THE HOUSE IS SOLD!!!
Our real estate agent, Glen Leeco, called us back late this afternoon to say that the couple from Ontario countered our first counter, but Glen told them that our price was final. We had told Glen that after praying about it, and talking it over, that we felt God had made it clear to us that the sale of our house would cover all of our debts. That figure, as we calculated it this morning was $114,000.00. They told Glen that their best offer was $112,500.00 (up from the initial offer of $105,000.00). Glen told them that we would not accept an offer less than $114,000. So it looked as though they might walk away. However, a little while later, they called Glen back to say that they would pay $114,000.00 for the house. Our closing date, should everything go smoothly from here, will be November 3.Glen said that God must have been at work in the sale of the house to these people. Apparently, they had no idea on Saturday that our house was for sale. However, they were looking for a house on the Island and happened to drive by our driveway where Glen had the "open house" sign. They decided to stop and take a look. Three days later, they bought it.
While this is tremendously good news, it does mean that the money we had hoped to take to Brazil with us from the sale of our house, will not be there. However, we are convinced that God has a plan to provide for us in other ways.
We have an offer!
The family from Ontario has made an offer on the house. Unfortunately, it was a low-ball offer which we could not accept, but we countered with an offer that is substantially less than what we were asking. If this couple accepts our offer, it will mean that we will be able to pay off all of our debts, but we will not get any money from the sale of the house to help us get started in Brazil. God will have to provide for us another way - and that will be fine. PLEASE PRAY THAT THIS COUPLE WILL ACCEPT OUR COUNTER-OFFER!New interest in the house
We got news from our real estate agent in PEI that we had a profitable open house last weekend. Two couples showed good interest. One in particular is a retired farmer and his wife from Ontario. They would like to have horses in the back yard if they bought the place. Please continue to pray for the house to sell. We really don't want to have to lower the price much more than we already have.Pre-field Orientation
On Wednesday, September 21, Ken Jolley, a missionary with FEBInternational who ministers in Venezuela came to spend some time with us. He was sent by the mission to discuss issues of culture and language that will no doubt save us a lot of frustration on the field. Ken stayed with us most of the day on Wednesday and Thursday. The meetings were very profitable.
Many people are concerned about whether or not we will be affected by Hurricane Rita. Of course, we don't know for sure what we will experience as the hurricane has not hit land yet and nobody is sure where it's going. However, it appears that where we are in Weatherford (just west of Ft. Worth) that we will get plenty of rain on the weekend and probably some strong wind, but we are very unlikely at this point to experience even tropical storm level wind here. We do appreciate everyone's concern.
God bless Texas
When we got to Dallas, Shannon's brother, Craig, and his wife, Tonya, were there to meet us and take us to their place, where we would wait until our work visa came through. They only had two small cars to fit the five of us, the two of them and 22 pieces of luggage. We really didn't think it was going to be possible, but somehow we managed to get it all into the cars and head home.
Travelling first class
(Please read the previous post (All aboard!) before reading this one.)
When we got to Chicago our situation changed dramatically for the better. We had purchased coach tickets for the first half of the journey, but we got a good deal on sleeper cars for the ride from Chicago to Dallas. That meant we were now first-class passengers! When we got to the ticket counter, though, there was a message for Cary. "Mr. Sawatsky, you're going to need to go to passesnger services and speak to Eddie." Eddie was the manager of Chicago's Amtrak division. He told me he had bad news for me. Then he showed me one of our large luggage pieces which had been crushed and completely destroyed. He asked me to go through the bag to see if anything was damaged or missing. Praise the Lord, everything was there and nothing had been damaged apart from minor scratches and scrapes. Eddie was all too happy when I told him that everything inside was okay and that I would feel satisfactorily compensated with $50 to buy new luggage.
With our mishap under control, we boarded the train where we were led to our deluxe first-class accommodations. We had to laugh at what we saw. The room that slept two was smaller than most broom closets. and it had nothing more than two chairs (which converted to a bed, and a top bunk bed that was only about two feet wide. The "deluxe" room that slept three was a little better. It had two beds (one that could sleep two people) and an extra chair plus its own bathroom and sink. The bathroom was a tiny phone-booth like room that had a toilet and a shower. They actually recommended that you sit on the toilet seat as you took your shower (due to the movement of the train.) We had quite a good laugh over it all, but we sure did appreciate having a shower and a place to sleep. We slept for most of the trip between Chicago and Dallas.
All aboard!
The train ride from Boston to Dallas was so eventful that it deserves two posts. This first one will describe our trip from Boston to Chicago.
We ended up getting to South Station in Boston about an hour before the departure time, and since we had already checked our bags, we had little to do but wait. We were very pleased when we got on the train that there were some seats that had been turned around to face each other (most seats are situated just like you woyuld find on a motorcoach bus.) This seating arrangement worked just fine for us and we were beginning to think that travelling in coach might not be so bad after all. Unfortunately, we switched trains at Albany, NY, and everything changed for the worst. Not only did the second train not have seats that faced each other, it was very crowded, so we couldn't all sit together and Shannon had to share a seat with a young lady with a less-than-optimal attitude. We had hoped to be able to eat while we were at the train station in Albany, but there was nothing worth eating there. Fortunately, this train had a dining car, so we immediately headed there for supper. The dining car was so cold (I'm guessing it was to keep the cooks from getting too hot) that some people behind us actually put on their hoodies -- with the hoods up! We all sat there shivering as we ate supper. Fortunately for us, our waitress took a liking to us (especially the kids.) She gave the girls all free salads. Then, halfway through the meal she gave us a full litre of milk (on top of the large glasses of milk we started with.) When we finished the meal (we couldn't drink all the milk) she gave us another full litre of milk to take with us to our seats! Our waitress was definitely the highlight of the second train.
