truth #10: visas, languages, and headaches are not impossible for God.

This truth will definitely take some explaining.



I will start with the visa... As many of you know, we have been praying like crazy for my visa situation. I think now that I have all the details I can give you the complete story. Here it goes. Laws changed in Ecuador right around the time that I entered Ecuador in September with my tourist visa. Which before the laws changed would not have been a problem. However, now the person entering the country cannot change visa types except in their home country. In more simple words, I could not change my three month tourist visa to a two year missionary visa in Ecuador... Then came the words from my field leader in October when we became aware of the situation, "Tabitha, I hate to tell you this but you are going to HAVE to go home for Christmas." My three month tourist visa would end in mid-December. Well, I was not too sad as honestly the holidays are the hardest time for me to be away from the states. Having to return home for a short period of time, however, was not the biggest problem that we faced. To obtain a missionary visa in Ecuador you have to fulfill about 8 or 9 requirements. One of the biggest was to have letter and documents of the supporting missionary organization. Well, when the laws changed concerning the visas, they also changed concerning what makes an organization a legal organization in Ecuador... Making it next to impossible for me to get the necessary documents because my supporting organization no longer qualified as a legal organization in Ecuador. So I came home in December having no idea when or if I would get the documents. Finally, five days before I left I got the documents. So my dad and I drove down to Houston on Monday, January 5, 2009 to apply for the visa. After the office worker in the consulate looks at all my papers, it seemed that he had problems with two of them. What was slightly irritating was that I had called the office three times before coming to make sure exactly what they wanted in the documents and they wouldn't give anything more than general things. Yet the problems that this guy had was specific things, one of my papers was not a date within the last 15 days, and another paper didn't have a signature or seal (did I mention that he did not tell me about either of these necessary things on the phone?). Well after about 3 hours and a fax later, I had my visa! Amazing, right? Now it is over and I could go back to Ecuador.... Ha, the fun had only just begun. On arriving back to Ecuador with my new visa I had 30 days to register my visa and to get my censo (a governmental id). At the visa registration office, it became apparent that there was a problem with my visa, instead of the beginning date being 5 January 2009 for my two years it said 5 January 2008. A whole year different! So, I then with the help of a very patient friend began a week long process of getting the year corrected (with one document having to be changed and resigned three times because they could not get the name right). I finally got my visa registered on Friday morning (yes this last Friday morning). We then decided to stop by the immigration office and see if they had any openings to get the censo (governmental id). With the past foreigners it has taken around three days of standing in lines and correcting of documents before they received their censo. We walked in around 10:15, went straight to the counter, he looked at my papers, took my picture, printed out my id card, had me sign it, laminated it and gave it to me. We were out of the door by 10:30. I was stunned! With all the other problems that I had faced I never imagined that I would get this card so quickly... So now, as of January 30, 2009 I am finished with visa things for the next two year!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! Maybe this will give you a little more insight to the Ecuadorian processes.



Language, I struggled so much at the beginning of my time with miscommunications and the inability to really talk with people. I took classes three to four times a week and would listen to Spanish during our meetings, church services, prayer meetings, outings with friends, movies, and in the office. I am not at the moment by any means fluent but I am able to communicate and I even am writing daily emails to people interested in missions in Spanish! Of course I always get someone to check it over before I send it... :) God has been so good in helping me in this area and I need to make sure that I continue to study and learn to be better able to work and minister here in South America.



Headaches. I don't understand them. I don't like them. I had at first a great struggle when I returned to Ecuador with a consistent headache that just kept getting worse. After about a month and a half of this headache, it is finally getting a bit better. But even more importantly I am beginning to trust God more in this time. Please keep praying that I will find joy and strength each day no matter what comes my way. I had a long talk with some friends last night that really helped to to gain perspective on my situation and gave me great encouragement.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which
surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

My goal this week is to be constantly giving thanks and praying.