Today I read in my devotions from Romans 12. As I read vs. 12 the Lord spoke to my heart about what He expects of me. It says: "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;". The situation that we are currently in has been a tribulation, but we are so thankful for your prayers. Our hope is in the Lord, and He is able to do exceedingly more than we can ask or think. In Him we rejoice.
Last night our lawyer in Australia applied for our visas. He filed online which in his estimation will move through the immigration process quicker. Now we are waiting to hear from the Australian immigration office.
On Monday we will be traveling to Cincinnati for our immigration physicals. This will be the second time we have had these done. The first time we went to Chicago, but we were misinformed on the timing of the physicals. Those physicals unfortunately were of no use in the application of our visas because the application had not yet been lodged to the immigration office. We had those physicals done almost a year and a half ago. Immigration physicals will only last one year before they expire. Our prayer now is that the Australian government will approve our visas soon, so that we will not have to do these physicals again. They are costly.
Once the physicals are complete and into the immigration system, then our application will be considered "decision ready". This is supposedly the fast track for visas. We have been told that we will receive an answer on our visa application much sooner because we have done it this way.
Please pray that the physicals will go well, and that the immigration office would respond before we go the Clinic with the number for online filing (the number will make the process even faster for approval), and that the Lord would allow us to have our visas quickly. Thank you again for all your prayers.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family
