Visa Update

Shortly after I sent in my visa application a few weeks ago to the Chadian embassy, I received a call that I needed to send in one more document.  I suppose I should be used to this by now: as a friend said, when doing business in France you will always be missing one required document the first time around!  In this case, I had sent everything in, but one document wasn't what they wanted. Eventually, I was able to get the right document and sent it in, but still wondered if even that was what they wanted.  So today, I called to verify that they have it and are satisfied with all my paperwork.

Even after 10 months in France, I get all sorts of butterflies in my stomach about phone calls -- you can't read people's lips or gestures over the phone, and I find it much easier to get derailed if the person talks fast or has an accent that I'm not accustomed to.  In this case, I spoke to two people, one of whom wasn't too hard to understand, the other I kept having to ask to repeat things.  But in spite of that, we did manage to communicate, and praise the Lord, they are now satisfied with all my paperwork, and I should receive my visa next week!  I'm very thankful to be nearly done with this process -- for the moment, anyway.  Visas will be a part of my life as long as the Lord has me in this ministry -- maybe the next 35 years or more - so I'm trying to get used to it.  Thankfully, the Lord is in control even of the decisions of embassies and consulates -- whether they know it or not!