For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9
We have shared before that much of what keeps me (Scott)
busy lately is bureaucracy related to the sale of our mission's property in
Quito. Bureaucracy is never much fun, but it's often even more difficult in
third-world countries. It is so much a part of life in Latin America that somewhere
along the line some Spanish speaker coined a word to be used only in the
context of bureaucratic situations. There is no real English equivalent, but trámite basically refers to one step involved
in bureaucratic or legal processes. Sometimes it takes only one visit to a
government office, but more often it involves several trips and standing in
long lines.
Since trámites are
pretty much a part of my life lately, I thought I'd let you in on an
email I recently sent to my supervisor in Kansas City:
Good News: We finally got the
right guy to go out to the property and do an inspection, so what we've been
waiting for finally happened.
Bad News: Although we thought it
was a no-brainer that the city took some property to pave the street, the
inspector concluded that in no way was our property affected by the street.
That means that the official answer to the paper work (tramite) we've had in
process since (maybe) April is "no". We are convinced that he is
wrong.
Good News: We don't necessarily
have to accept that answer. There is a process for appealing it.
Bad News: The appeal process
would take at least 6 months to a year and be a very detailed and involved
fight, showing old pictures, documenting past history, etc.
Good News: During the time we've
been waiting for this answer, new city ordinances have been passed making it
easier to make adjustments to land titles specifically in regard to the area of
property.
Bad News: In order to make use
of the new ordinance, we need to start a whole new tramite, beginning from
zero.
Good News: Our first step in
this process would be a survey of the property, which we already did for the
last tramite we are completing.
Bad News: The new tramite will
take at least 2 months and we will need to pay a fee of somewhere around $150
to complete it.
Good News: The new tramite will
probably take about 2 months and we will need to pay a fee of somewhere around
$150 to complete it, which compared to appealing the previous tramite sounds
kind of nice.
Bad News: Tomorrow is a holiday,
so I can't begin working on the new tramite until next week.
Good News: I hope to get our
legal representative's signature today so I will be ready to stand in line
first thing Monday morning.
Bad News: I have to stand in
line again on Monday.
Good News: This is the end of my
news!
There have been a lot of ups and downs with all of these trámites,
but we know God's timing is best and the property will sell when it's time for
that to happen. In the meantime, just pray for wisdom for me to handle each
step of this process in the best way possible.
At the end of October, our support account with Avant dipped
into the red. Please pray for God to provide for the financial needs we have.
If you would personally like to help, you can send a donation to Avant
Ministries to be applied to our ministry account. You may print the following
form and send it in to:
Avant Ministries
10000 N Oak Trafficway
Kansas City, MO 64155
I am sending a donation of $
Please apply it to the account of Scott and Kristi Edgren
Name:
Address:
City: State: Zip:
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