Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Estamos listos para Mexico

Some members of the Grenadian delegation to World Assembly journeyed to St. Lucia to obtain their Mexican visas. God also granted us travelling mercies to and from St. Lucia. In an effort to minimise costs, two members of the team purchased staff tickets, which meant that they were flying standby. God graciously ensured there were at least two free seats to each flight (from Grenada to Barbados to St. Lucia) coming and going, so there were no unnecessary delays. 

Hope excited about her first trip on an airplane
We were greeted at the airport by Josephine Romain who was our most gracious hostess for the duration of our trip. She provided meals, accommodation, transportation and also took us sight-seeing while we were there.
Enjoying a hearty breakfast before setting out for the day
All the necessary documents were scanned and emailed from Grenada long before and had been approved, so the purpose of this trip was to present the original supporting documents and interview the applicants. We were not expecting any difficulties, but we still prayed for favour before going to the Embassy.
Mexican art work inside the Embassy
The workers there were very welcoming and attended to us promptly. After filling out parts of the forms which were missing, all the documents were taken indoors for examination while we waited outside. After a while, they asked if we had the national identification card for Hope’s mother, since she was considered a minor. Although we had a letter and an affidavit from her, giving Hope permission to travel with us, we did not have the ID card. 

The clerks were helpful, suggesting that we could contact her and ask her to scan and email it to us, but we knew she did not have the technical capacity to do so. We were really hoping they would go ahead with the application, but they seemed to be determined that Hope’s application would not be processed without the missing ID card. Then one of them asked if we could get her to take a picture of it and send it to them via whatsapp – this we could do, so we quickly made arrangements for this to be done and sent to the relevant authorities. Within the next hour, all three applicants walked out of the embassy with their newly issued Mexican visas – gracias a Dios! We give God thanks that the authorities were willing to accept an electronic version of the ID card, so we did not have to make another trip to St. Lucia.

Ready for Mexico!!!

This was a clear assurance to us that God is most definitely in control of this trip to Mexico. He has worked out all the details so far, and we know He will take us safely there.

As an added bonus, and just to show that God cares about the 'little things' too, Hope was able to satisfy her passion for Audi cars by visiting the showroom in St. Lucia, where the manager was more than happy to show us around. She even got some magazines to go home with, and he encouraged her to dream big, because you never know when they can come through...

Elated to be in the driver's seat of a brand new Audi
Hope shared this about her experience:
"Being one step closer to our destination is a great feeling. To know that we aren't that far away from our goal. Receiving our visas even though we acquired some difficulties was a blessing. The process was speedy and the attendants were friendly. The whole experience here was amazing. Even when challenges arose out of no where, we always had this feeling, this faith that God will work things out.

Even though being one step closer is a great feeling, I know that without the favour of God, without His mighty help we would not have been here. We owe great thanks to our Father, through Him all things are possible!"