Changing Plans

The package scheduled to arrive at the Consulate from NZ did not arrive on Friday, so they told us to call back Monday. Kris called back today and was told that the guy in charge of processing our application was out of the office until tomorrow. As a result, there will not be enough time to process and receive our visa by Friday, even if it did arrive there today. Our disappointment was great on Friday, but over the weekend we begain to accept it as God's plan. He is not surprised at this turn of events. We even see this delay as an opportunity to work hard on our new business venture as Independent SendOutCards Distributors (if you are interested, check out our website at www.kiwicards.net)! Looking at the airfares in October, we are thinking we will probably re-book our tickets for October 16. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Delay

On Friday we learned that Kris' visa (and therefore mine, as it hinges on his) has been referred for further review. We have our plane tickets booked for September 24, and the consulate is aware of this, but there is a chance we may not have them back in time to leave. We plan to wait until the last moment before changing our tickets, since it costs $150 each plus the fare difference. After the initial disappointment, we are trying to see this as an opportunity to trust in God's timing. If he wants us in New Zealand, nothing will stop us from going when he wants us there! So please join us in praying that both visas will be quickly approved and we can leave as planned.

Photos of Lower Hutt and Knox Church

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The Beginning

Thanks for tuning in to share in our excitement as we make the big move to New Zealand! This whole crazy fun adventure began last February, when Kris started looking into some new ministry opportunities. Imagine our surprise when one day he received an email from a Knox Church in Lower Hutt, New Zealand; they were asking him to consider applying for the position they had open! He applied, and they set up a few Skype interviews over the next several weeks. In May, he officially accepted the position of Pastor of Children's Ministry. They also hired a guy from Michigan to be the Youth Pastor, so we look forward to getting to know him and his wife.

Here's the church's website:
www.knoxstc.org.nz

Since accepting the position, we have submitted the FBI background checks (which came back just yesterday, thank God!), had a garage sale, looked into shipping companies/phone services/banks etc., and are currently in the process of selling our house. We hope to close in the next couple of weeks. This weekend we will complete the visa application, mail it on Monday, and pray that it only takes 10 days like they told us. As soon as we get the visa approved, we book our plane tickets and ship our stuff!

We are headed to Montana for a week (Sept. 5-12), then we hope to leave for NZ by September 18. We have seen God's hand guiding us through this whole process, and we look forward to seeing what He does in and through us in a new place!