Well, Life has been exciting this past year. One interesting thing that has happened is that I forgot all about this blogspot! I went to the jungle again and remembered the story I shared last year. This time, I'll try to keep it short; I promise.
These past few weeks have been full of travel. A few weeks ago, I went to Lima to get some preaching. I am constantly in the pulpit and, for once, figured I would enjoy sitting and being fed, as opposed to bringing the food myself. So I packed an overnight bag, kissed the wife and kids, and left at midnight on a bus to Lima. I arrived about three hours later than normal; but otherwise, the trip was a pleasant, the preaching was refreshing, and that night, I left to return to Huancayo (our home in the Andes Mountains about 200 miles or 6-8 hours east of Lima.) When I arrived in Huancayo, I left my
wallet on the bus (with about $30, two credit cards, and my carnet - my resident card). That meant another day's trip to Lima. Once again, I packed an overnight bag, kissed my wife and kids, and left at midnight on a bus to Lima. The trip was uneventful, and I made it to the Immigrations office first thing in the morning.
Now, the Peruvian Immigration's Office is one of those things that can really bring out the flesh in this preacher. Each year, they ask for new things - new documents - that weren't required the year before. Their latest kick is Birth Certificates. "We need an original birth certificate for each child, apostilled by the Secretary of State, notarized in Peru, and translated by an official translator in Lima." Well, OK. If that's what it takes. The following year: "We need an original birth certificate for each child, apostilled by the Secretary of State, notarized in Peru, and translated by an official translator in Lima." "Wait,... You know I gave you the original last year, right?" "Yes, but that one is no longer valid. It expired." "Um, birth certificates do NOT expire! And do you know what original means?" "We need an original birth certificate for each child..." "Yeah, I know! ... Give me a month."
Last year, I again ordered birth certificates for the yearly process. They were purchased then mailed to the Secretary of State, who had them in the mail to Peru the next day with all the necessary seals and stamps. A postal service strike in Peru sent them to the black hole - you know, the one where that other sock went. So then, we were late with my girls' visa renewals, and it cost me more money and time getting new birth certificates... again. I ordered them, and just before my second trip to Lima, they arrived at my house. So while I was in Lima getting my new carnet, I met up with my lawyer to hand everything over to him.
Anyway, because of the "ok,-now,-come-back-tomorrow-to-pick-it-up" process in immigrations, my one-day trip turned into a four-day trip. I'll spare you the details. With my new carnet in hand, I headed back to Huancayo, looking forward to NOT travelling for a while. The next day, I received a call from my lawyer -- my girls' passports had expired, and we cannot proceed with the visa process. Back to Lima. This time with the whole family. We were able to get the passports
processed in an hour at the embassy. America's got that system down: Birth certificates from 2010 (still valid), a picture ID from Mom and Dad., and an "Ok, come back in three weeks to pick up your new passports." ...and we walked out the door. Peruvian Immigrations would have taken three days to do that. Since we spent so much in gas just to get to Lima, we decided to take a couple extra days to
relax in the capital with some missionary friends of ours.
Soon, we packed up the truck and braced ourselves for another 6-hour trip. But this time, we were going home! On our way back to
Huancayo, about a half-hour into the trip (i.e. 5:30am), our radiator hose came
loose. I noticed that the truck was overheating and decided to pull into a gas
station on the opposite side of the road. I turned into a u-turn
for oncoming traffic, and the truck stalled. It was still dark, but
traffic was picking up that morning, and truck drivers were trying to turn
...legally. After many insults, one person was kind enough to help me push the vehicle across the road to the gas station. When I
inspected the truck, the only thing wrong was a hose that was no
longer attached to the radiator. I let everything cool down, plugged the hose back in, filled up
with water (that my wife always insists that we carry), and the truck started right up. The mountain
air cooled the truck enough to make it to a store about two hours
from Lima where I bought a new clamp and secured the hose a little
better. We made it to Huancayo that afternoon and began to count our blessings.
We broke down a half an hour from Lima, not halfway to Huancayo. We
broke down at a gas station, not somewhere between San Mateo and La
Oroya (4 hours of beautiful scenery but not one repair shop). And we
broke down with what turned out to be the easiest thing to fix I've
come across yet. I've learned that God is good, even if He hadn't been so
generous with the timing, location, or gravity of our problem. But I sure appreciated His extra care that morning.
As I write this blog, we are waiting for some fuel filters from the US. Yes, that's filters - plural. The truck broke down last week because of a dirty filter. The gas here contains lead and is very contaminated here in the mountains; and every six months or so, my truck begins to get choked up. Now, I'm going to stock up on fuel filters! Otherwise, we are well; and we're thrilled to be able to do what we do -- drive to Lima a few times a month with a sick vehicle to jump through hoops in Immigrations to be able to stay in the country.
"Onward, Christian Soldiers." right?
