Shipping Dilemmas!!!!

So, we received word that our boxes were refused at the warehouse in New Jersey. This was frustrating and brought a few tears. We called FedEx to see what the problem was. They told us two things. 1. The warehouse said that they could not accept the packages. 2. They (FedEx) could not relabel the boxes and send them again to the warehouse. So, 14 out of 18 boxes have arrived back in Colorado and 4 seem to be missing. They'll probably arrive soon enough, but who knows at this point!

When we arrived at PFO (training) in Houghton, New York, we were surprised to discover that every single person (from Vienna Christian School) that sent their boxes to the warehouse had them refused and sent back to their homes. So, that is where we are right now with the boxes. We are waiting on the people at Vienna Christian School to come to a decision with the shipping company at the warehouse to refund everyone their money and get the boxes in the container by next Friday. So, please pray that all shipping problems will be solved and our boxes can be shipped and make it to the container on time!!!

God is good all the time!!

So, we finally shipped all of our belongings to New Jersey. Amanda, my mom, and I met Karen (from church) at FedEx/Kinkos so that she could use her discount from work. We brought in all of our 18 boxes, the clerk weighed each one, and then told us that the address she pulled up from the computer was different from the address we had for the shipping company. So, just to make sure that we had the right address Amanda called the shipping company. She was told that yes we were given the right address, and the address that FedEx had in the computer was their old address. So, the clerk needed to change the address. However, this was more difficult than it sounds. In order to change the address she needed to reweigh each box, which was evident that this was something that she did not want to do. Then, she quickly weighed one box of each size and gave us the receipt. We had the impression that she was frustrated and just wanted us to leave. While we were leaving we looked at the receipt and noticed that the overall cost charged to Karen’s work account was several hundred dollars lower than we expected. At first we thought that Karen’s discount was much better than we realized. Then, we realized that the weights for each box were incorrect. The weights that the clerk entered were much lower than they should have been. So, by this point the clerk was helping someone else, and it was clear that she didn’t want to deal with our 18 boxes any more. We have been blessed with a cheaper shipping cost than we had anticipated, assuming that another bill won’t be sent from FedEx (which we doubt will happen). Thank you for your prayers. We can tell that that Lord is guiding each and every step we take!

Highlights from our May 2008 Newsletter!!

Packing, Packing, & More Packing!
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve already begun to pack for our
move to Vienna. We’ve finished the school year strong, and we’ve
now packed quite a bit. We have all of our school belongings
packed and ready to ship, and we’ve started on our personal belongings.
Why are we starting to pack so early? Well, it’s really not
that early. Vienna Christian School (VCS) will be shipping all of their
needed school supplies/curriculum from the States in a huge shipping
container. All of the new staff is welcome to include their personal
belongings at a reduced price. So, we just need to get our
boxes to the shipping container in New Jersey by June 23rd. Before
we can send off all of our boxes to NJ, we must create a list of the contents
of each box so that the school can approve it for customs purposes.

When are you leaving?
Many people have been asking this question and they are shocked
by the answer. We are required to leave Colorado on July 31st to arrive
in Austria on August 1st. The usual reaction when we talk to people
about our departure date is, “Wow. I didn’t think you left until August.”
Well, August is only two months away! Therefore, it is important to have
all of the necessary support before we leave. Actually, it would be even
better if we had most of our monthly pledges made before we leave for
Pre-field Orientation on June 21st.

Praises:
• We finished the school year strong and we already have all of our school stuff packed!!
• We found airfare to PFO (training) in Buffalo, New York at the allotted times we needed to be
able to take advantage of the shuttle service offered by PFO.
• We have an apartment in Vienna and have purchased some furniture that is already in it.
• We have created a website (blog site) where we can update many on what is happening more
accurately than a monthly newsletter. The address is www.amandacarrie.blogspot.com