When we got back to our seats after supper, the girl that Shannon had to share a seat with was asleep across both chairs. We left her alone and sat three to a seat for a while until she woke up. The rail car we were in was overly air conditioned so we were quite cold all night (we were all wearing shorts and t-shirts since it had been a hot day) and none of us slept well. However, it was only one night and we arrived safely in Chicago the next morning.
Welcome to Boston
Thank God that we didn't go with plan "A". When we arrived in Boston, we stopped at South Station to try to find the closest hotel to the station, while Trent waited in the van. The closest hotel (which was an easy walk away) charged $465 per night for a room that would sleep 5 people. Otherwise, we would have to rent two rooms at $300 apiece. Apparently there is a bylaw in the city of Boston which limits hotel rooms to a maximum of four people. Fortunately, in Cambridge, just outside the city limits of Boston, you can rent hotel room that sleeps five for the low, low price of $239 per night (Ouch!) So, we checked our large luggage at South Station and got dropped off at the Royal Sonesta Hotel (which, admittedly, was a very nice place to stay.) We took a taxi to the train station in the morning. Everything worked out very nicely indeed.
We made it to Boston, but the car did not
On Monday, September 12, we arrived in Boston safe and sound. The original plan was to find a hotel that was close enough to the train station that we could walk from the hotel to the train station on Tuesday. That would allow us to find a used car dealer or a junkyard that we could sell our car to on Monday afternoon, since we wouldn't need the car any longer. Well, plans changed - for the better. After talking to the Boyds on Sunday evening, Trent mentioned to me on Monday morning that he was quite free that day and that he had an idea. What if we were to leave our car in Buxton, Maine and allow him to drive us to Boston in his 15-passenger van? He figured we'd get more money for the car that way, plus, we'd be more likely to arrive safely. We couldn't disagree with him at all so we cleared the car of all of our belongings, signed over the title and left the car in Maine. It turned out to be a great move for us since things did not go exactly as planned in Boston... (see next posting)
Deputation in Maine
Although we spent most of our time in Maine at Shannon's parents' place (shown here) doing yard work and homeschooling the girls, we did manage to squeeze in visits to four churches. We had a nice prayer meeting in Andover at Calvary Bible Church where we were able to share what God was doing in our lives. On Thursday, we went to the missions prayer meeting at our home church in Mexico, Maine, First Baptist. They also gave me an opportunity to share brifly what God was doing in our lives. Then on Sunday we visited Beans Corner Baptist Church and spoke to the missions committee chairman in the morning. Finally, we ended the day in West Buxton at Trent Boyd's church where I was given the whole service to speak.
Our official support level now stands at 25% based on the amount of monthly support that has been pledged from individuals and families. Keep in mind that this is 25% of the $2000 per month we are supposed to raise above and beyond what PACA is going to cover. This figure, so far, does not include financial support from any churches. We are quite encouraged by the financial progress we've seen. We feel quite confident that the churches will help us out between $500-$1000 per month which would put us in the 50-75% range. However, it takes churches a lot longer to commit to a dollar figure since they have to go through committees and often church votes before money can be committed.
Armed and Dangerous
While in Maine, Shannon's father had to give us an opportunity to do a little shooting. (Can't let yourself get too rusty, you know.) Seeing how we were heading to Texas anyway, we figured it might be a good idea if we got a little target practice in. We all took turns using a crossbow and an air pistol. (Don't worry our Canadian friends, the worst thing we shot was a pellet.) Shannon was able to shoot a two inch wide target from 10 meters. If she doesn't try to make the cast of the next Charlie's Angels film, we should be pretty safe in Texas.
We made it to Maine!
Our jalopy has come through for us getting us from PEI to Shannon's parents' place in Maine. We actually had a very uneventful trip (Praise God!) other than the motorcyclists we saw that had a dog in tow in his own "trailer" of sorts. We can hardly believe that we managed to get all 21 pieces of luggage in and on the car. Other than the house we left behind, everything we now own was being carried by those four tires (Over 700 pounds in luggage alone!). This has really been an awakening of sorts for Cary. We read in the Gospels that Christ told His disciples to leave all that they had to follow Him. Until now, we've never really had to do that. Most of what we have in the suitcases is clothing and toys. After the pictures and documents we also brought, there are only a handful of items that made the trip. It's a weird feeling, being sort of homeless as we wait to go to Brazil, knowing that's now where we belong, and yet in somewhat familiar surroundings. However, it's also very freeing, knowing that you're not tied down by stuff.
Praise God for a smooth border crossing. We had no trouble whatsoever at Calais, even though they asked for some documentation that I wasn't told I'd need. Fortunately, God saw to it that I brought those documents anyway, just to be on the safe side. The border guards seemed more like buddies than the post-9/11 tyrants they are often portrayed as being.