Go down, Moses
Way down to Egypt la-a-and
Tell ole, Pharaoh,
Let My pe-ople GO!
We sang that old Spiritual in choir in high-school, harkening back to a slave nation that was brought out against great odds.
On the final night, the first 'pass-over' the people were told to dress to leave and eat standing up, ready to march away... Pharaoh had said that he would never 'let the Israelites go' ... but a few hours later, with the land mourning many a deceased first-born, the message was relayed to Moses - depart!
In a small way, that's where we are now.
In 60 hours the movers are due to come and pack up our worldly possessions and ship them off to Lalitpur.
Asha's and Enoch's new school in Lalitpur (St. Dominic Savio) started today, but as I key in this small note, Asha is still studying for her last big exam of her 9th standard... Chemistry (tomorrow). The next day is art which is a breeze for her. Enoch is already in bed. As are Yohan and Sheba.
The house is emptying as books are put in boxes and some things (too few) are being given away. How did we get to have so much stuff?
But we still don't have 'permission' to take Yohan with us.
Our prayer network is humming as folks near and far are interceding for us.
And given the fact that the 'lady pharaoh' of our lives has refused to give us the permission so far things could be seen as being pretty bleak.
Some steps, however, are being made. We have reached out to the highest ranking bureaucrat in the State for the particular department we are talking about (or not... you can see that we have to be careful about what we 'put out there' while the process is going on - one of these days we will write a no-holds barred account of the last year's shenanigans - but we want that day to come with us having the needed papers in hand).
We also had our 3rd home-visit today - which as far as we can tell went well. So that leaves us with tomorrow as the authority in question sits only on Mon-Wed-Fri afternoons - and the Fri of this week is a public holiday. We are hoping to get onto a train at 12.10 AM on Monday the 11th of April morning. This would mean that Asha would only be missing a week or so of her 10th standard.
Will we be able to make this hoped-for deadline? Will we get the 'paper-in-hand' - allowing us to take Yohan with us as we shift north? We have been told that this will happen by the folks who have been approached on our behalf - but we are now talking hours instead of days? Will the Eichers be on the train on Sunday night - or sometime on Monday?
Only God really knows - and He does not give us a script to live out... Rather, we have the deep privilege of trusting and being stretched by what seems to be un-doable, completely impossible...
The movers are coming in 59 hours from now.
We have decided that we must stick together. The authorities finally sent another person to do a 'home-study' (our 3rd full home-study so far...) and that person came today. We were glad that Yohan was not intimidated by her and was able to speak freely. With so many things apparently hanging by a thread, each step forward is a cause for thanksgiving.
We are waiting to hear a correct and life-affirming response to the call: "Let my people (the Eichers - all five of them) goooo!"
Time for a series of miracles.
Way down to Egypt la-a-and
Tell ole, Pharaoh,
Let My pe-ople GO!
We sang that old Spiritual in choir in high-school, harkening back to a slave nation that was brought out against great odds.
On the final night, the first 'pass-over' the people were told to dress to leave and eat standing up, ready to march away... Pharaoh had said that he would never 'let the Israelites go' ... but a few hours later, with the land mourning many a deceased first-born, the message was relayed to Moses - depart!
In a small way, that's where we are now.
In 60 hours the movers are due to come and pack up our worldly possessions and ship them off to Lalitpur.
Asha's and Enoch's new school in Lalitpur (St. Dominic Savio) started today, but as I key in this small note, Asha is still studying for her last big exam of her 9th standard... Chemistry (tomorrow). The next day is art which is a breeze for her. Enoch is already in bed. As are Yohan and Sheba.
The house is emptying as books are put in boxes and some things (too few) are being given away. How did we get to have so much stuff?
But we still don't have 'permission' to take Yohan with us.
Our prayer network is humming as folks near and far are interceding for us.
And given the fact that the 'lady pharaoh' of our lives has refused to give us the permission so far things could be seen as being pretty bleak.
Some steps, however, are being made. We have reached out to the highest ranking bureaucrat in the State for the particular department we are talking about (or not... you can see that we have to be careful about what we 'put out there' while the process is going on - one of these days we will write a no-holds barred account of the last year's shenanigans - but we want that day to come with us having the needed papers in hand).
We also had our 3rd home-visit today - which as far as we can tell went well. So that leaves us with tomorrow as the authority in question sits only on Mon-Wed-Fri afternoons - and the Fri of this week is a public holiday. We are hoping to get onto a train at 12.10 AM on Monday the 11th of April morning. This would mean that Asha would only be missing a week or so of her 10th standard.
Will we be able to make this hoped-for deadline? Will we get the 'paper-in-hand' - allowing us to take Yohan with us as we shift north? We have been told that this will happen by the folks who have been approached on our behalf - but we are now talking hours instead of days? Will the Eichers be on the train on Sunday night - or sometime on Monday?
Only God really knows - and He does not give us a script to live out... Rather, we have the deep privilege of trusting and being stretched by what seems to be un-doable, completely impossible...
The movers are coming in 59 hours from now.
We have decided that we must stick together. The authorities finally sent another person to do a 'home-study' (our 3rd full home-study so far...) and that person came today. We were glad that Yohan was not intimidated by her and was able to speak freely. With so many things apparently hanging by a thread, each step forward is a cause for thanksgiving.
We are waiting to hear a correct and life-affirming response to the call: "Let my people (the Eichers - all five of them) goooo!"
Time for a series of miracles.
Praying for you all. And feeling sorry for poor Asha who does not get a break between big exams and starting a new year in a new school. Bless her.
ReplyDeleteWill be praying for you all. You are coming a bit closer to our state 😊
ReplyDelete