7-23-2007
It is my desire to be where God wants me to be; emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In this particular situation, God has used my role as the financial person on the team to get my attention and better align me in His will. Having departed in June for Africa with appropriate funds to get us there, I went to withdraw some money for the team from an ATM with my VISA debit card. Transaction cancelled, invalid pin number. Hmm…I’ll try it again confident the number I’m using is correct. Transaction cancelled, invalid pin number. Ok…team’s ok we still have some money, I’ll try again in a couple of days so not to lock the card. The next time we get into town, I try again. Transaction cancelled, invalid pin number. I’m clueless as to the problem and know that for the time being I’m going to have to exchange some of the US dollars I have inside the bank. I now start to contact the powers at be back home along with my parents so that they are aware of the situation. I ask my parents to see what they can do stateside for me.
Our team has now left the city for the bush meaning very VERY very little communication available to the rest of the world. Five weeks go by and during that time my parents requested a new pin be delivered…however it never showed up. They then talked to the bank about using their Power of Attorney. First they were told they had to go to Kentucky (where I had lived 3 states away) to get the problem solved. Then they were told they could go to a branch that was in Illinois, however the Power of Attorney was discovered to still not apply. I was frustrated as I’m sure so were they. We were now back in the city, thankfully when in the bush we were paired with a team gracious enough to work out an arrangement since I could still use my card to charge. I was now left with a phone number, where all I could do was request again that a new pin be sent to my parents. Prior to calling Courtney prayed with me. The call went well, I wasn’t on hold very long and the gentleman on the other line was compassionate to my situation, though I wasn’t going to get any instant solution. He did confirm with me the correct address and said that within 3-4 days the new pin should be at my parents house. Praise God!
