really be able to get out?
how much will the fines be?
where I am going to get two car seats in less than 18 hours?
I am thankful-
I was supposed to be in the van with Sarah going to Cincinnati to help her watch Beth's kids overnight..
I had not been feeling well and Bill sent me home with Ruth and Kyle.
If I had been in that van I would have been in a panic trying to figure out how I was going to get Deborah, David, Abigail, Selah and all of their luggage in my Cruze.
A call to a friend, a text to another and the car seats are available.
A call to Jonathan and his van is available.
A skype visit with Deborah at 9:15 pm right before they got on the plane to Paris leads to a decision that getting a room for them at a hotel for their first two days/nights will give them time to rest and acclimate.
It also gives me time to grocery shop.
It is now 10:45 PM Wednesday night.
Three days after the SURPRISE phone call.
They should be here soon.
What a whirlwind of surprises this past six days has been!
The Nenet live in northern Siberia.
The traditional Nenet are nomadic reindeer herders.
The Nenet are an unreached people group.
One wouldn't think that getting into Siberia would be difficult, but experience has taught us that getting things done in Russia is an arduous process.
Deborah and David applied for a 3 month visitor visa. Through this process we learned that asking "officials" how things need to be done before you do them is no guarantee that you will get the right information and when you do get it, it may not be in a timely manner. They did finally get their visa's but by the time they received it they were able to spend only 7 weeks in Siberia before it expired. One thing you do not want to do is be on any part of Russia with an expired visa!
They went to Salekhard to begin the process of applying for a 3 year temporary residency visa.
They had to be in Siberia to begin the appplication process.
They did not get all of the paperwork completed, but they had to fly out of Salekhard Sunday Oct.7th.
Their plan was fly from Salekhard to Moscow, then on to Budapest Hungary, renew their passports and sometime in November come to the states.
I got a phone call from Palmdale California Sunday evening at about 6:15 pm on our way home from the Surprise! weekend my family planned for me to enjoy.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I knew it was Deborah calling, that they had arrived in Budapest and were safely at theCalvary Chapel Bible College Europe where they attended and David's mom still teaches. Even though the call didn't go through, I was excited to know they were done with travelling. (Somehow the college has their phone and computer system through California.)
Then I got a phone call from David's Russian phone number.
It was Deborah.
"Hi mommy, I was reading your blog post about Surprise..."bzzzzzz.
Dead phone.
I was smiling, thinking about how nice it was to hear her voice, even if only for a few seconds.
Another call.
"Mommy, I wasn't able to read very far because we don't have Internet, but I have a surprise."
I am thinking "okay, are you expecting my next grandchild?"
"Our flight from Salekhard was delayed five hours. We missed our flight to Budapest. We are sitting in an airport in St. Petersburg,"
My heart starts pounding-
"Florida?!!!!!"
"No, Russia."
I begin to breath again.
"We looked at flights to Kiev, and they were too expensive. So we are flying to Cincinnati-we will be there at 2:35 tomorrow afternoon. We need prayer because we have not gone through security yet. And we are here in Russia with expired visa's. We asked a guy here at the airport and he said it would be okay, we would just have to pay a fine..."
Based on their experiences in Russia so far, I am not reassured by that man's assurances.
At this point I am beyond surprised,I am in a bit of a panic-
will they really be able to get out?
how much will the fines be?
where I am going to get two car seats in less than 18 hours?
I am thankful-
I was supposed to be in the van with Sarah going to Cincinnati to help her watch Beth's kids overnight..
I had not been feeling well and Bill sent me home with Ruth and Kyle.
If I had been in that van I would have been in a panic trying to figure out how I was going to get Deborah, David, Abigail, Selah and all of their luggage in my Cruze.
A call to a friend, a text to another and the car seats are available.
A call to Jonathan and his van is available.
A skype visit with Deborah at 9:15 pm right before they got on the plane to Paris leads to a decision that getting a room for them at a hotel for their first two days/nights will give them time to rest and acclimate.
It also gives me time to grocery shop.
It is now 10:45 PM Wednesday night.
Three days after the SURPRISE phone call.
They should be here soon.
What a whirlwind of surprises this past six days has been!
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