Photo: We arrived in Chopin Airport, Warsaw, Poland and are standing at the baggage area.
The good news on Monday was the loading of two containers out of Montgomery, AL. These were the last of 6 containers with soup broth that will offer thousands of meals to those in Ukraine suffering through the upcoming winter.
The first group arrived in Warsaw and all bags arrived with us. This group is comprised of me, Roberto (Beto) Santiago, and Perry Baker. All went well as we met with Charita in Newark just prior to departure from the USA. We had expected to bring extra bags with donated items but the tourniquets had not arrived. The next group will have the extra bags to bring.
When we travel we can only carry a certain amount of cash due to limits for customs purposes. I had arranged for each of us to bring the maximum we could bring to help with the various needs while traveling. I gave Perry his portion as we met in Montgomery and was to give Beto his when meeting in Newark. BUT things were moving quickly and I forgot to give Beto his portion and did not realize it until I was pulled aside at Warsaw Customs. Perry and I were together and Beto walked ahead of us. So, for the next hour+ I was trying to explain how I forgot that I was carrying twice the permitted funds. Our bags were thoroughly searched, we were interviewed several times separately to make sure our stories were consistent and all the time trying to be cognizant and coherent after an all night’s flight from N.J. to Warsaw. At the end both Perry and I paid a fine and were permitted freedom. We walked out and found Beto and Tanya leisurely sitting at a café enjoying coffee.
The day after arrival is planned to work on getting Beto’s VISA. He’s a Mexican Citizen with a Mexican passport and needs a VISA to enter Ukraine. We have a number of friends working on this need in various ways. Hopefully we will find success and be on our way to Ivano-Frankivsk.
Continue praying for our efforts!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
(Warsaw, Poland)
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