The Saga at T Minus 118 Hours

Making arrangement to leave one’s home country and to move to an unknown country brings many surprises. I have made several phone calls to the Czech Consulate in Chicago this week and last. The one constant in our lives in the last few weeks arises from these phone calls. The constant response, “your visa is pending” has been the constant for us. I think a poem or song should be written around this topic. I am sure many people have heard this repeatedly before us and will continue to hear it repeatedly after us.

So what is new and what is our situation? Right now we have resigned ourselves to the almost certain fact that we will leave for Prague with no visa to stay there past ninety days. Only a miracle and last minute effort will get us visas before we leave. But as our daughter Gretchen reminded me, “remember 1977”. That was the year of an unheard of venture by John that secured visas for us to leave for Nigeria.

Yesterday, in a phone call to the Consulate, (and I must credit the people at the Consulate with being very courteous and helpful, but lacking authority to do much) when I told them to send us our passports back (which they have had since May 20th), the response was, “you must send us a letter requesting them back”. I am thinking…”just another overnight letter to pay for”, with no option since time is running out. But the dear lady on the other end of the line then said, “you can fax the letter”, which brought great relief and joy to me! So I penned a letter that seemed crystal clear to me and both Phyllis and I signed it and faxed it to Chicago.

Today I called the Consulate just before noon and the letter was no where to be found. They told me they would call back in thirty minutes telling whether someone else had the letter or I needed to refax it. At 2:10 PM I called back since I had not heard from them. My conversation started with, “have you found my fax?”. I was put on hold immediately. But to my great relief the nice lady returned to the line and told me she has found the fax. I asked them to send the passports back immediately and was told they would put them in the post this afternoon.

After some further discussions I came away slightly perplexed, but more ready than ever to battle bureaucracies around in the world. Two answers I received to follow-up questions were, “I don’t know” and "I have never done that before”. This was truly great training for further encounters with government workers in the US and abroad.

So what exactly is our current situation? First, we plan to leave home on August 13th and fly to Prague, arriving on August 14th. We have a one way ticket to London from Prague on October 23rd in case the immigration people demand to see how we are leaving the Schengen region, which the Czech Republic is a part of.

Second, what happens when we land at Ruynze Airport in Prague? Well, this is where I need to begin thanking people who are already in Prague. There are several people who are working for us in Prague and have been willing to go out of their ways on our behalf. First, Lori G will meet us in Ester W’s van. Lori with drive us to our apartment which Renata V, Leslie J, Marilyn G and David G (all of who are with CISP) have helped us secure. To reiterate from other correspondences, we will live in a two bedroom apartment in the Zizkov area of Prague. Hence we have room for visitors.

Our son Trevor and daughter-in-law Jennifer are the first to officially announce a date that they will visit us. We are thrilled to know they will come at Christmas which will make the Holiday more joyful. So book your dates early as the rush is on!

There are many friends and family who have been so helpful in the USA. We want to thank all of you who have supported us with prayers, with financial contributions, and with counsel and encouragement. We would not have made it this far without so much support. Thanks to all of you. Special thanks to Pat for having a going-away dinner for us with friends and for Dan and Sue for a second going-away dinner.

Next Wednesday special thanks will go to Brenton and Sharon who will drive us and our large suitcases to the airport. Special thanks go to all the staff at IICS who have helped us with arrangements and encouraged us. Special thanks also go to those in our Life Group who have supported us in our preparations for this new adventure in life.

What is next? We wait for our passports to arrive Saturday or Monday. We will do the final packing of suitcases (which for the most part have been ready for three weeks). We have a family goodbye dinner Tuesday evening. We entrust our house to our nephew and niece, Jared and Michelle, for safe keeping. They have graciously agreed to receive our mail and do our banking for us while we are gone.

John