Deportation… part 2.

[Here’s Deportation Part 1. Probably pretty important to read so you can pick up with us today.]

So after Richard is convinced that my flatmate’s phone number is a fake, he asks for another number. I give him the pastor’s phone number. At this point, it’s been about 25 minutes and Richard had fully interrogated me about everything under the Scottish sun.

My spirit inside me is praying like crazy. To be blunt, this didn’t feel like a natural thing… it felt supernatural. It felt spiritual. The Bible says that our battle is not against flesh and blood [and grumpy Richard]… so I began to pray that God would win this battle and allow me into the country.

As Richard left to go call the pastor, I sat down in a chair. And I had a Blazing Furnace conversation with God.

I said,

“Hey God, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, I know what You are able to do. I know You can rescue me from this situation. I know You are able to save me from deportation. I don’t think I’m done here in Edinburgh. BUT EVEN IF YOU DON’T, even if I get sent home today, I’m not mad. I will still praise You. I have still loved my time here and I am still grateful.”

I know that sounds sugar sweet and whatever, but it wasn’t. I said it through gritted teeth and with a begging heart. It was a painful tearful moment alone in an airport. I didn’t want to leave Edinburgh. But what else could I do?

I can barely hear Richard on the phone, but his voice is angry. And now I’m SURE I’m going home. [Here’s where Richard earned the name on his nametag…. he said untrue things to the pastor to try to trick him – he made the pastor believe I had said things that I hadn’t said. Pastor told the truth. I told the truth. But Richard tried to trap us.]

I get it. I’m not mad. His JOB is to protect his country from dangerous people. And truthfully, it’s sweet innocent women like me that can be the really nasty ones. 🙂 So Richard, bless him, was just doing his job.

When he came back from the phone call, probably 15 minutes later, his demeanor totally changed. [Insert miracle here.] He spoke kindly to me, he slowly explained why I should be deported and every reason that the right thing to do was to deport me, and then he said, “but I’m going to let you stay.”

And I almost fell on the floor with relief.

The Lord had done it. The warring angels, I believe, defeated that which tried to keep me out of the country. I don’t know if you’ve been in a situation like that, but I’m telling y’all, the atmosphere changed. No joke. I knew that the battle had been fought and I knew it had been won.

[Also, at the point, pastor and his wife and others they told were praying like CRAZYTOWN, so it certainly wasn’t just me.]

Richard did, however, put a massive stamp in my passport that makes it illegal for me to go back to the UK until mid-2012. So he didn’t let me leave without a little hand slap.

Touche, Richard. Touche.

Morals of the story:

1. ALWAYS get a stamp in your passport, even if you are coming home.

2. Flying between European countries is VERY VERY DIFFERENT than traveling between US states.

3. Proverbs 19:21 — “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

4. That verse would still be 100% true if I got deported.

Amen.

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