Imagine There's No Countries...

Michael and I have come home. Well, at least we are in the United States. We are full of mixed emotions upon our unexpected return from Central Europe. We were unable to get our visas allowing us to stay and teach in Slovakia and the European Union.

Obtaining documents to live and work in a foreign country is a unique experience. I am reminded in this time that Michael and I are hardly the first to face such obstacles when crossing the borders of our world.  While, at times, we have grown frustrated in this immigration experience, I am mindful to continue my prayers for our many sisters and brothers meet much greater immigration challenges.

Every country has its own process of awarding visas. It involves a lot of paperwork and in this case, some of that paperwork got overlooked. The Slovak Republic requires people who have lived in a country, other than that of their citizenship, for more than three months within the last five years to submit certain documentation from those countries. This stipulation applies to both Michael and me. We were able to catch this fairly early, but the process of trying to obtain the missing proved incredibly difficult. We tried to work with our school advisors and the embassies, but we simply ran out of time. When you enter the European Union you are allowed 90 days to travel. We stayed until the last possible moment, leaving the EU just one day before our 90 day tourist visas expired.

 Michael and I felt we had answered a call to be in community with the people of the Evanjelické Gymnázium and the town of Tisovec. It was really difficult to say goodbye to our students and the way of life we were just beginning to know.

With such short notice of our return, we find ourselves in a state of limbo, but we are thankful for our families who have been incredibly supportive. We are splitting our time between Ohio and Washington until we figure out the next step. We are also grateful for this time to reflect on our service in Central Europe. We have been clinging to the memories we made and we are forming our story so that we can share it with all of you.