Getting a visa to live in Costa Rica is not easy…their government structure doesn’t really match our own, so when you have to have a state certified copy of a marriage license or birth certificate, our own government says something along the lines of, “Huh?”. One of the items we need is a state certified police record that shows we have no criminal record. That isn’t something that US law enforcement is set up to identify and provide. First of all, it’s more difficult to prove a negative in our own country, whereas in a country the size of Costa Rica, there is really just one law enforcement body. Doesn’t matter….we still have to get it.
So Cathi and I visited our local sheriff’s office in Montgomery County, NC. Now just imagine trying to knock on the door of your local sheriff’s office and actually get an audience. Not exactly the way we do things here. But this sheriff is a fellow Christian and has a son headed to Japan as a missionary. He went out of his way to help us and has promised to do whatever it takes to get us the papers we need. As we sat in his office I noticed several very nice pieces of art that depict the characters from the Andy Griffith show. You know the one, where the sheriff doesn’t carry a gun unless there is some real reason to do so. As we talked with Sheriff Jeff Jordan we realized he uses many of the same techniques that Andy Taylor did on his show. He carries authority easily on his shoulders and doesn’t let either the love of or the fear of power get to him. He purposely has that artwork in his office because, as he says, “When people are in this office they are usually very stressed and I just tell them, Folks, this is Mayberry, and we can work this all out, so let’s relax and talk this through.” Sure enough, he has that sense about him that makes you think it’ll all work out in the end.
We had a wonderful time speaking with him and knew that God had led us there instead of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg route. Thanks Sheriff Jordan!
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