August 25, 2007
Update from Pastor Matt
In the early morning darkness we arrived at Manchester Airport Thursday with two very excited children and with great anticipation for our first trip to Nigeria as a family. At the ticket counter we were met by a jolly and large bloke whom I’m sure gets on his colleagues nerves for being so awake at 5 am.
He was making jokes and having a laugh with us when his expression changed to one of concern and he let out with a few expletives. Then he said to me that the computer is not allowing Elisabeth's passport to be processed because it expires 6 days before the minimum 6 months required by the Nigerian Immigration.
Now we had known about the requirement and thought we had satisfied it because her passport was valid for 6 months (if you just count the months). In addition, we had been to the Nigerian Embassy in London and received visas without any challenge to her passport expiring in the same month. We thought this a confirmation that she was ok.
However, what we didn't realise until that morning is that the airline computers count the six month not by the month, but by the exact day. Can you imagine the look on our little excited Elisabeth when I had to quickly tell her that both she and mom would not be able to go to Africa? Both mom and daughter bravely said, OK we'll sort things out on this side and we'll try to get another flight out. But I could see the hint of tears in both their eyes. Jonathan on the other hand, though sympathetic towards mom and sister… was all the more excited… ‘Great now its just Dad and me!’ he said with a big smile on his face. The same smile that has been on his face continually since the time he woke up and honestly is still there even today!
So while I was repacking our luggage Julie was quickly telephoning the person who dropped us off at the airport and asking them to return. Then the next issue was that we didn't have much time left to book in and were about to close the check in counter so Jonathan and I got to business with that.
After all the emotion of the morning things started to calm down a bit for Jonathan and myself. We boarded the plane just in time to fly to Frankfurt where we would catch our flight to Abuja, the new capital city of Nigeria.
The 7 hours it took in flights went well and we landed refreshed having had our favourite seat configuration – the 5 seats together in the middle where we can lay down and sleep! We were greeted by our national hosts who were very excited to see us and who had already heard about Julie and Elisabeth. It turns out that while we were in the air Julie and our UK office were very busy working with the hosts to help us get the rest of our family into the country.
Jonathan was amazed as we drove from the airport to where we were staying. He couldn't believe the ladies could balance so much on their head. He was in his element! So much so that the first night and even the next morning he said to me, ‘I can see myself living in a place like this when I’m older.’ It blessed me to hear that coming out of his little eleven year old heart.
After a good night sleep we went directly to the US Embassy here in Abuja so that we could send a letter of consent to the US Embassy in London. Julie needed this in order to get Elisabeth a new emergency passport. Having completed our mission at the embassy we then had to find a hotel we could fax the document from. This was a little harder than expected, but near as hard as locating the correct number to fax the document to in London. After a couple hours of going here and there, doing searches on the internet and communicating with our UK office that was doing loads of hard work on their side to find what we needed. We finally had victory and sent the document to London.
While Jonathan and I were getting the documents processed, Julie was dealing with getting new flights. At first they said we were going to have to buy new tickets which were not an option. Julie and Elisabeth prayed the prayer of agreement and after speaking to several people were able to get flights changed for free, praise God! Then she and Elisabeth made their way by train and then by taxi to the US Embassy in London. It was a miracle she was able to get the emergency appointment so soon. The train schedule left just enough time to make it to the embassy, get the passport, and then catch the return train for the two and a half hour journey back to the North of England.
However, once at the Embassy, they could not find the fax we sent. So for a few moments there was a chance that Julie would either not get the passport, or possibly miss the train. In the end, they found the fax just in time and provided the much needed emergency passport. Julie and Elisabeth made it back to the train and they road back to Manchester knowing that they were flying to Abuja on Sunday. God is faithful!
The evening we arrived in Abuja not only did we have the concern over Julie's passport, but having flown all day long (waking up at 4 am in order to get to the airport early that morning) we were brought to our accommodation at 5 pm and then told we have 2 hours to get ready for an unscheduled meeting that night. We gladly got ready, had a quick bite to eat of some excellent Nigerian rice and specially prepared meat. Then off to the meeting.
More on that later…
Pictures by Jonathan Beemer
posted by Michael in category: Mission Nigeria.
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