Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for our visa situation. So far we know that we do have a case worker that has looked at the nomination by the church plant we will be working at, Grace Baptist Church. Other than that we have not heard anything from the immigration office. I am in hopes that no news is good news. Please continue to pray that the Lord would provide these visas soon. We are waiting on the Lord, but we are excited about serving Him in Australia.
Recently I emailed my lawyer Andrew to find out if he had heard anything from the immigration office to which he said no, and then he told me that he would be leaving the company. This is just one more wrinkle in the whole process. So to iron out the wrinkle we had to choose to either stay with Andrew or let him go and be appointed another lawyer with the legal firm we started with. We have chosen to stay with the company and let Andrew focus on his new clients at his new place of employment. It seems to me that we should not need the lawyer to do much more if our application has been completed properly. My prayer is that the Lord would provide the visa and this decision will not really matter.
We have been busy serving in our local church. The Lord has opened doors where we can fill in while we wait. Also, God has provided meetings at some of our supporting churches which has been an extra special blessing. It is so good to see familiar faces and to be encouraged by folks telling you they are praying for the visas.
Thank you for your prayers and for taking the time to check this blog. May God bless you.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Dear Praying Friends,
I wanted to update you on our immigration physicals and our visa situation. We did have our physicals last Monday in Cincinnati, and everything went well. There is a bit of a wrinkle that needs to be ironed out with the whole process. The clinic in Cincinnati said that we were not entered into the system in Australia, so they were unable to e-file our physical results. Instead they sent paper copies to Australia. I have communicated with our lawyer in Australia to let him know of this information, and he responded with a sarcastic statement about the immigration office thinking that the online application process would run without any problems. Our lawyer then said that he would be looking into it.
Please continue to pray for this visa application that the Lord would iron out all the wrinkles, and that it would go through without any more problems. The Lord knows what He is doing and His way is perfect. We will be in Australia in His timing. I am so thankful that He is in control.
Thank you for your prayers and for checking this blog for updates on the ministry God has called us to in Australia.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family
I wanted to update you on our immigration physicals and our visa situation. We did have our physicals last Monday in Cincinnati, and everything went well. There is a bit of a wrinkle that needs to be ironed out with the whole process. The clinic in Cincinnati said that we were not entered into the system in Australia, so they were unable to e-file our physical results. Instead they sent paper copies to Australia. I have communicated with our lawyer in Australia to let him know of this information, and he responded with a sarcastic statement about the immigration office thinking that the online application process would run without any problems. Our lawyer then said that he would be looking into it.
Please continue to pray for this visa application that the Lord would iron out all the wrinkles, and that it would go through without any more problems. The Lord knows what He is doing and His way is perfect. We will be in Australia in His timing. I am so thankful that He is in control.
Thank you for your prayers and for checking this blog for updates on the ministry God has called us to in Australia.
In Christ,
Mark Pitts and Family
Friday, July 6, 2012
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
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
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