Dear Friends and family, It is with very mixed feelings that we write to you this time. Today we heard that the decision by UK Immigration to deny Chris a visa was upheld. After the review, they determined that Chris' application had insufficient evidence to explain why he is leaving full time employment to undertake voluntary work with YWAM in the UK, and they would not accept Chris' attempts to clarify his previous YWAM experience.
We are knocked a bit by the decision. We know that so many people have been praying throughout this process, however we remain steadfast in the fact that Father God is faithful and able to do immeasurably more with our situation than we can ever imagine. So, we head to YWAM Perth on Tuesday in the knowledge that we will now be able to staff the whole of the 12 week lecture phase. We will continue to pray about and pursue our move to the UK as we really do feel that it is the word from Father God to us. It would seem from our correspondence with YWAM Harpenden that they are facing difficulties regarding the tightening of Immigration to the UK in light of current world situations. We assume that any visa application with the word 'Religion' in the title may naturally be coming in for more scrutiny now. We will keep you on the same page as us, as and when we begin the application process again. We now have a greater understanding of the system and what it requires. We thank you again for all your prayers and support. There were no assurances that this journey was ever going to be easy, however it sure is exciting and keeping us in a place where we know we must rest in the promises of Father God. Every blessing Chris, Carol, Phoebe and Jethro Dear Friends and Family,
As you will have guessed from our silence we are still waiting on news of UK Immigration’s review of their decision to deny Chris a visa. All advice says it can take anywhere from 15 -28 working days. So far it has been 15 working days. In the waiting period we have been reflecting on all that Father God has been showing us and teaching us in this past year, and on the words He has given to us throughout this whole process of heading into full time ministry with YWAM. Again and again we have been reminded that He is a faithful Father who is true to His word and He is in the midst of this process, even though we don’t understand exactly all the details on His part. We have been reminded from scriptures to: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding: In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Prov 3 especially vs 5-6 Although this has been a difficult time; having everything packed and ready to go waiting and then waiting some more, we have had incredible peace that we are in this with Father God. There are things happening here for reasons we don’t yet know. We have also been able to serve the base here at YWAM Canberra and spend precious time with family and friends which we were not expecting to get. As we prayed through the appeal process with our YWAM Leaders here in Canberra our start date for YWAM Harpenden, the 8th September came and went. Their next staff intake and orientation/training week at Harpenden is at the beginning of January 2015, this is the date we are now focusing on. Should Chris get his visa approved he will have 90 days in which to enter the UK before it is void. This restricts us somewhat as far as commitments go from here, since we don't yet know when/if that 90 days begins. Since we have some time to wait regardless of the outcome of the visa appeal, it was suggested to us by our base leader here that we might apply to be staff on the Foundations for Counselling ministry school that we attended as students this time last year at YWAM Perth. As we prayed about this possibility we really felt that this was God’s timing. The lecture phase starts at the beginning of October and ends around Christmas week. So we have applied to join the school staff for the 12 week lecture phase (although it is possible we will not be able to stay the whole 12 weeks). This will give us an opportunity for further training and equipping for our longer-term roles in YWAM UK and serve YWAM Perth and the FCM in the process. So we are now waiting to hear back from UK immigration and YWAM Perth. If you told us a few months ago this was all going to happen we would never have believed you... These are very trying, crazy days for our family... Please pray for us in this process. The day to day waiting and uncertainty is often difficult. However Father God remains our rock, fortress, refuge and strong tower! Please feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear from you. Thank you all so much for the prayers and support you are already giving! We will tell you more as soon as we get word... Blessings Chris, Carol, Phoebe and Jethro |
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February 2018
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