The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Not a Good Day, but God Still Reigns!

Do you remember the children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst? We experienced a day like Alexander this week.
On Monday our good friend Jesus Petrikowski, who we call Petri came up for a meeting at Redeemer church in Encinitas. We originally had a meeting scheduled for 11 AM to go over some details for an upcoming medical missions trip. It was a very rainy day on Monday. When it rains in San Diego and Tijuana it’s like snow in other parts of the world. It just slows everything down.
It took Petri 3 hours to cross the border to get into the U.S.A. So we missed the meeting, and were an hour and a half late for our second meeting. Crazy!
Then we had a good meeting with Hunter Benson and Kathie Kim from Redeemer to prepare for the medical missions trip. On the way out they asked Petri if he could take some of the boxes of medical supplies. We ended up taking most of them.
When we got to my house we took out all the medicine that we could see, since we thought it would be best to take that in with the group.

The Fun Begins!

Petri left with his car loaded, but feeling confident that there was no problem with any of the things he was bringing back into Mexico. He drove to the border and he was promptly stopped by the Mexican customs agents. As they went through the boxes in his car they found some medicine in one of the boxes.
That’s where the fun began, or the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day began!
The customs agents detained Petri. He tried to explain to them that he was bringing the medical supplies in for a non-profit ministry in a poor area of Ensenada, but they had no compassion. He was told they had to figure out the value of the supplies and that he couldn’t leave until they figured it out.
All the while Petri was communicating with his wife, Yudy, me and some of his other friends. We were all very concerned for him as each hour went by and they kept saying a little longer. The customs agents ended up keeping Petri all night long, and they told him he couldn’t have any visitors.
The next morning Yudy couldn’t take it anymore, and she went with her brother to the border. When they arrived they were told that Petri couldn’t receive any visitors. Yudy explained that he hadn’t eaten, and she brought him food, so they let her see him. He was accompanied by a guard. It was a kind of house arrest.
Finally after about 14 hours of waiting they told Petri he needed to go to another office to find out how much the fine would be, and to pay the fine. Petri drove with Yudy and her brother, Fabio to the office. More waiting!

Not Only a Long Wait, But a Huge Fine

After a few more hours Petri learns the fine is going to be the equivalent of $800 USD. They go to the bank get the money to pay the fine.
Then they have to drive to another office not to far away to get the paperwork, so they could get the car back. More waiting!
I was able to meet up with them at this time. Petri had an amazingly positive attitude through it all! Yay Jesus!
It was an extremely stressful day and night for all of us. Today (Thursday) after the adrenaline and all wore off I realized how much emotional energy that took out of me, and I didn’t go through nearly all the hassle that Petri endured.

We survived the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!
I admit we made some mistakes. Nonetheless, it reminds me of the spiritual battle we are in, and how important it is that we don’t make light of this battle. We desperately need prayer protection.
Please join us in prayer as we cry out to God! Not only did they fine Petri $800, but they confiscated about $1,000 worth of medical equipment. Ask the Lord to work in the hearts of the men and women  in the Mexico customs office so that they will return this equipment to us.
Also pray for the upcoming medical clinic that will take place on Saturday, March 19.
Thank you for upholding us in prayer!
In His Grip, Dave
DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org