Curacao - Fall Visa Trip

     This past week has been fall break at ICS. Several of us need to take a visa trip, so I headed to Curacao with my roommates for a week of relaxation and break from school work, which was highly needed. We spent time at the beach, biking to Willemstad, swimming, and enjoying not having a schedule.                                                                           Getting to Curacao, though, was quite the adventure. Less than two weeks before our trip, I went online to see if I could figure out if checked luggage cost money. What I discovered instead, when I typed in the name of our airline, was that they had recently gone bankrupt or left Curacao and Caracas. The second headline was "200,000 Venezuelans Stranded" due to this airline. After quickly contacting the travel agent that helped us book the tickets, we discovered that it was true. The airline left without contacting anyone, and we no longer had a way to leave the country. Frantically, we began to search for other flights. We even considered trying to drive across the border if we could not find a flight. Thankfully, God provided as he always does, and we were able to book a flight to Curacao for one day longer than we originally planned on staying. On the day of our flight, we spent 10 hours in the Caracas airport before finally being able to leave. We finally left though and had a great week, even with the stress leading up to it.

 

     I enjoyed waking up early (because I can't sleep in after being on a schedule) and watching the sun rise as I spent some time alone with God every morning. The last morning, there was even a rainbow. On the last day in Curacao, I also finished reading The Story, which I started almost a year ago. This book is selections from the Bible with some part paraphrased by the authors. It tells the Bible as one giant story about God's love and grace. I have loved reading and learning from this book.

 

Prayer Requests and Praises
-My friend's leg healed in time for her to enjoy Curacao!
-My girls worked through a difficult friendship situation and hopefully learned more about forgiveness!
-I was able to get my health certificate (next step in the visa process)!
-We realized that our airplane would not be flying before we got to the airport and were able to buy tickets with another airline for Curacao!
-My students became very excited about one of our Bible projects!
-I am now tutoring two students after school!
-I caught up on my work before we left for Curacao, including all first quarter grades and finally putting everything away in my room!
-Financial support continues to come when I need it!
-My visa to continue to go through the process smoothly
-One friend who is still waiting for a part to come in so that she can have surgery
-Students who are learning to work out conflict and be respectful and loving
-True forgiveness to happen in my students' friendships
-Being able to stay on top of my work, which is never-ending
-Continued strength until Christmas for everyone
-MAP testing, which are standardized tests our students take three times a year (this week is the first time)
-A teammate who is stuck in Mexico due to flight problems
-Finalizing tickets for my spring and summer visa trips. I tried to pay for the spring trip, but the payment has not been able to go through yet. I also almost have my tickets for this summer.