Backlog - May 21

So I haven't written in a while but here's an update from May 21st. I'll be gradually filling you all in on what God has been teaching me in the past month, which is a lot!

I had horrible experience going to the capital and it seems that the work permit I need just doesn't really exist in the system. At least there's no legal way to get it.
God is so amazing. I was so tired and discouraged after feeling like I was going to be deported and told that the work visa was impossible to get. Literally, I had taken an overnight bus, waiting at the Am Embassy for four hours in various lines and went through about 75 security checks only to be given a tiny slip of paper with a phone number for the Min of Interior which I'd been caling for two days previous and no one ever answers. Actually I have six numbers for the Min of interior. Nobody answers four of them and two are disconnected. Anway I then just got in a taxi and went o the Ministry of Interior which is only open like 1 hour a day. Praise the L that I was there at the exact right time. To make a long story shorter, the guys were SO mean and rude and I ended up outside the office crying under the hot sun (115 degrees) with tears falling on my visa extension letter. These Christian guys from the Samaritan's Purse and the UN came over to help me, and after going back into that horrid office two more times they at least accepted my tourist visa extension request and told me to come back in two days. They could have done it then, but hey they are gov officials and they do what they want.

In the car that rescued me and brought me to a ch-rch, I met an Iranian believer who had to flee the country six years ago. He's now a refugee here. He came to Chr-st twelve years ago, but then his brother reported his conversion to hte government and a death sentence was issued against him by his own family. He and his wife and two daughters escaped the country illegally and are now hoping that the UN Human Rights Commission will grant them the right to live in the US or Canada so they can practice their faith in J-sus. I was like wow God, if you sent me here just to be encouraged by this brother's story and to remember that HE is in control and that He has a purpose in suffering., then thank you Lord.

I could write a novel of what's happened in the past months, but basically my former employers were not very honest and seemed to be taking advantage of me. They held my passport illlegally and it's their fault why the visa is overstayed because they were demanding all this stuff from me to get it back. You can't go to the police because the society is too corrupt. God is teaching me, pray for those who persecute you in a way I never understood before. I realize I have to forgive them and ask God to give me a heart to pray for Him to have mercy on them. It's not easy, but God is changing my heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh and allowing me to love them despite the circumstances.

I tried to go to the Am Embassy and get help, but they've proved that they are NO help whatsoever and God is teaching me to rely on Him. Many days i have been discouraged and it seems like I never get a break from trying to escape some situation that I don't want to be in. The other night, God treated me by giving me this beautiful emply with furnished house to live in for a few weeks since I don't have a place. It's one of my friend's friend's houses and man they must be loaded. The family who lives there is currently in Seattle and only comes back every few years. Just the servants live in the house. I walked in and my bedroom is huge and the bathroom could be a garage for an SUV. There's a spa and everything. I just put on some IHOP/Misty Edward music, enjoyed the spa, gave myself a facial, and read my Bible. God was telling me that I am his princess and that He enjoys to romance me. I just got on my knees and started crying because I had been so discouraged lately, yet God is faithful in providing for me. I stayed up til 3am just enjoying God and interceding for my friends here to come to know him.

So things are crazy but God is good. My friend Anita who got married Aprl 19 is pregnant! I'm thinking and praying about extending my stay here. If I can get a decent salary by teaching four hours a day then I will have no problem staying here longer without raising more support. Pray for me as I ask the Lord for wisdom and direction!