the Great Deport

Oxford. home of C.S. Lewis.

C.S. Lewis. writer of “The Great Divorce”

“The Great Divorce.” a convenient title to twist and use as the title of this post: “The Great Deport”
mercy :)

I am being deported from England, tomorrow at 4:15pm. it is probably the shortest trip to Europe in the history of short trips. on record. ever. but, I am not a criminal, as the immigration officer graciously assured me :)

there was a mix up. apparently I was supposed to have a visa I did not have in my possession; even though I was told I did not need it. I did need it. it is not anyone’s fault; it is a misunderstanding. however, since I promised I would update before, during, and after my time in England, I am going to post now cause this is all there will be. of the last 12 hours I have spent in England, 6 of those hours have been spent in the London Heathrow Airport’s immigration detainment office. so here is the “during” if the trip.

the flight to London was amazing. this is not the first time I have flown internationally, but it was the first time I have been a passenger on a transatlantic flight. I got a window seat and we flew over Greenland. ‘nuff said.

where they check passports, visas, etc., is where I ran into trouble. apparently they wanted me to have a workers visa; which didn’t have. after waiting, then taking me to get my luggage, then searching my luggage, then more waiting, an immigration officer took me to the detainment office for more questioning.

the detainment office was so…something. I lost track of the doors I went through that read “Authorized Personnel ONLY.” they took my luggage into a separate room, separating me from my cell phone. I bought a calling card and called my dad to tell him what happened. he didn’t answer (cause it was 4am in Cali). I left a message telling him that he could call the pay phone in the detainment waiting room. a few min later the phone rang. It was my dad. he began calling mom, Alan and Anna, and various people who were trying to reach other various people, all wondering what is happening to me and am I ok? I was ok.

this post is not to spew about a trip that did not go as planned. nor is it to whine about how this trip was a “wasted” experience, or how miserable I was. The last two are definitely NOT true. but I felt it necessary to give some background as to why I am leaving for the U.S. tomorrow. and how the next portion of the story came about.

here’s why the trip was not miserable: I made friends. Here’s why the trip was not a waste: I shared the gospel with my new friend. Let me tell you, when you are in the immigration detainment waiting room the door only opens from the outside; you can’t leave. there were two men in this waiting room with me. stuck in there. just. like. me.

their names were Ahrija (definitely spelled that wrong) and Abraham.

Ahrija lives in England. he was Indian (from India). he did not speak very good English and did not talk very much. but he was nice; we first began to talk when I was having trouble with the phone. he tried, in broken English, to help me. we both did our best, but I had to figure the phone out on my own.

Abraham, or Abie as his friends call him, has been to and lived in more places than I thought possible in one lifetime. San Francisco, Asia, Brazil, Spain, Canada, all over the UK, England previously, most recently Germany, and now he is back to England. he is Iranian, but speaks English, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. he can read French. he plays the dobro. he writes and records his own music. he is back in England because it is easier to make records there than in Germany. he was more talkative that Ahrija.

after all of that conversation with Abie, I realized I had a captive audience for the gospel. Literally. he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. perfect. I began to ask him if he went to church while in England?

“Sometimes. I play in churches, sometimes.”

I asked him if he liked it [church]?

“Yes, I respect them”

I asked him if he believed what the church said and taught?

“Some of it. There are too many restrictions. Not as much restrictions with Protestants/Evangelicals, but still some”

He told me that he did not want to place any restrictions on people.

I began to share with him why Christianity was distinct from all other religions. Christianity has a God who loves us. Christianity is the only religion that says that we cannot save ourselves from the bad things we do. but not only that, God has plan to save us. God loved us and He sent Jesus to die and save us. All we have to do is admit we are sinners and ask Jesus into our heart. that is why I loved Christianity. why this God who loves blows me away. 

I, regrettably, used “christianese.” but I take comfort in the fact that God can use anything, even my nervous babbling about Christianity, to plant seeds. hopefully this conversation planted some seeds.

More to come…for now it is late. the “after” part will come soon. I will, after all, be home on Thursday.