Red Tape and Excitement

Thank God for who He is. Thank God for His answers to prayer.
The evening service ended on Sunday night. Dave left to take people home. In about ten minutes he called home. "The police asked me to follow them to the police station again. They say I'm breaking the law by not being registered. I tried to tell them that with a visa I'm allowed to be here six months. I guess I'll be awhile."
(Our friend and lawyer had brought the last of the documents needed for registration on Friday. We had tried to turn them in but the offices weren't open on Saturday.)
It's not too comfortable to be going to the police station in a foreign country because they have a problem with something that you've done. Dave tries to be very careful to do what's right. Still, he and all of his passengers began to be a bit stressed. This is probably the third time the police have called him to the station for the same reason.
The ones of us at home began to pray.
It wasn't too long before he called back. "I'm on my way. And you won't believe it, they actually apologized for delaying me this time!"
Other things have been happening. Dima has started translating for Dave. Sometimes Dima finds words he doesn't know and he has to learn them as he goes. But Ukrainians understand what is being said a little quicker when someone one with normal grammar and accent speaks. It's also a good learning experience for him.
A new teenager came Sunday night with one of her friends, who has picked up her attendance recently.
Katrina is here! She had her first youth service last Wednesday. This week she is teaching the English classes. We're trying to find her a Russian teacher.
The first potential teacher we visited has a family member who is very sick. She teaches at public school as well. By the time she gets her husband to the hospital every day for IV's, takes care of him at home and teaches her own class, she is simply too busy. We're trying to get contact information for another possibility.
Please pray for this teacher's family member. He says he wants to live. The doctors say there is no hope. He has contacted us several times to ask for prayer. When we offered to pray with him in his presence, he refused but there must be a hunger, conviction or concern there for him to contact us.
AND today we went to passport offices here and were registered. The wait to see the person who needed to work with our business wasn't as long as it is sometimes . . . an hour at two different times. It's taken several weeks to get the documents together that were requested. So the next time we're stopped by the police, we won't have to be led to the police station while they learn that the Ukrainian law actually does say that we were legal to be here. We asked about getting a permit for long term residence. The lady told us we needed to talk to her boss but thought that it was possible.
Our lawyer had an interesting story to tell. In another area, in another situation a judge had asked him for a bribe. He contacted authorities and delivered the money as was asked, but it was videoed like an undercover sting in the US. Now that judge has been taken to court by the prosecutor in his area and our lawyer has been called for a witness. The day did not go well. Our lawyer was taken to task more than the corrupt judge who was on trial.