Oh Canada!
Last Wednesday we were able to visit Niagara Falls. We had heard from native New Yorkers that it was better to view the falls from the Canadian side. We drove to the falls in pouring down rain, worried that we would have to cut our time short because of the bad weather. The Lord provided us with a wonderful day, however. It stopped raining when we got within a half our of the Canadian boarder.
Our story takes an interesting turn at this point. We went to the boarder crossing, but realized once we got there that we were supposed to have either our passport or birth certificate in order to get across. We had neither. They sent us to the immigration offices to try and negotiate our way into Canada for a few hours to see the falls. We thought it would be no problem considering that Andy spent two years in Canada for school. We were wrong. There was one little problem: it seems that upon leaving Canada to come back to the U.S. after graduation, Andy forgot to "check out" of Canada. That was five years ago. Apparently since then, Andy has been on a Canadian "alert list." Should he try to enter Canada again (which we were), he would have to provide proof of his identity and status. Unfortunately, he did not have any proof with him. There was a possibility that Andy could be permanently denied access to Canada. As we waited to hear the verdict of the lady guard who was helping us, we couldn't help but laugh to think about the irony of our situation. Ever since spending his college years in Canada, Andy has been a huge advocate for the country in our small Midwestern state of Iowa. We were even singing the Canadian national anthem as we were anticipating entering Canada that day. Andy still has a sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews that live in Canada. We are also involved in a North American ministry, which includes Canada. What would happen if he could never go into Canada again? It was hard for me not to laugh thinking about what was actually happening. Andy was called over to the counter again to hear the final decision. The lady told Andy that today she would allow him to enter Canada, but if he ever wanted to enter the country again, he needed to bring his passport or birth certificate. If he failed to do that, he would be denied access permanently. WHEW! We avoided what could have been a major catastrophe! Thank you, God! We made a note to self: in order to enter Canada again, bring proper identification!
The rest of our afternoon was beautiful! The sun came out and we were able to spend a wonderful afternoon viewing God's beautiful creation! We got back in our van after a tiring day walking all over, and within 10 minutes of sitting down inside our van, the rain started again. We were extremely thankful to God for holding off the rain for our outdoor excursion!
this is hilarious! Canada: don't bite the hand that feeds you!
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Liz this is the funniest story!! I love it! How crazy would that have been for Andy to be banned from entering Canada ever again!!!
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I had a good laugh about Andy being on the alert list at the border. lol Glad that you were both able to get across. I was excited to see you guys on the Canadian side esp with the flag! I hope you come out this way sometime, you are more then welcome to stay with us! Hope that your travels continue to go well. 60% is SO exciting! We will continue to pray for more support and for safety on the road! Blessings from Canada!
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Love reading about your experiences out east! We prayed for you in prayer meeting on Wednesday! Keep up the great work! See you next month!
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