On Wednesday night April 4th US time I called our lawyer again.  He said that as of the beginning of April the Australian Immigration office had changed some of the application paperwork for the permanent residency visa.  The lawyer mentioned that it would change again in July.  He seemed to indicate that now is the time to proceed with lodging the application with the Immigration office.  The lawyer mentioned that perhaps the first week of June would be the time frame we were looking at.  This is good news.  The last phone call I had with him, he did not give anything concrete to me.
While we have been waiting we have been busy doing many things.  We have been helping out at our sending church, First Baptist Church in Danville, IL.  Right now I am considered the "staff assistant" at our church.  I have been working on many different projects around the church, but the major project has been to set up our VBS for this summer.  Other areas of work have been organizing and working in the visitation program, helping in bus ministry, discipleship class development, and writing a policy for our missions program at church.  These things are helping our new Pastor as he puts into place the vision for First Baptist that God has given to him.
Also, I have had opportunity to preach.  It has been a blessing to be able to fill pulpit at supporting churches.  The Lord has been keeping us busy while we eagerly anticipate our visa to Australia.
Thank you so much for your prayer support.  The Lord is working in mighty ways!
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family

Last night I spoke with the lawyer directly and found out a little more of what has been going on.  The lawyer's assistant that had knowledge of our file is no longer with the company.  This seems to have made quite a setback on our case.  Right now in the visa process the lawyer's office will be preparing the nomination by the Church plant we will be working with.  Once the paperwork for the nomination is complete then we will be able to proceed with the visa process.
In our phone conversation we were given some disappointing news.  We were told that our FBI clearance has expired, again.  This will be the third FBI clearance that we will have done for our lawyer, and to give you an idea on how long ago we started this process the FBI clearance expires one year from the time you have it done.  Also, we were told that our immigration physicals have expired as well.  Those too last for only a year.  So you can see we have been in the application process for a while now.
Please pray that the Lord would stir the heart of this lawyer to action.  We have started the process with this lawyer and it would be devastating to switch mid-stream.  Also, please continue to pray that the visa process would move quickly.  Our hearts are in Australia and we want to be there, but as you can see the longer we wait the more costly this process becomes.
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."  This verse came to mind this morning as I thought about the phone call last night.  I just want to praise the Lord for bringing us this far in the deputation process, and also praise God that He is in control.  The Lord is good and He will have this all worked out in His timing!
Thank you all for your prayers, and may God bless you.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and family

Yesterday I heard from our lawyer in Australia, and he updated us on the visa process.  Apparently we were still in the skill assessment portion of the process.  The company that was assessing our qualifications has sent their final results to our lawyer.  The results were favorable and our lawyer was very pleased with the assessment.  He said it was a big hurdle in the process, and though we are not yet finished he said it was a big step toward getting the visa.  Right now our lawyer will be applying to the Australian Government for our actual visa.  From what I understand, all the previous things were building up to the actual application so that the application could go through faster.
Please pray that the Australian Government will approve of the visa quickly.  We have been able to communicate with our co-workers in the Melbourne area and it is exciting to hear the news of the work.  The Lord has us right where He wants us, and He will get to Australia in His timing.  Please pray that our hearts will accept His time frame.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and family