God doesn't need an online booking system...
'...your Father knows what you need before you ask him.' Matthew 6:8.
We have a leave date! Visas accepted, flights booked, and we're jetting off on March 23rd! If you've been playing along, you'll know it's been a journey of provision and waiting over the last few months, but this month has turned out to be a whirlwind, and an awesome testament to God's faithfulness, goodness, and proof that our Father really does know all our needs before we even ask Him. We wanted to take the time to re-cap and share with you some of the "big" moments that have stood out to us in how God has revealed to us His character, both of faithfulness, and as an awe-inspiring administrator. We apologize in advance--this is a long post. But we hope you will be encouraged and ultimately, may God be glorified through the words that follow; a testament of how GOOD He is.
Our Certificate of Eligibility
On the 7th of January 2022 our Certificates of Eligibility were applied for by OMF. This certificate, along with an Entry Permit (new COVID-related entry measure), is required when an organisation is sending you to Japan in order to be able to apply for a visa. On the 26th of January our approved certificates arrived to OMF in Japan from Japan's Immigration department and were posted out to us. So, we waited for these to arrive. And waited... On the 17th of February, Jo decided to email OMF in Japan to get an idea of how long the certificates should be taking to arrive. We had been given an online tracking number, but the status of the letter had not changed for days. It was stuck somewhere, still reading as "dispatched"on the online tracking website, and no information regarding whether it had even arrived in Australia yet. That afternoon Jo arrived home and checked the letterbox. There, as plain as day was a letter from Japan. Inside were our certificates. Didn't matter that they apparently weren't even in Australia yet. Somehow they had made it to our letter box, exactly where they needed to be. That same day, Japan's Prime Minister announced that Japan's borders would be reopening for students and business travellers on March 1st. And further still, Joel's workplace found someone to cover his role while he takes leave. Talk about 3 major things just "happening" to fall into place. We know it's no coincidence. God was orchestrating every part of this. You can't make this stuff up!
Waiting
After this, we did some more waiting. You can check out our blog post titled "Waiting" for more information on why we were waiting. We thought we were travelling in April. A range of thoughts were going through our head at this time. April seemed late. We were a little disappointed but were trying to just remind ourselves to trust God's timing. This is His trip after all and not ours. Then on March 2nd, it was no longer time to wait.
We received an email to say that the entry permission process put in place by the Japanese Government (a new measure related to COVID and limits the number of people coming in) had proved easier than expected and we could go in March if we were ready! After some negotiation, we set a date to arrive in Japan on the 24th of March, leaving on March 23rd. This was approved by OMF and we were told we could now apply for visas. Oh! And our Entry Permit got approved and sent to us on the same day it was applied for! God is AMAZING!
Visas
This may have been the biggest test of our faith to date. Perhaps it shouldn't have been considering everything else God had orchestrated, but this was really tricky. On March 4th we received approval to apply for visas. Jo immediately started looking into how to do this, where to go, etc. Turns out we don't have an embassy for Japan in Adelaide. Cue the first wave of doubts and worry. After a phone call to a visa helpline, we learnt that the embassy in Melbourne takes care of visas from Adelaide, we just needed to take our application to an accredited agency listed on their website. Cue the relief. Jo discovered an online booking system and went to book us in for an appointment as soon as possible. However, the first available date was March 25th, the day after we were supposed to arrive in Japan. Cue the second wave of doubts and worry. To complicate things, Jo could not book this date. The system kept saying it was "unavailable" even though it was showing differently. *sigh*.... technology. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we would just have to wait until Monday and phone.
On Monday morning, March 7th, as soon as it clicked over to opening hour Jo was on the phone calling two helplines. Only, neither of them "helped".
"Ma'am, you just need to book online. Try booking one person in at a time instead."
A re-visit to the website and, there are no longer any available appointments. Cue third wave of doubts and worry. Jo decided to call the embassy in Melbourne as a last resort and just see if there was anything that could be done. There wasn't, though they hesitantly suggested we just try just walking in. We were skeptical of this. On the website it said appointments were strictly necessary. However, we were going to be in the city anyway for another appointment so, quite desperate, we thought we'd give it a try.
What a tense drive to the city. We had prayed much for God to move in this situation, and we had other people praying for us too. It was really hard to squash the worry and pre-emptive disappointment that kept welling up. After an appointment with the travel doctor, we went to the visa agency, boarding the elevator to the fourth floor. "How were we going to do this?" we wondered. "What was the game plan?" Given the lack of online booking options, we half expected this place to be running madder than Centrelink on the last payday before Christmas. The elevator doors opened again and we walked down a corridor of translucent glass, offices seemingly on the other side. At the end of the corridor, a well-dressed man in a white shirt and black tie greeted us. Amazingly, he didn't looked stressed at all. He looked cheerful!
"Hey guys, how can I help you today."
"Umm, we want to lodge an application for a visa," we said.
"Ok. What country?"
"Japan," we responded.
"Oh our Japan representative is just with someone at the moment but they can see you after. Please take a seat."
We sat down. Stunned. We just looked at each other. Any minute, we thought, they are going to ask for confirmation of our booking and we don't have any confirmation because we don't even have a booking! We couldn't get a booking! Yet, 10 minutes later, a representative came and led us to a separate room with a counter to process our paper work.
"So what I'll do is send off your documentation for pre-approval of your visas and then we will ring you for you to come back and bring your passports so we can send them off to get the visa put in."
"So how long, does that take?" Jo asks.
"Usually about 3-4 days for the pre-approval. Why? When do you need them?" "Well, we're looking to leave on March 23rd to arrive in Japan on the 24th," Jo responds.
"Oh that's fine! You have plenty of time. I'll put on here that it's urgent so they will process it quickly for you."
And with that, we walked out of the agency, completely stunned and amazed! God didn't need an online booking system. Somehow He had already organised an appointment for us. We just had to trust Him and rock up. You can't make this stuff up!
Tuesday 8th March
Now it was all happening. Our application had been sent off. Jo began some packing. In the afternoon of Tuesday the 8th, a phone call came. Our visas had been approved!! WOW! So fast! Literally a 24 hour turn around. We had an appointment to drop off our passports on Wednesday. Which we did. We then got permission from OMF to book our flights and locked our date in. We would be leaving on March 23rd after all.
We are still amazed. So much has happened in the last week that it feels like it has been so much longer. When God moves, He really moves. When He wants something to happen, it happens. Oswald Chambers in his devotional book "My Utmost for His Highest" writes,
"We cannot bring the vision to fulfilment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfils itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work, and once the vision was fulfilled we could no longer even see it....Let God send you out through His storm, and don't go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will "bear much fruit" (John 15:8)....It is essential that we live and "walk in the light" of God's vision for us (1 John 1:7)."
We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for how He is bringing to fruition the vision He gave us. We are even grateful for all the hard lessons along the way to date because we are coming to see that God does this to shape us, humble us, grow us and teach us more about who He is. We are partnered with the Almighty King and it is such a privilege! If we had all the answers and ways to make things happen, we would. But how would the relationship be built stronger and deeper between us and Christ?
What vision has God given you? Hold onto it. Let it inspire you. Partner with Christ and let Him lead you. It won't be what you expect but it will be incredible because He is incredible!
Praise God for:
A date!
Visa approval
Flights
Pray for:
Our passports to arrive back safely
Health and safety in these last few days (and beyond!)
All the practical processes that need to be done prior to leaving (packing, organising insurance and house stuff, etc.)
'...your Father knows what you need before you ask him.' Matthew 6:8.