Entering Our Promised Land

by Seneca Moraleda-Puguan

“Lately, I’ve had a thousand closing doors that made me have to trust You even more. Gotta just wait, gotta have faith, He’s got something good in store. And every no means You’ve got a better yes, every “not now” gets me closer to its best. Believe and You’ll be leading me to somewhere I’ll be blessed. Every no means You’ve got a better yes.”

As I listened to this song by Christian YouTube singer Travis Clark, tears couldn’t help but fall from my eyes. This song hits home so much, it pierced my heart.

My family just went through a season of so many closed doors and dozens of “Nos and Not Nows.” So, when God finally opened a door, it was just a time of rejoicing because we knew that it was indeed God’s best.

After of almost a decade in South Korea, we are now in Fribourg, Switzerland. This is the land God has called us to conquer in this season of our lives.

It’s a small French-speaking Swiss canton, medieval-looking but definitely beautiful. Our family had to endure long anxious waits and faith-testing situations to be able to come here, but they were all worth it.

During our season of waiting and uncertainty, many people have been standing and believing with us that God had already prepared everything for us as we enter a new season and a new nation.

Even before entering Switzerland, we have been witnessing God’s hand moving on our behalf.

These are our testimonies that prove that God breaks down walls, parts oceans, fights our battles and is faithful to His promises.

Visa
My husband, JM, was supposed to start working on the 1^st of December, 2023. However, due to the delay in issuing his work authorization, the University decided to move the start of his contract to the 15^th of January.

This was an advantage for us as it gave us enough time to clear our house and bid farewell to the people we love. He received his visa on the 11^th of December.

As for the family reunification visa for me and our two children, we were told to wait for 8 to 12 weeks, but we could call them on the first week of January to follow up.

As a leap of faith, we already booked four one-way tickets from Seoul to Zurich via Qatar Airways on the day JM received his visa. We were expecting to fly on the 10^th of January, 2024, the cheapest flight we found. It was a big risk, but we were hopeful that we would fly together as one unit.

I have read many accounts on social media about dependents and family members of expats (from non-EU countries) working in Switzerland having to wait for months to receive their visas.

We were so anxious because we knew the possibility of the head of our family flying ahead and the three of us being left behind in South Korea was very high. But we just trusted God’s sovereignty and perfect timing.

We were in faith but at the same time prepared for whatever will happen. We rallied people to pray with us. On the 3^rd of January, before calling the Swiss Embassy in South Korea, we prayed together with tears in our eyes, asking God to grant us favor.

We received an answer: our application was still pending. Our hearts broke but we just continued what we needed to do: keep praying that we will fly as one unit and trust God.

Some of our friends already offered their place to stay in case we have to stay. We were preparing our hearts.

On the 8^th of January, Monday, two days before our flight, we took another step of faith. That morning, our daughter Callie prayed, “Our hearts will be filled with joy today.”

We called the Swiss Embassy one more time and just checked. On the other line, the lady said, “Oh, it’s approved. It was approved last Friday!”

We received our miracle! We received our visa in just one month. JM’s voice cracked as tears fell while he said thank you to the lady. Without taking a bath and all, we went to the embassy right away to submit our passports.

It usually takes four to five days for the visa to be released but God really has gone before us because we were told to pick up our passports on Wednesday, just three days. Oh, God truly answers prayers. Our hearts were indeed filled with joy!

Flight
Our flight was originally on Wednesday, January 10 at 12:15am. However, we had to rebook our flight to Thursday, January 11 at 12:15am as we were scheduled to pick up our passports Wednesday morning.

Amazingly, we only paid less than $200 for the fare difference. Had it been two days more, we would have been paying a thousand dollars because the Friday flight was already expensive.

We claimed our passport on Wednesday morning and that evening, we went straight to the airport. We didn’t even have to pay a lot to rebook our flight. Isn’t God amazing?

Housing
Expats going to Switzerland for work usually stay in temporary housing facilities such as an Airbnb because there are a lot of requirements to be able to rent an apartment including a permit, pay slips, proof that we have no debt and such.

We have read a lot of horror stories from expats having a difficult time securing a place to stay. We were really praying for God to provide us with good accommodation near my husband’s workplace, but the cheapest ones are those that are outside the city.

A few days before our flight, we were already searching for places to stay for a few months. The cheapest and nearest Airbnb we found would cost us around 2800 Swiss francs or US$3,200 for just one month.

Yes, Switzerland is indeed one of the most expensive countries in the world. We were already negotiating with the host and getting ready to book because we had no choice but a Filipino friend of mine who lives in Zurich called me to tell me that they found an apartment in Fribourg and they already booked an appointment with the landlord.

So, we flew to Zurich with no housing booked, just a few days of stay in my friend’s house, praying that the owner of the apartment would let us stay in her place. Just an hour upon our arrival in Zurich, JM (still jetlagged) and my friend traveled two hours to Fribourg to check the apartment.

It has three rooms, an amazing view of the city, three supermarkets just walking distance away, and a primary school just five minutes away. The bus stop is very near, and it is only 30 minutes away by bus from JM’s university.

The rent? Expensive but reasonable. The price includes heating and water, we only have to cover electricity. And by God’s favor, the very kind landlady offered her nice home to us without requiring a lot of documents: just the work contract and the rest of the documents were to follow.

And God didn’t stop there, the owner, a diplomat for the Swiss Embassy in France, asked us to pay for the rent and the deposit on the day of my husband’s salary! This doesn’t happen to anyone.

It’s only by God’s divine intervention and supernatural favor. We got to save a huge amount of money and we were given enough time to pay. God really has gone before us. He used people to prepare everything for us.

As for the furniture in the house (two mattresses, dining table and sofa) someone leaving Switzerland sold everything at a very cheap price. They were all quite new and all from Ikea and we just got them for $600.

Praise God for very helpful friends, a very kind landlady and for cheap Facebook marketplace bargain.

I still have so many stories of God’s miracles, favors and interventions but this page wouldn’t suffice to contain them all. All I can testify is that He is indeed good and faithful.

What He says, He will fulfill. When He leads and directs us to a place unknown to us, He goes before us. He prepares the way, He provides everything that we need, and He delivers.

What God did for us, He will do it for you!

This is just the beginning of the great things God has in store for our family in the land where He has called us. Come journey with us!