Deported from 2 Countries

I never even smoked marijuana in high school.  But now I’ve been deported from 2 countries!  How’s that for a day’s work and travel?

During our time in the States I had applied for, and received a visa to enter the country from the Lao Embassy in Washington D.C.  Surely that meant we had been taken off the black list in Laos, we thought.

But the bottom line is…. for the second time, the Lao security police have told us they don’t want us.   And we are now trying to figure out what God wants us to do for the next phase of our lives.

Immigration Lockdown

I didn’t realize it at first, but I was being remanded.  After 24 hours of straight travel—across the Pacific, to Taipei, Bangkok, and then on to Vientiane, we didn’t expect this.  “May I go with my wife into Vientiane to help pack up our house?” I asked.  “No, you need to get back on the flight you came on.” So, I went, with Ruthie stuffing cash in my pocket.  I glanced back at the immigration hall to see Ruthie’s dazed look—and those of all the other foreigner’s and Lao wondering what on earth I had done.  It all happened in five minutes.

I thought when I got back to BKK all would be well.  I could return to our favorite little hotel.  But the Thai airlines people kept my passport and led me to the back of the plane.  On the ground in Bangkok someone took me in a special van to the underbelly of Suvarnabhumi Airport, signing me into one office, then out again.  One official pushed a document forward for me to sign…and my eyes fixed on the words “acknowledge” and “expulsion”.  “Do I need to sign this?” I asked—since Thailand had no issues with me as far as I knew…  The head immigration official assured me all would be well.  I just needed to leave the country, according to Thai-Lao protocols.  When I returned to Thailand “I would be a new person,” he said.  So then, the questions was, “How much money do you have?  Where do you want to fly?”  Then I remembered most of our Covenant leadership was in Taipei for the 3-yearly Asia Covenant Consultation, a meeting I had helped organize a short while ago.

I asked my friendly northeast Thailand immigration minder, “So, where will I spend the night before getting on tomorrow’s plane to Taipei?”  “We have a one-star hotel,” he said, laughing.  But when he showed me to the men’s quarters, the beds were full of sleeping African men.  “Would you mind just sitting around in the women’s room?” they asked.  Again I was thankful.  Lots of empty bunks and it was even semi-air conditioned.  Between bouts of fitful sleep I skype chatted with Ruthie and anyone else I could find with a green dot.

Taipei never looked so good

On the flight to Taipei I began to feel like a person again.  I asked for a second cup of coffee to test my new status.  As I waited in the Taipei immigration queue, my palms were sweaty.  I worried that the thermal readers might mistake me for an Ebola transmitter—or that word about me had been sent ahead.  But I was admitted without question.

My two days in Taiwan were so welcome.  I met with our colleagues and administrators.  They provided listening ears and welcome hugs.  Our Executive Minister even gave me a clean shirt.  Our Thai colleagues and friends said, “Now it’s time for you to come work with us in the northeast.” 

The dust is settling

Since I returned to Thailand (and was admitted) Ruthie bopped across the river to join me.  We have had many meetings with important friends and counselors:  Our Lao partners, Regional Coordinator, Thai church leaders in Roi Et, member care expert, Thai-Lao Country Coordinator.  And we have taken a few days to pray in a quiet hotel in Chiang Mai.

I think we are okay. 

We are beginning to see the directions God is leading us.  We are so thankful to our friends and family—both immediate and Covenant.  We have been given space and time to pray and process as our lives have been turned upside down. 

God seems to be pointing us in the direction of working with Covenant churches in Roi Et Thailand for our next phase.  When we visited we were greatly encouraged by the team.  Way back in 1991 we were asked to work in Roi Et, but then plans changed and we went to Laos.  Last week we visited again for a day or two.  We heard their dreams and opened our hearts to God’s leading.  It will be quite different than the work we've done for the past many years, but for this season of life, it seems right.  We plan to just integrate and see how God opens doors.  They have been developing a place and plan for leadership development.  How can we help them do that? 

Still Grieving

This is not to say that we are not grieving--especially for what this closed door means for our partners in Laos.  We are so grateful for their understanding and desire to see this injustice righted.  We are very confident that God has not abandoned them, but also has good plans for them and He will use others to fulfill their dreams and visions. 

The words of the sermon we preached this past fall keep coming back to us:  When we left Laos in 2008 we thought it was the end of our dreams.  But our Lao friends grew and developed even a bigger vision.  We thought we’d be there to help them fulfill these dreams, but once again it seems God has different ideas.  We have yet to experience situations where our plans were better than God’s plans  So we will be waiting to see how His plan unfolds for the projects we were helping to start.

Christmas in CA?

Life has been a bit complicated in terms of visas–not just the rejection from Laos, but also getting long term visa’s to work here in Thailand.  This may involve trips to neighboring countries until we can get some issues worked out.  It seems also that a trip to the States is in the wind.  In order to get the right kind of visa for working in Thailand it is best to start that process from your country of residence.  So, we are now looking forward to Christmas in southern California with our family!  Not a bad thing, we feel. 

Finally, I thought about how appropriate some of the exercises were that we had been given in the  “Deeper in Christ Retreat we’d attended the end of September.  We were given three questions to meditate on:  “Where are you?”  “What do you want?”  “What now?”  We will, with God’s help find our way through to the answers over the next days and weeks.  Please keep praying with us.