Antonio Skármeta Rocks!

I am so excited to write because I have all the paperwork I need for my visa application!

I finally received the long awaited apostille from the Dept of State in DC on Saturday. Now, I had to translate it to Spanish to present it to the Spanish consulate. On Monday I hit the pavement to find a local translator who could give me a quick turnaround and to avoid having to send it off to an unknown agency. Many of them require that you overnight the physical documents since they are official documents.

In nearby Carthage, which has a very high Hispanic population, I found a bilingual notary who could have translated it himself, if his workload would have allowed. He referred me to a woman whom he believed was a certified translator who works at the library. The woman turned out to be a college student who recently got certified, but she couldn't discuss the matter at work, so I gave her my number to call me. The next day I got a phone message from a "Pat" who got my name from Lexa (the college student at the library). Pat knows a certified translator who used to live in Carthage, but now lives in San Antonio, Texas. Her name is Lupita. Pat said Lexa could help me scan my documents at the library and email them to Lupita and then Lupita can email me back with an estimate. I could give the money to Lexa who would pass it on to Pat and Pat would send Lupita a check for the amount.

At this point, I thought, "Dear Lord, is this even worth pursuing?"

I had also reached out to several bilingual friends in the area. One of them mentioned a former missionary kid that used to live in the area and did translations, but now had moved to Oklahoma. 

Another friend gave me the contact info for a college professor in Springfield, MO (1 hour away) who not only teaches translation in Spanish and Portuguese, but he also oversees the translator certification process in the state of Missouri. On his profile page I saw that he has written peer reviewed papers on Antonio Skarmeta, a Chilean novelist. I know Antonio Skarmeta as a newspaper columnist and film critic from when I was a teenager in Chile. The subject line in my email to the college professor was "Antonio Skarmeta Rocks!" He replied within a few hours agreeing with my assessment of Antonio and he kindly attached the contact info of some local translators. I was happy to get his reply, but by then, I didn't need it.

Antonio Skármeta
Chilean novelist and scriptwriter

I convinced Pat to give me Lupita's number in Texas. I spoke to Lupita directly. She understood immediately what I needed. She said, "Can you quickly send me photos of the documents so I can see them before I can give you an estimated time?" I sent her the snaps with my phone. She called me back and said that  she could easily read the text so there was no need to scan the documents. She was busy that afternoon, but could get the translation to me that night by email and then I could send her a check by mail. (Yes, apparently God led me to the only person in the world who would accept a check in the mail after the fact from a stranger.)

God made the connections I needed and provided a quick response to my prayer. Don't you just love when he does that?

So, I have a visa appointment on Monday, September 25 at 10 am. I am driving up to Chicago on Sunday with a friend from church. I have all the required paperwork accoring to the list they were so kind to provide last time. If they accept my paperwork, I will leave my passport with them, along with a self-addressed stamped priority envelope, so they can send it to me once they process the visa stamp in my passport. 

Then, I can finally purchase my tickets for Canary Islands... and pack... and start saying good-bye...

Thank you all for your prayers in this process. I am confident that God has led all these steps. At this point I may be tempted to say, "I believe in the power of prayer." But, in last night's Bible study the teacher pointed out it is not prayer that has the power, but the One we pray to. I believe in the power of God and that he uses prayer to draw us to himself, to have relationship with him because he loves us.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I feel a bit like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Nebuchadnezzar threatened them with the fiery furnace. I am well aware that my situation is in no way as dire as theirs. But on my significantly smaller scale, I feel that trust in the Lord. Whether I get the visa next week or not, God still remains on his sovereign throne. He is more powerful than a postmodern, socialist government which would prefer to not have Christian missionaries preaching within their borders. But even if he decides to not provide that visa, my faith will not be toppled because I know he will work out something else. He has guided me every step of the way. And he will continue to do so.

I'll let you know how it goes.  Until then...

Peace,

Erin

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