The Miracle Behind the Visas

1 Samuel 14

  One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.  Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men,  among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
  On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.
  Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them.  But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”
  So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” ¹² The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
   So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”
  Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him.  

My last blog explained the story of the Visas from my point of view. After hearing the inside story from Jeff.. I am much excited to share it with everyone else! So here it goes.


**This is my own memory of the story and so not all the details will be included nor will it all be word for word**


We'll start with a quick review of the story. On Tuesday before we were to leave we received back all 7 passports saying the Visas were denied. Wednesday Jeff drove to Chicago and did everything he could but was told it was impossible. It would take 3 business days and he could have the visas by Monday.  Our flights were for saturday but Jeff went with that option anyways. Thursday he couldn't get flights changed so it was Saturday or May.  
Friday morning Clint Robinson (one of the other staff guys from Veritas) had been watching the visas status online and there were four boxes that needed to be checked off and the last box says "ready for pick up." Clint called Jeff and says "I've been watching these boxes and the first three are checked and I've been praying and I'd like to think that i have faith in God that he can do this and I'm thinking about just jumping in the car and driving to Chicago again."
Jeff's response was "Great. Pick me up." 
Clint "Ok. I'm two minutes away from your house." 


So they started the 4 hour drive to Chicago at 9:30 in the morning. At the consulate there is a policy that Visas can only be picked up between 11am and 1pm.  Jeff was dropped off at the consulate at 1:10pm and quickly went up to the 18th floor to see that the windows are dark and there's a curtain drawn over the visa place. He tried the door and found it to be unlocked and so he went in and came from behind the curtain where he saw two women speaking Portuguese. When they saw him one of the women began to yell at him saying "what are you doing here?? You can't be here? We're closed.. visas pickups ended at 1pm..etc etc"
 Jeff apologizes and kind of explains the situation and the lady told him "well, come back at 2:30 and i'm not even guaranteeing that someone will talk to you, but just come back at 2:30."
So Jeff leaves and kills some time and at 2:30 Clint and him return to the consulate. This time, the windows are dark, the curtains are drawn, and the door is locked. But they noticed an intercom on the wall next to them and they pushed the button. Then two men came walking down the hallway and asks "have you been helped yet?" and Jeff says "no" right when the intercom comes on and says "how may I help you?" and so the guy who had come down the hall answers the intercom and says "never mind" and then goes into a side door and disappears. Jeff and Clint were left to stand in the hall way for a little bit. 
After 10 or 15 minutes go by the hit the intercom again and a man's voice comes on and says "what do you want?" 
Clint replies "Hi, my names Jeff Thune. I'm here about visas and someone told us to come back at 2:30"
The man came out to the hallway and asked them "who told you to come back?"
Jeff described her as being blonde and with short hair.
The man said "hold on a sec" and he went back in. He came back with a younger blonde lady and says "is this her?" and Jeff says "No, that's not her."
The man then said "Well sir, there are three ladies that work in this office and this is the only blonde."
So then the man thought Jeff was lying. Jeff apologized and said "Sir, I'm going to be honest.. our visas aren't even supposed to be ready until Monday but our flight leaves on Saturday and we couldn't get anything switched and I was just wondering if anything could be done."
The man was like "No, there is nothing."
Jeff and the man (Chester) then had a brief conversation about how Jeff should go about getting the passports returned to them since we would have to reapply for visas in May. 
The man was like "Well, let me see your receipt" 
Jeff handed him the receipt that had all the visas listed and the man's response was
"Oh! seven!? You have SEVEN visas?? I don't even know how you got THIS far because the 3 day policy is only good for 2 visas or less. It should have taken you 9 business days to have these processed."
After a little talking Chester says "well.. here.. are you going to be in Chicago for a few hours?"
Jeff-"we can be."
Chester-"ok, well, the lady who does these comes back at 3 and so I'll try this one last thing for you and i'll call you in 45 minutes if it works out. If you don't hear from me.. it didn't work out... you know what.. how about I just call you regardless. I'll call you no matter what"

Jeff and Clint then found themselves in a Starbucks close by with Jeff's phone on the table between them. To add to the drama.. Jeff's phone battery is almost dead and they're watching it slowly drain. 45 minutes go by.. an hour.. and... *ring* 
"Jeff, this is Chester. Are you still in Chicago?"
"Yes we are"
"ok.. I have all seven passports ready to go."
*Jeff and Clint being super excited*
Chester-"Calm down! Calm Down! I'll be here until 5:30 and you can pick them up anytime"


After some time praying, Jeff and Clint went to pick up the visas. Chester had some last words for Jeff. "Sir, I do not know you. But, you guys must have really good souls because I have worked here for a long time and I have never in my life seen this happen. We have policies and we have them for a reason. Here are your visas, congratulations"


And that is what happens when people pray with the kinda faith that can move a mountain. Even if the mountain is in the form of the Brazilian consulate. 


My thanks to everyone who was praying for this trip. We are all very much aware that it was only through prayer that we got our visas in time and it was by the grace of God that we went to Brazil.