I was surprised to see that ten days have passed since I last wrote. That’s hard to believe. I knew it had been a couple days at least, but I guess they’ve been full enough that I didn’t notice. I need to come up with a better system for getting time to write.
My system for today is that I’m sitting on the bus with Seth, headed to Cusco. The last more than a week has seen me busy with residency stuff for Caleb, Belinda, and China. Today, I simply need to go to Serpost to mail an envelope to the FBI HQ in West Virginia.
What day was it that we went into Cusco, the three of them and me, for processing at INTERPOL? I had tried in vain a couple times to set up the appointment online; I don’t even recall what the problems all were, but one piece we needed to do was pay a fee at a bank in Cusco and enter the code from that in the appointment website.
That took a couple of tries and trips to Cusco for me, but I finally had the codes, and we made the appointment. We got to Cusco in good time that day but struggled to find parking for the truck. We definitely got our exercise; my watch said I walked over ten miles that day.
With help from a police officer, we found the police station in Cusco. The office for INTERPOL is inside the compound of the police station.
Unfortunately, we were missing two key pieces for the process: one was a second fee, another was the letter of support from the GCM board. Levi had given the letters to me months ago in the States. I clearly remember his giving them to me, but where they are now, I do not know.
I called Levi, and bless their hearts, they worked hard to get new letters notarized and emailed to us. Sadly, I didn’t communicate clearly with him that I needed China’s, too. He had to do it a second time in the afternoon. Muchas gracias a ustedes por su ayuda. Lo siento por la molestia. Que Dios les bendiga.
The lady at INTERPOL was very kind and helpful. She said we could just send everything to her via WhatsApp with the exception of the second fee.
The three got their fingerprints taken. The lady put together all the documents so we can send them all off for the background criminal check. We then went across town and rejoiced to find the line was very short at the bank.
We filled out the necessary documents to send a payment to the Treasury of the USA. Unfortunately, INTERPOL closed before we could back.
Caleb and I went back the next day with the documents for INTERPOL. The kind lady gave us the envelope with the documents with the fingerprints and so on. We will need to send them ourselves.
We went to the post office, but it was closed for the holidays. Thus, I’m back on the bus, headed to Serpost. It’s supposed to be open today.
One happy thing about that day was that we were able to pick up a box from our friends Rafael Roca and his sister Marta from Puno. We were astonished at their thoughtfulness and generosity with gifts. They did not get a box from us, poor things.
Another happy thing was that Garralina had kittens again, six more! Caleb said he’s excited because he thinks they look delicious. He is not a lover of cats, but he admits that Garralina is “okay.”
In other news, we enjoyed two Sundays in a row with Percy’s family, once in their home, the other in ours. Percy says he wants to help us find a location in their village where we can meet every week. If not, he suggested we meet in their home.
Various ones of their village have come to the services. We’re praying this is an open door.
We also had a school program. The children shared songs, verses, and poetry in both Spanish and English. We were able to video call their grandparents who were able join us for the program.
Percy’s and some of their family, Rafael’s, and Esmeralda and her girls came for the evening. After the program, we decorated Christmas cookies and sent a plate of them home with each person. Steph had baked dozens and dozens of cookies and prepared icing ahead of time.
Everyone is doing well in our family. China had a week of suffering because she had accepted a challenge from a friend (so-called) to go without coffee for a week. She did and didn’t even die to the friend’s great surprise.
Caleb’s have been doing okay, but they are repeatedly afflicted with gastrointestinal troubles that lay them low for a day or two. We’re not sure what is causing this grief, but it is often enough to be more than a little troublesome. We’d appreciate your prayers on their behalf.
Levi and Byron are making plans to come in two weeks. I had heard there may have been trouble with their tickets, so I don’t know if the date is certain yet. They could use prayer, too.
We are nearly at the bus terminal. My head is ringing because a man was trying to sell colágeno by bellowing into a portable mic and speaker set while standing at my elbow. This is why I always bring ibuprofen with me to Cusco.
I hope you and your family had a blessed Christmas. We enjoyed breakfast with Rafael’s and Caleb’s and later had a turkey meal as a family. Leonela said she’d never knew turkey could taste so good and be so moist. I consider that a victory.
Juan David 