My husband and I are wrapping up a 12-day missionary furlough we took to the northeastern US. This trip was financed by money I saved up all year from donating plasma. It is a great side-hustle, and I've used it to save up for trips and holidays over the last few years. I recommend looking into plasma donation if you're interested in saving up some side money.
Anyway, on this trip we were able to see some supporters and prayer partners in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Vermont, as well as present our ministry and share the Gospel in these and other surrounding states. I remained in touch with our ministry board and colleagues back in Arkansas, and even hosted our monthly meeting over zoom. Nonetheless, this trip did give a lot of rest, encouragement and fellowship. It was a blessing to see so much of our country!
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| Janelle and Walter, Columbus, Ohio |
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| At Lake Erie, in New York state |
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| The Atlantic Ocean, Ogunquit, Maine |
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| Vermont State Capitol, Montpelier, VT |
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| New England fall foliage |
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| New England fall foliage |
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| Lake Willoughby, VT |
Of course, even more than the scenery, we loved the fellowship with our friends and ministry partners.
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Toward the end of our time up north, we were encouraged by our friends in Vermont to go up into Quebec, Canada.
"But we no longer have valid passports," we explained. Both of us had them in the past, but they're long-expired.
"Neither do we," our friends explained, "but if you have the enhanced driver's license, Canada will count it as a passport. We just did a trip recently."
Hmm, I thought, I have the Real ID. I knew all 50 states now issued this higher-security driver's license, and it was required for certain things now, but I didn't realize it worked as a passport into Canada. What a fun idea, to run up into Quebec when we were so close! I had not been outside the United States since my mission trip to Zambia the summer of 2000.
Walter and I decided to go for it! We drove up to the border. I was reminded of my favorite book God's Smuggler, where Brother Andrew shared his exploits in sneaking Bibles across borders (even though you don't have to sneak Bibles between the US and Canada!).
When it was our turn, we drove up and presented the friendly Canadian border guard with our licenses. We explained that we were just going shopping and then coming back into the US. He happily let us drive into his country. And just like that, we were in Quebec!
It was kind of surreal, realizing, I'm in Canada! We did some shopping, and admired more autumn foliage.
About an hour later, we decided it was time to get back into Vermont, USA. But we had a surprise. Crossing back into the United States was much harder than crossing into Canada! We gave the American guard our Real ID driver's licenses, and he told us that the Real ID is not the same thing as an enhanced license! Only 5 states offer enhanced licenses, which can be used as passports into Canada, but our state of Arkansas is not one of them! Technically, the Canadian guard shouldn't have let us into Canada. But he did. Now, we weren't sure if we were going to be allowed back into the US!
We were detained at the customs office on the border. It was like waiting at the DMV or some other government agency. Even though we were mildly concerned, we felt the urge to crack up, as you can see in the picture (the window behind makes it look like we are outside, but we were sitting in the office). I'm not even sure what country we were technically in, since it was right on the border.
As soon as we took the picture, we were told to put our phones away, which we did, but we were not told to erase the picture, so we didn't.
It was a half-hour wait, just sitting there. They never called Walter up, but they summoned me a few times to ask me questions. We determined that it took as quickly as it did because we both had US passports before, and they were able to trace them, but it took as long as it did because my former passport was under my maiden name, and I have no legal documentation that I keep on my person with my maiden name, so tracing mine took longer. But finally, they determined that we were who our Arkansas drivers licenses said we were, and they let us into our country!
As we drove back into Vermont, we both laughed hard, a result of the nervous tension, I'm sure. We were so thankful to be in our nation. It was a reminder to never take our US citizenship for granted. It was a little alarming to realize how easy it was to get into Canada without being Canadian citizens, and how hard it was to get into the US as American citizens.
More basically to the point, we learned that Real ID's (which all 50 states have) are not valid as international passports. If you're like I was, and didn't really know, with all these new things coming out that we've had to get, now you know! Make sure you have the right documentation for what you want to do. Walter and I innocently misunderstood, but it could have been serious.
We are told in Luke 14:28, For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does no first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? This applies to our Christian lives, as well as just practical decisions, like taking a quick trip to Canada! That is the greatest reminder and lesson from this trip. Blessings!
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