Erin in Tenerife

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...

Six weeks ago today I mailed off my FBI background check to the Department of State in Washington DC to obtain an apostille. An apostille certifies documents so they can be recognized in foreign countries that are members of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty. It is like a worldwide notary verification, but it only applies to government issued documents and can only be issued by a country's state department.    Here is the one I received today for my Ecuadorian background check. I got this apostille from the Ecuadorian consulate in Houston. You may notice the document was issued in Quito, which is the capital of Ecuador. When the consulate in Houston received my request and payment for the apostille of my Ecuadorian certificate of no criminal activity, aka a background check, they electronically transmit the certificate to the state department in Quito to verify that the certificate of a clean record was issued by the Ecuadorian government. (I was able to obtain the certificate ...

  Beautiful sunset during riverboat tour in Chicago I need to begin by apologizing. I sent this out an email after my appointment at the consulate in Chicago on July 17th, but forgot to post it here (you'll notice I've back-dated this post). If you're not on my distribution list, you haven't received an update since June. So, here's an unashamed plug to be added to my distribution list. Just click  here . (Any contact information you provide will be for my use only.) Without further ado, the email from July 17, 2023: Today, I presented my paperwork at the Spanish consulate in Chicago, hoping for a quick approval, but they didn't even accept the paperwork. One document was too old, another didn't have the correct seal, etc. I was sent away with a sense of "thanks for playing, try again". To be honest, I was very disappointed. But, I know that God is in control of my visa process not the Spanish consulate and if he didn't allow for it to be proce...

Greetings from hot and sweaty Missouri! Yes, still. I was sharing with my preacher, and his wife and a couple of elders and my small group and, honestly, anyone who would listen, about how my patience (while waiting to hear back from the consulate so I can finally move to Tenerife) is quickly waning. I don't know how Job endured all his hardships. Obviously, his situation was much worse and he didn't have good friends to encourage him. I am blessed to have friends, great friends and family who have been praying with me and encouraging me along the way. Well, I have great news. I have finally heard back from the consulate with an appointment! Woo-hoo!!! [Break for celebration dance] I am scheduled to appear at the Spanish consulate in Chicago next Monday at 10 am for an interview where I will present all my paperwork.  A few months ago, over coffee, my cousin's wife Haley mentioned it would be so fun to road trip together for my visa appointment. One of the things I've e...

  I am a year older and wiser than the last time I wrote. (I know you can tell just by how I expressed myself so eloquently in that opening sentence.) I have lots of great news to share! I'm just not sure where to start... So, I'll work my way backwards from most recent. You may recognize the lovely face of Bri in the picture above. She came to visit me from San Antonio, Texas! She was nervous to travel to tornado alley (I am currently in Carl Junction which is in the southwest corner of Missouri) in the spring, but God kept her safe and the skies clear. For those who don't know Bri, she was my sister-in-arms through the last two years I was in Ecuador, through a pandemic and our missions team imploding and God's beautiful restoration and preservation of his work in Ecuador . It was so fun to share life again for a few days. One day I took her around SW Missouri. The next day I took her to see SE Kansas. And the last day we visited NW Arkansas with my folks. It was a w...

 Many have asked if it is possible to make donations toward the mission work in Tenerife off-line. The answer is "Yes", of course. See that info below. To make an offline donation, there are three options available: 1.   Mail a check payable to IberoAmerican Ministries (see details below). 2.   Set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking or savings account. 3.   Donate stock—please call the home office at 360-805-2885 If you are donating by check: ·   Make your check payable to IberoAmerican Ministries . ·   Write “Erin Shead - Canary Islands” on the memo line of the check. ·   Mail your check to: IberoAmerican Ministries P.O. Box 1493 Monroe, WA 98272  

Let me begin this update with an apology. I am sorry I haven't posted anything in months. The simple fact of the matter is that there was no news to report, nothing to update. I was in a holding pattern waiting for a letter which would open the door for me to apply to go to Spain. Let me explain a bit so we're all on the same page.  First of all, if your confused, thinking, "but, I thought she was going to the Canary Islands, not Spain", you are correct. I am planning to go work with the Tenerife church in the Canary Islands. And though the Canary Islands are located just off the coast of Morocco (Africa), they just happen to be governed by Spain. So, to get a visa to live in the Canary Islands I need to petition it from Spain. Now, let me explain the letter. For those of you who live in the USA, you may have heard of a sponsorship letter for immigration purposes. In Spanish this is also known as a letter of invitation, written by an entity (in my case, a church) regi...