Thursday, December 20, 2012

Praying Friends,
We have our visas!!!  The Lord provided our visas today.  This morning I received an email from the lawyer alerting me that there was a typo on one of our children's birth certificates.  He also sent a letter for us to sign, scan, and fax.  We followed instructions, and I received communication from our lawyer a couple of times in the afternoon.
Well, we went to a Christmas party with our Sunday School class from our sending church and the party was held at Camp Assurance.  The camp is located well out of town, so we were out of touch for a few hours.  While there at the party I received word that we had received the visa this evening.
God is so good!  At this time of year we give gifts to one another to remember the greatest gift ever given, the Son of God.  God has chosen to give us another gift of having our visas this Christmas.  His grace truly is amazing!  Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf.  Now we look forward to the move ahead in the coming weeks.  This too will need prayer.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Praying Friends,
This morning I received an email from our lawyer down under.  He informed us that we have passed the first of two stages in our visa application.  The first step was the nomination from Grace Baptist Church in Watsonia, Victoria.  It seems that we have been approved to work for the church in this step as well.  Though the lawyer did not specify what the second step would be, he did say that we are well into the second step already.  Our co-worker asked him through an email if we should purchase tickets and order a shipping container, and the lawyer responded with not yet, but to start itemizing our things for the container.
This is wonderful news!!  To actually hear something from the immigration office about our visa after having so much "dead time" is such an encouragement.  Also, to know that we are on the final step of the process and that the Lord is working out all the details is a real praise.  Please pray that this does complete before January.  In January Australia goes into the "summer schedule" and there is a potential that things can shut down and we would have to wait until February before the process is finished.
Thank you so much for your prayers!  The Lord is working.  Blessed be the name of the Lord!

In Christ,
 Mark Pitts and Family

Monday, December 3, 2012

Praying Friends,
We have just passed the Thanksgiving holiday and now we turn our sights toward Christmas holiday.  We give thanks to God for you.  Your prayers on our behalf are such a blessing, and even though we are not on the field yet we see God's hand of blessing.
Soon we will reach the 5 month mark on our application for the permanent resident visa.  The immigration officer told me that the permanent residence visas were taking 5 to 8 months to be processed.  Our application date was early July, so we are praying that we would hear from Australia soon.
While we have been waiting the Lord has put us to work in Danville, Illinois.  If we are not visiting a supporting church we are serving in our sending church.  The Lord has blessed and we are seeing spiritual growth in the youth group, and in those we are discipling.  God has us here for a work to be done before we leave.  Though we have enjoyed the privilege to serve at First Baptist Church in Danville, we are more than "chomping at the bit" to get to Australia.
If we hear of anything from our lawyer or the immigration office we will post it immediately.  It is tough to wait, and it kind of feels like when I was a kid and had to wait to open presents at Christmas.  Please pray that the Lord would have our visa as a Christmas present this year, and if not we still can rejoice for the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ!  Thank you so much for your prayers.

In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family