Visa Quest

I stole the title of this posting from the movie "Vision Quest".

 The Visa Quest

Visa
1. An endorsement made in a passport that allows the bearer to enter the country issuing it.
Quest
1. The act of searching for something.

Last Wednesday we went to the Consulate of Brazil.  We were there for approximately 45 minutes (we arrived 20 minutes early to our appointment) and were turned away with a new list of things to do, the list includes but is not limited to the following:

• Photocopy every page of your passport, including the outside of our passport, get it notarized, then go to the county clerk where that notary is registered and have them confirm that the notary is a legitimate notary.  Then proceed to the Post Office and purchase a money order for $20.  The passport is now finished, repeat the same steps for every document that must be notarized, four more documents a piece and you are finished with that.

We are waiting on a few documents from Brazil and then we will mail all of our documents and their copies to the Consulate of Brazil in Atlanta.  They will notify us that the documents are in order and then we will schedule an appointment and meet face to face.  After that we will wait 3-6 months when the Government of Brazil will welcome us with open arms.

The Visa Process

Tomorrow we will be heading to the Consulate of Brazil. Its in "Hotlanta" or Atlanta.  We have learned a lot about international governments working together or not working together through the Visa process and here are some fun facts if you ever plan on visiting Brazil.

• If you are a US Citizen you need a Tourist Visa to visit. If you are not a citizen of the US most likely you do not need a visa to visit.
• When applying for a Voluntary Visa or VITEM I as we are, it cost $210 but if you are not a citizen of the USA its $60. Yes that's correct US dollars. And all Visa fees must be paid with an United States Postal Service Money Order, Sorry Western Union, your money order is no good here.
• We have approximately 10 piece of papers each or documents to turn in tomorrow, ranging from a copy of our driver's license to documents in Portuguese stating we are people of upstanding character. (The papers in Portuguese I am not really sure what they say, Rosetta Stone doesn't have a Visa documents section)

All this to say is that we are not sure we will get our Visas on the first try. We are rookies at dealing with government on this level.  We have lived in Birmingham, AL for the past two years and I believe this has prepared us well for "funny" government. 

I let you know how it goes.

61 & Roger Maris

Roger Maris hit 61 home runs for the New York Yankees back in 1961, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs which stood for 34 years.  Roger Maris record was broken in 1998 by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa who hit 70 and 66 for the year.  What does Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have to do with us and raising support....well nothing actually but we are 61% of our support which is the same number of home runs Maris hit in 1961.

We have $3700  of monthly support committed.  God is continuing to bring people to our team and we are getting more excited about the possibilities of being in Brazil very soon.


Here is Roger Maris' 61st home run.
Enjoy.

August 9 2010

58%

We are at 58% of our budget. We have $3509 committed. We need around $2500 a month to be on the ground in Brazil. Continue to pray that the Lord will lead people to join our team.

Mark & Michelle Hamby have been in Belo Horizonte for 5 months. We will be working with them and we are excited about that. To find out whats going on in Brazil right now visit thier blog at: markandmichellehamby.blogspot.com


Sling Shot Man
I think this is one of the best videos on Youtube

July 24 2010

We are currently at 55% of our budget. We have $3309 committed. We only need $2691 to be on the field in Brazil. Continue to pray that the Lord will bring people to our team.

On a lighter note, my wife is really good at finding funny/weird youtube videos.  Check out K-Strass.

Enjoy

$50,000

Strike up the band. Ladies and Gentleman we are now finished raising our launching fund of $50,000. This money will go to buying a car, furnishing our apartment, shipping items to Brazil, paperwork and taxes. We are very excited this is finished and we believe this is just more confirmation from God.  We want to say Thank You to everyone that has given. Thank you for giving and thank you for trusting in the Lord and what He will do in Brazil through us.


 Fiat Uno
One of the most popular cars in Brazil.
A portion of our launching fund will go to buying a sweet ride like the Fiat Uno.
Vroom!


-Brian

The Summertime

I have been away from the blog. An update, the first week in  June Abbey and I were in Atlanta meeting with people.  We enjoyed the opportunity to share our vision for Brazil and the time we spent with family and friends. The second week in June we attended a Support Raising Seminar in Nashville, TN.  We learned a lot and it has helped us tremendously.  After Nashville we headed to Charlotte, NC so I could take a class through Reformed Theological Seminary.  Then after all that we headed back to Peachtree City just in time for the soon to be World Famous 4th of July Parade. Abbey's parents make a float to advertise for their business.  I was able to overcome Brasil's defeat in the World Cup to the Netherlands a day earlier just in time to throw out candy during the parade.   We stayed in Peachtree City the next week and continued to meet with people and share our vision.  We are really excited right now. We've got some momentum.

Now that the 2010 World Cup is over. It's Brasil's turn in 2014. Here is the logo. Get excited.