Vol. 5 - April 2022

BORDER CROSSINGS

When my trip to Thailand was suddenly canceled at the Kyiv, Ukraine airport due to crazy covid travel restrictions, I looked to heaven with a big question mark.

Then two days later Pastor Robert Acosta in Argentina asked us to “quickly help them build a school” for 450 children; they had lost the lease on their building and no place for the children’s next season.

Amazingly God helped us rapidly put together teams of builders from 4 nations, including Ukraine. In 35-days we built the school. God gave us a tinge of insight to bring Pasha’s wife and two little boys on the mission trip because the Russian army was “doing drills” on Ukraine’s borders. Viktor did not bring his wife and new baby, nor did Dima from Crimea, Russia.

One day our Ukrainians hammered final nails into the frame of the Christian school and the following day we turned our mission house dining room into a strategy war room.

February 24, 2022, will forever be emblazoned into our hearts. The day Russia invaded Ukraine. Initial social media images alerted on every device and then 24/7 until this current day. Shock and tears as we watched video images of helicopters flying over Kyiv into our beloved Vyshgorod, which is like my second home when I'm in Ukraine. Bombs and bullets have struck near Pasha’s new house we built in November last year.

In Argentina, Pasha and Masha awakened early in the morning with frantic calls from home as their family and best friends dove for cover. Helpless to do anything and grateful to be in Argentina, they prayed.

Pastor Robert and the church rallied in prayer and loving support through the next days. One of our ministry partners had wisely donated extra airline tickets to include Masha and their two children on this construction mission trip to northern Argentina. Thank God!

Masha's family ran to their church basement along with others from Vyshogord. They reported day and night. Social media channels formed immediately with real and graphic images, searing our hearts for our friends and family.

To evacuate was treacherous over roads being bombed and sprayed with bullets. Ukraine's military blew up strategic and beautiful bridges to keep the invaders from accessing the capital of Kyiv.

Masha begged her parents to flee the security of the church basement. Fear gripped them but logistics in their unique situation also entrenched them. Their 21-year-old son, Vladik, with severe cerebral palsy, is completely dependent on Masha's parents, to walk, eat, and use the bathroom. Every thought of evacuation and flight had to concern firstly the special needs of Vladik.

Pasha's attention turned from leading the school construction project to guiding friends and family to safety. Those who jumped in those early morning hours of the first day, driving toward the Western Carpathian mountains, provided life-saving information. Their pathways shined for others to follow. After about ten days and heavily relying on social media, the two Ukrainians in Argentina guided Masha’s parents safely around dangerous roads and at last through the border into Slovakia.

We transitioned our construction abruptly into the hands of the newly trained Argentinian brothers. My focus turned to helping my builders and friends find safe haven... somewhere.

The USA seemed the best solution. I stood as a sponsoring voice at the consular window of the US embassy in Buenos Aires. They were ineligible for tourist visas to America. Attempting to influence the negative decision, the Holy Spirit of God gently spoke to my heart, "There's a better way. Don't despair."

From our hotel room in Buenos Aires as I posted social media appeals for any assistance and knocked on doors of neighboring Brazil and Mexico, missionary friends responded.

After 2 long years of covid displacement, our Networx Asian missionaries were still stuck in their home country of Mexico. "How can we help?"

That offer led to fast research to learn we could at least get free tourist electronic visas online within minutes for our Ukrainians. By the following morning, we started our flight of faith toward North America.

We landed first in Cancun, the safest closest city. During the covid Pandemic, airline flight was more complicated than usual, having to pay attention to the restrictions of each airline and each country. To our surprise and delight, all restrictions to Mexico had been lifted...no vaccine or testing requirements. With such a fast decision to fly there, it was a welcome relief to our stress.

After working through several difficulties with our accommodation reservations, we at last arrived at a peaceful and safe Airbnb where we could think, pray, strategize and research for the next move.

I remembered a Texas lawyer from years earlier who specializes in immigration and asylum. Lisa Schwamkrug replied to my email and provided valuable information to help me feel confident about leading these friends across a Mexican border. "You can drive them in a US-plated vehicle to the border, declare you have Ukrainian passengers, and they declare asylum to the border agent," she advised.

