Kazakhstan 1

Johnny Jones, 21 May 2002

This is Amy.. This week I'm "substituting" for my mom by writing her article. She's in Kazakhstan right now visiting friends who are doing service work there.

My brother's best friend, Mark, and his wife Melissa have been in Kazakhstan for about a year now, in a city called Almaty. So after corresponding with them and hearing about what they were up to, my brother thought it would be a great chance to go visit. And my mom thought, why not go too? It would be a great opportunity to go someplace new and spend time with Bryan. Bryan would go for two weeks, and she would just be there for one. Of course, she hadn't really thought about all that would be involved in that.

A couple days before she was to leave, she found out that she needed a visa! Mark and Melissa and the travel agent apologized for not having told her this. But there was still hope... she could get a visa at the airport in Kazakhstan! But she would have to fill out a questionnaire first and send it to the travel agent there in Kazakhstan.

She received the questionnaire, sent it to the travel agent, and then found out that she would also need a specific number in order to get the visa. She might or might not receive it before it was time for her to leave on Thursday. Mercifully, she received it Thursday morning, right before we left for the airport.

Oh, and the next surprise? Her tickets mentioned a stop in between London and Almaty, Kazakhstan. But they never mentioned where the stop was. So finally Mom decided to call the travel agent. It could have been in Afghanistan for all Mom knew.

Well, it wasn't in Afghanistan, but in.. Azerbaijan! It's a little country right on the border of Iran. I began to think that Mom might be wise to invest in a burka or chaddor.

Yes, although her flight was early Thursday afternoon, she would arrive in Kazakhstan Saturday: a total of 36 hours of travel, and 12 hours of time change. I told Mom, "I'm really proud of you for doing this!"

She asked me, "Why?"

I said, "Because it's really out of your comfort zone."

"Oh," she said, "I hadn't thought of that."

The next day, after I came home from substitute teaching, my mom told me, "I've realized... This really is out of my comfort zone!" (This was in the midst of the visa crisis, etc.)

And she also had to deal with the 70-pound box.

Mom wasn't around when it arrived. It came through UPS. "What is this?!" I asked my dad.

"I think it's for Mark and Melissa," he said.

"You mean Mom has to take THAT to KAZAKHSTAN?" I asked.

So it sat happily just inside the door near the living room for several days. But Mom realized that in order to honestly say that she had packed the box herself at the airport, she would have to unpack it first, and re-pack it.

Yes, she and Dad did it. It had cooking ingredients, books, a water filter system, and other random things not found in Kazakhstan. Honesty does sometimes comes with a price. (But it's worth it.)

But everything worked out. Isn't it amazing? God is good! Mom and Bryan met successfully in London. Of course, that day, the entire air traffic control system in Europe was down (I'm not kidding,) so they didn't know whether or not they'd be able to leave for Almaty that afternoon. It came back up in time for their flight out. They never had to leave the plane in Azerbaijan; it was just a refueling stop. They got their visas in Almaty without any problem, and arrived tired but content at Mark and Melissa's on Saturday.

Isn't it nice to be a child? A child doesn't have to worry about things. I remember as a little girl, sometimes my family would be traveling and we would get lost. My parents would be in the front seat, anxiously searching the map, while everything was dark outside. But I would laugh. "I know we'll be fine," I thought. "We always are." Never once had we been lost without getting found again, and I knew it would happen that time.

As God's children we also don't have to worry. I thank Him for answering our prayers and bringing Mom peace through her journey. I think it's a testimony to His grace. It's also reality: we can trust Him. He makes a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Our job is to obey, and then trust Him and He will do it. I'm so glad I have a God who I can trust with my whole life, no matter how much circumstances seem to contradict this. I'm glad He is not only my God, but my friend, the one I look to as a child looks to her daddy in trust, peace and hope.