Our work permit for Fiji has been approved!

This morning we woke up to the most amazing news, we are now legally allowed to live and work in Fiji!

We can not thank you enough for your prayers and support during this first part of our journey. Waiting can be hard and living in uncertainty can be draining. There were many times over the past couple months here in Japan when we wondered why we were not able to arrive in Fiji sooner- especially while watching our family and friends visiting and ministering in Fiji without us being there! Yet ultimately, we knew then and believe even more firmly now that God’s timing is perfect.

Our family has a saying when we are having a hard time with wanting to know the outcome of something — “Just choose to trust the Lord because you don’t know how long of opportunity you have to trust Him.” Sometimes the wait is short. Sometimes the wait is long. It’s like that sermon illustration of the swimmer who gave up crossing the English Channel just a few hundred feet from shore. He couldn’t see the shoreline because of heavy fog. But he and others felt that if he could only have seen how close he was he would have made it. In trials, we don’t have the luxury to see the shoreline, or to know with certainty how or when they will end. But we do know that we can trust our Heavenly Father to guide us one step at a time to wherever the finish line may be.

We do not place our hope in the end of this visa delay, but even the most minute details of this serve as an encouraging reminder to us that God hand-picks our present situation for our benefit and His glory! In many ways, while this season of waiting now has a definitive end in sight, the real work is about to begin. Please pray even more diligently for our family as we transition again to a new country.

Fiji Airways re-booked our previous flights to leave Japan on July 28 and we have every human intention of being on that plane!

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for this upcoming transition:

1. For the beginning of this new season in Fiji to go well for each member of our family
2. That our shipping container would have no issues or additional delays and everything would arrive in good condition. After months living out of suitcases it would be so nice to have things that feel like ‘home’ again!
3. For the Lord to provide the funds to cover the additional charges of the container and change fees.
4. For a fruitful ministry once we arrive.
5. That we would enjoy the ministry, the people, and the country that the Lord places us in (no matter where that is today or tomorrow!)
6. That the Lord would keep us all healthy while transitioning and living in Fiji
7. That the Lord would give us peace, wisdom, and confidence in Him each step of the way as we make a myriad of decisions from now until we are settled in Fiji.