Crossing The Border

Well we made it across the border from Ukraine to Russia, and we are now at the Moscow Theological Institute (MTI). I will tell you it was quite an ordeal. At the Ukrainian border the guards/patrol really wanted to extort my friend and I. We prayed before we got there and it really was the favor of the Lord that got us through. First they wanted to check our entire luggage. Then they began to hassle me because I had a business VISA and I was driving a car registered to Evangel Theological Seminary in Kyiv. Then they were giving me a hard time about the fact that I had been in the country over three months without being “registered” but I told them that in knew that I had the right to be in the country up to six months without registering because I had a VISA. They denied that but I waited them out. I new they really wanted money but I was not going to give in. I told them, “I know what you are trying to do, but there is no problem with my documents. I put my trust in the Lord and waited. Eventually they let us go and said that there were no problems and they ended up not checking our luggage.

Then we went to the Russia border. My colleague (the regional director of Global University, Tony R.), who has crossed the Russian/Ukrainian border numerous times, was amazed at how smoothly it ended up going. They searched the car briefly, and we had to fill in numerous forms, and pay about $10 total in official fees and then we were through. Our total time on the border was about 3-4 hours.

The roads in Ukraine and the first few hours within the Russian borders were horrible. The roads were covered with huge potholes and bumps. It reminded me of the dirt “roads” in rural India that we traveled on via Jeep. The only real difference is that there was a thin layer of “asphalt” over the roads here.

We only got stopped once by the Police which Tony said was a miracle. They ended up letting us go when they saw that we worked with the seminary.

Keep Us in Prayer.