Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland
Monday, March 9, 2009
.
Family Car
What a huge blessing! God has provided us with a family car for while we are in Poland. We have been weighing out our options over the past month and a half as to what we will do as far as our visas are concerned. As you might remember, we were having a bit of an issue obtaining one year long stay visas for Poland. We had thought that the process would be easier once we arrived in Poland, and I believe this is the case, but we have still run into the problem of needing to register somewhere in Poland in order to obtain these visas. Well, the problem is that we cannot register at the church that we are staying at because it does not have final residence permits, even though where we are staying is completed. This made us realize that we must take the option of traveling to another country every few months in order to have our passports stamped so that we can continue to live in Poland for another three months. This vehicle will provide us the means to travel to these other countries every three months (until September when we will leave for Africa). It also helps being able to do things like drive to the store to get groceries, and drive to people's homes to fellowship.
.
Family Car
What a huge blessing! God has provided us with a family car for while we are in Poland. We have been weighing out our options over the past month and a half as to what we will do as far as our visas are concerned. As you might remember, we were having a bit of an issue obtaining one year long stay visas for Poland. We had thought that the process would be easier once we arrived in Poland, and I believe this is the case, but we have still run into the problem of needing to register somewhere in Poland in order to obtain these visas. Well, the problem is that we cannot register at the church that we are staying at because it does not have final residence permits, even though where we are staying is completed. This made us realize that we must take the option of traveling to another country every few months in order to have our passports stamped so that we can continue to live in Poland for another three months. This vehicle will provide us the means to travel to these other countries every three months (until September when we will leave for Africa). It also helps being able to do things like drive to the store to get groceries, and drive to people's homes to fellowship.
.
The car is a 1996 Audi Station Wagon with a Turbo Diesel motor (which means better cost on fuel and better gas mileage). It is in great shape. We have had it checked out by two mechanics and they have both given good reports about it. The car is from Germany, which many people here pay more for, because the roads are much better and therefore the cars from Germany are in much better shape. We have been so blessed that the exchange rate has been so good over the last couple of months. This has enabled us to be able to save and buy this car. I mean, when Christy was here just last August the exchange rate was $1.00 U.S. to 2.00 Polish złotys. Now, the exchange rate has been hovering right around $1.00 U.S. to 3.75 Polish złotys, which is higher than it has been for many years. (Your financial support is able to go further) Thank you Jesus! So we were able to purchase the vehicle, get it registered and insured for one year (under a Polish friend’s name) for well under $5,000.00. We know that we will only be able to have it for another six or seven months, but another great thing is that we already have a buyer for it when we leave, and we will get most of this money back! Praise the Lord!
The car is a 1996 Audi Station Wagon with a Turbo Diesel motor (which means better cost on fuel and better gas mileage). It is in great shape. We have had it checked out by two mechanics and they have both given good reports about it. The car is from Germany, which many people here pay more for, because the roads are much better and therefore the cars from Germany are in much better shape. We have been so blessed that the exchange rate has been so good over the last couple of months. This has enabled us to be able to save and buy this car. I mean, when Christy was here just last August the exchange rate was $1.00 U.S. to 2.00 Polish złotys. Now, the exchange rate has been hovering right around $1.00 U.S. to 3.75 Polish złotys, which is higher than it has been for many years. (Your financial support is able to go further) Thank you Jesus! So we were able to purchase the vehicle, get it registered and insured for one year (under a Polish friend’s name) for well under $5,000.00. We know that we will only be able to have it for another six or seven months, but another great thing is that we already have a buyer for it when we leave, and we will get most of this money back! Praise the Lord!
.
I don’t know why little things like this can bring such joy. It is fun driving around in Europe, though generally people are very aggressive drivers, sort of like in California. So we just pretend like we’re in Cali and drive aggressively, too. Before we left for Poland we purchased a Garmin Nuvi GPS with maps for North America, Europe and even got basic road maps for Africa and the rest of the world. This GPS helps us immensely in getting around. We just punch in the city or address, and it guides us in. The GPS even talks to us. We were having the American woman’s voice talk to us, and we haven’t been brave enough to switch over to the Polish language, yet, but we did put the British woman’s voice on it for while we are in Europe, as it seemed more fitting. The European maps will help us, as we cannot travel to just any European countries to have our passports stamped. We need to drive to non-Schengen countries to do this. In April we are planning on driving to the Ukraine. And then in June we are planning on driving to the U.K. (as we will need vaccinations for Africa and other things before September). The cool thing is, we are planning on stopping at YWAM bases along the way and doing some ministry in these countries as well. What an enormous blessing this vehicle is to us!
.
I don’t know why little things like this can bring such joy. It is fun driving around in Europe, though generally people are very aggressive drivers, sort of like in California. So we just pretend like we’re in Cali and drive aggressively, too. Before we left for Poland we purchased a Garmin Nuvi GPS with maps for North America, Europe and even got basic road maps for Africa and the rest of the world. This GPS helps us immensely in getting around. We just punch in the city or address, and it guides us in. The GPS even talks to us. We were having the American woman’s voice talk to us, and we haven’t been brave enough to switch over to the Polish language, yet, but we did put the British woman’s voice on it for while we are in Europe, as it seemed more fitting. The European maps will help us, as we cannot travel to just any European countries to have our passports stamped. We need to drive to non-Schengen countries to do this. In April we are planning on driving to the Ukraine. And then in June we are planning on driving to the U.K. (as we will need vaccinations for Africa and other things before September). The cool thing is, we are planning on stopping at YWAM bases along the way and doing some ministry in these countries as well. What an enormous blessing this vehicle is to us!
.
Christian Young
No comments:
Post a Comment