Now to determine which US border would be safest. I wanted to presume at Texas and then I'd be safely almost home myself after the supposed victory. While I worked in one room to order airline tickets, Pasha called Ukrainian American immigrants and watched YouTube videos.

Every attempt to order online air tickets to a Texas border city failed! In frustration, I joined Pasha in the kitchen where he declared, "We must go to Tijuana, Mexico! A few Ukrainians have just passed through that border to California declaring asylum." We prayed and sensed God confirming this direction.

I called another displaced Asian missionary who was marooned in his Southern California city: "John, we need your help. Can you please drive across the San Diego border, pick us up in your van in Tijuana, and drive us across?" Without hesitation, the seasoned missionary agreed and the plan moved forward.

More online challenges for booking tickets to Tijuana caused me to worry that we might be misstepping in this effort. We had to delay an additional day and extend our accommodation.

I didn't know that the delay helped John keep an important medical appointment. I also didn't know that the US government was in the process of initiating a new program for Ukrainian refugees to enter the Tijuana border.

At 5:00 am in our Mexico hotel room, I received an email from the Texas lawyer informing me of a new provision called HUMANITARIAN PAROLE. "Keep your ears open for this when you approach the border today."

John carefully navigated his van filled with anxious Ukrainians and me. We all held our breath as we approached the first filter and a Mexican border guard. Seeing a full van, he ordered all to hand over passports. My heart pounded. This could be the beginning or the end of our journey. John made the first important declaration, "We are US citizens and we have Ukrainian passengers who want to declare asylum in the USA."

Stacking all our passports, the guard placed them under the windshield wiper and ordered us to slowly drive forward. At the guard booth, the second filter, they asked the Ukrainian leader, Pasha, why he wants to enter the USA. He declared, "There's a war going on in my country with Russian military killing our people, bombing our cities and I'm afraid for my life and the lives of my family."

Another guard led our van forward to a covered parking area. They took John's keys, our phones, and placed all near the stacked passports under the windshield wipers.

Another guard came and spoke Russian to Pasha, who repeated in English that they all wanted to claim asylum in the USA. The guard then began to explain in English that a new option was available called HUMANITARIAN PAROLE.

There it was! Our airline delay of one day put us in the right place at the right time for this chyros moment. Asylum declarations would require many days in detention rooms with men and women-and-children all separated. We were told by the other Ukrainians who had come through in the most recent previous days. But HUMANITARIAN PAROLE would enable the customs officials to expedite the procedures and in 1-2 hours this group of six Ukrainians would be standing on US-soil.

We all were so relieved and at last breathing. Customs officials took my Ukrainians into their building and instructed John and I to drive to the nearby McDonald’s parking lot to wait for them. We hardly had our coffee and breakfast in hand when they were calling us. Finished. Standing in San Diego, California outside the San Ysidro border. MIRACULOUS!

Social media notifications began immediately to notify family and friends in Ukraine and Europe as well as the USA that our friends were safe in America.

Tears of joy mingled with those of grief and shock from the previous days of watching the war in Ukraine. How could this really be happening!?

With HUMANITARIAN PAROLE, for 1-year, these Ukrainian citizens can travel anywhere in the United States and begin processing paperwork to receive asylum or another status. It includes the opportunity to apply for work permits. Each state has varying degrees of wait time for the permit process to complete.

By the time the parole status expires, the Ukrainians will need to leave the USA, apply for an extension, or have moved forward into another level of legal status to stay, like applying for asylum.

From the time my Ukrainian friends stepped across the California border, I have continued to serve many other Ukrainians on the Tijuana/California and Juarez/Texas borders while partnering with local churches and ministries. My emotions are a raw mess after talking with so many, hearing their stories, and seeing awful images from Ukraine. These are my people. Belarusians are my people. Russians are my people. It is very difficult to reconcile. I cry all the time these days. I want Putin’s war to be over.

Thank you for praying and giving generously,

Love and blessings

Becky

Click here to help Ukrainian refugees.

Please visit our International Networx website. There’s much to see. Share our site with others. And consider partnering with us in God’s Great Commission. (Mt 28:18-20)

Посетите наш веб-сайт International Networx. Есть на что посмотреть. Поделитесь нашим сайтом с другими. И подумайте о том, чтобы сотрудничать с нами в Великом Поручении Бога. (Мф 28: 18-20)