Well, taking off of my Refining Fire of Malaysia blog in regards
to the backpack getting stolen. The most
pressing issue with that was the need to replace my passport, and quickly. The whole thing happened at 3:15pm on
Thursday. The bus came and left at 3:30
we spent the next 6 hours on the bus headed to Kaula Lumpur (KL). This is the time I wasn’t able to do anything
but ask God for peace and clarity as to why this was happening. What was it He wanted me to learn? My brain searched through all the things in
my pack and had me give them up to God. “Things, Remember!?!”
A little while after I got to KL I got to the internet to call
mom to tell her to cancel credit cards and such and she was in shock that this
too was something I had to deal with. I
was kinda numb with emotions just cuz was simply stripped of everything I knew,
everything in my current control. Crazy. It was nice to hear from
her but I was so tired and knew I had to get up and tackle a day of replacing a
passport. Usually a 2 day process.
Nick’s friend Nicholas asked if we got a police report. And I hadn’t, considering we had to leave
shortly after it happened. He said it
would make the whole process a little smoother because I have no proof of
anything. NOTHING. I had no form of ID
to say who I was, where I was from and how the heck I got there. Later, that night we (Spectacle &
Koinonia) prayed for God’s favor upon the following day. That He’d go before us (Di, Nick and I) and
help the process go smoothly. I had
learned the week or so prior in our Bible study about Nehemeiah and him asking
God for His favor upon the King Artaxerxes. God had birthed a desire for Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem and so he
boldly asked God for his favor with the King to help him accomplish this great task. God most definitely came through, above and
beyond in blessing Nehemiah with his requests. I prayed that God would do the same with me. I know you have me running this race for a
reason and I believe you want me to go with my team to Singapore, so Lord, show
me your favor.
Shortly after praying Rocio came up to me and said something to
the effect of, I really believe you are going to get your passport tomorrow,
and I just have a feeling like a woman is going to help you with this. That this woman is going to go above and
beyond what she is required to do in the situation to help you out. (not exact
words but somewhere along those lines) I thanked her for that and believed in
faith that God was going to provide.
We set out at 8:15am we were going to look into getting a police
report and then head to the U.S. Embassy. Time was always an issue this day, the embassy was open from 9-11 and
they were closed on the weekends. It was
Friday and I had a plane ticket for Saturday morning to go to Singapore. If we were not able to get the passport, many,
many inconviences would have occurred. Money lost, team time destroyed, would have had to wait till Tue to get
a passport because it was Memorial weekend and lastly would have to have
someone stay back to wait with me. All…
not great.
We had very vague
directions on how to get to these places. Easily asking 10 people to get to a police station, we finally made it
there. I talked to a woman, Nick and Di
waited by. I mentioned what my situation
was and that I got my passport stolen. She asked if it was in KL I said no that I was the night before in
Penang and she was baffled. I understood
it was crazy but really needed her help. She agreed without hesitation. She said I could make up that it was stolen in KL and handed me the
keyboard to type my own report. She said I would type English faster. I had to
laugh. I started to make up a story until a guy came in and said that there was
a police report filed in Penang (friends/ministry contact must have done it) so
I told the truth and walked out with a police report in about 20 min. Unheard
of!
Police report in hand, now to the embassy. Not as easy as it seems. Started to take a taxi but traffic was too
bad, walked to the subway and got off to soon. Walked easily 2 miles and talked to for sure another 10 to finally get
to the embassy at 10:05. Remember it
closes at 11. Got a ticket asked if we
could be seen right away and was told to wait our turn C703 it was at and I was
C710. God has to come through, this is
completely out of my control. With about 12 min to 11 counter 7 closed, the one
we were waiting for. Di saw it and said
it’s closed, unacceptable. I was kinda
pieved. I was like God is going to take
care of me in this, He has taken care of me in worse. I marched up to the counter where no one was
and put my head on the counter and prayed. Waited and prayed. 10 to 11. Di came in and stood next to me at 5 to 11am
and the lady came to the counter and asked for my papers with 3 min to 11. She started to process my papers. AMAZING. Really.
As she goes through my police report she asked me if I had
photos for the passport, I of course didn’t. She sent me to a near by mall to
get picts, come back and I should get my pass by 2pm. I had to pay $100.00 for
a new passport in which I will get when I am at a location for about 10 or more
for my permanent passport to process. Apparently paying for it now will speed up that next step, whenever that
happens. We go get the picts come back
and she tells me she will have it done in 15-20min, its 12pm now. I was surprised at how quickly this was
going. So I sit and wait. Di and nick are outside the embassy. At 12:30 she gives me the temporary and tells
me there is one more thing I have to do. The reason she processed it so quickly is because I still had to go and
get a stamp at some Malaysian Immigration building, 45 min away from where I
was. It was Friday a Muslim prayer day,
so it opened at 2:45 and closed at 5pm. Alright. The adventure
continues. Thanked her and thanked God
for His favor.
Told Di and Nick the scoop and meet Spectacle and Jenny Brown at
the mall for lunch at Chili’s as scheduled. Nick said his friend Nicholas would know what to do. We ate (too much) at Chili’s and Nicholas
said he would bring us to where we needed to go. He arrived at 3:30ish and we were off. Going easily 170 kmh (106 mph) Nicholas got
us to where we needed to go with confidence and ease. Oh the peace it brought to my frazzled
nerves. Malaysian Immigration place
4:00pm. Nick and I go in ask where to go
here is the crazy run around. We went
from floor 1 to 3, 3 to 4, told to get copies on floor 2 and back up to 4. Luckily the running around got us to our
final destination at 4:15. Took another
number and got to the counter at 5pm (when they were suppose to close).
The man was not going to give me the stamp I needed for quite
some time. I told him I just want to get
out of here and I won’t come back. He
said that’s not the problem, it’s the question of how did I get into the
country. Did I get in legally, go
through the proper steps etc. I had no
way to prove this. None. Nick and I prayed more at the counter and
knew that God would come through… and He did. I paid another $30.00 to get the stamp and finally leave at about
6:15. I felt so bad for Nicholas having
to wait outside the whole time. Nick
mentioned earlier that Nicholas has a servant’s heart and is a man who would do
anything for anyone. Selfless. He has
characteristics that Nick admires and wants to grow more into. I had to agree.
Praise God that this process took a day, which normally takes no
less than 2 days. God’s favor was upon
me / us and it was apparent. Such answer to prayer and such a test of
faith. God provides. God takes care of His children that trust
Him. No task is too big for God!
That was my day… sigh.
I have had a really rough month, the Lord has proven faithful in
providing in many ways. I know that He will come through on ways that these
things can be paid for, but as of now funds are depleting quicker than they are
filling. Please consider financially
pouring into the ministry and me.
Thank You.
