Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Amazing Answers to Our Prayers!

Many of you have been praying about our visa situation.  Thank you!!  We wanted to give you a brief update on what's been happening.

We have prayed specifically that Sid Anderson would find someone helpful and kind when he went to the Labor Office in Zlin. We received an email last week from Sid saying he had gone to the Labor Office on Tuesday only to find it was closed. As he pondered his next move, a lady came up to the heavy glass door and began to talk to him. When he motioned that he couldn't hear what she was saying, she opened the door and let him into the office. After hearing his explanation of what he needed, she took him to someone who "just happened" to be in the closed office. They assured him that the recent ruling by the Czech Labor Minister, a ruling that no new work permits would be issued to non-EU citizens, would not be an issue in our case. They gave him the correct forms to fill out to post our job, and promised to help him with the remainder of the process when he returns this week. The Lord was definitely with Sid, and he heard our prayers!

Thank you Lord!!!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Expect the Unexpected

Well, today is the end of the second week of March and we thought that we would be in the throes of packing and shipping the worldly goods that we are planning to take to the Czech Republic. But that is not the case. It is like we are on hold. We did have the moving company come out and give us an estimate on the size of container we will need to take and the cost. Even so, there are still plenty of things to be done. Johnny has been studying diligently for the English Bible Exam. We are almost through all of the Dave Ramsey tapes. (If you have not seen them, they are really helpful. We have previously gone through the Crown study, but Dave covers all kinds of things Crown does not.)


The reason that we are on hold and will not be leaving the first of April as we (I especially) had always hoped is because of the Visa application process. Apparently, the rules have changed recently and it is not quite as easy to obtain as it once was. To begin with we thought we could bring our documents with us, go to a Czech Embassy in another country and voila! Visa! We could still do that but, if we were not able to obtain the Visa within ninety days we would have to leave the country, and any other EU country, for ninety days before we could re-enter. Therefore, it looks like we will be applying from this side of the pond. So, we are not sure how long we will be here. We are praying that God will quickly move all the hands, hearts and papers to bring the needed Visa soon.

In the mean time, there are a thousand details to be taken care of in preparation for the biggest move we’ve ever had. Plus it looks like Johnny will have time to actually get licensed to preach. Once we turn in the Visa application forms, we will wait and pray that God will expedite the papers. None of this is a surprise to our God. This too, is part of His good, great plan. So we wait and pray, some days patiently, but always seeking to trust God.