Visa, visa, visa! I feel like that word has come out of my mouth more than just about anything these days! I mean, I knew that getting visas were complicated, but now we can join the ranks of those who actually know how complicated it truly is. Just to give you a taste...we have several documents we need to present in order to apply for our visa--in person--in Miami. The most interesting thing we have had to come up with is a certificate of good conduct from the FBI that required us to get fingerprinted! Now whenever people in CSI and Law and Order look through the fingerprint databases, ours will be among the ranks searched! HA! But seriously, we have to come up with several documents, then we have to get them legalized with the Apostille--who has EVER heard of an apostille?!? Well, now we have! Then, if all that wasn't enough, we have to have ALL of our documents translated into Spanish! (side note--the Miami consulate--who has jurisdiction over SC residents--is one of the only consulates that requires that you translate your documents into Spanish) Needless to say, we are definitely looking forward to the day when we have applied for the visa and just have to wait for it to come in.
In other news, we had a fantastic garage sale in which we sold over half of our stuff! God has used this time to remind us that we don't belong in this world and what's truly eternal. I am so grateful that God impressed upon our hearts the desire to go to Spain before we even got married. All of our possessions we have been able to hold lightly knowing that we were just going to turn around and get rid of them very soon. Anyways, it's been a huge relief not to have to keep up with all of our "stuff" anymore! It's all taken care of for the year we're gone!
Also, God is continuing to provide for our financial needs. We're currently at 43%! That means that we have about $22,500 left to raise. God has been so faithful to provide for us so far, and we know that he will be faithful to provide the rest. We have a few support trips coming up. We're going to Savannah, GA and also to Jacksonville, FL this week to visit with family and share about God's work in Spain. Also, as soon as our paperwork comes in, we will be travelling to Miami to apply for our visa and to visit a few other cities in Southern Florida. We're also hoping to travel to a few other places in the Southeast within the next month or two. So our basic timeline is once our paperwork comes in to go to Miami to apply for our visa, wait until our visa comes in (3-4 months), then go to Spain!
Thank you guys so much for praying for us! Here are a few things you can keep on praying for:
--Pray that God will continue to provide our finances, and praise Him for providing what we have so far.
--Pray that God will open our eyes to opportunities for ministry where we are right now. There are already ways that we see God working to the people we're coming in contact with.
--Pray that God will strengthen our marriage during this stressful time.
--Pray for the people to whom we will be ministering to in Spain and for Mark Johnson, a TEAM missionary who will be our supervisor.
Looking forward to sharing what God is doing!!! Thanks for joining us in the journey!
