Clear the Way

Two things happened to us this morning.

I'll start with the second thing. We found out this morning that our friends, who are in a very similar visa situation, were declined again. (Please take a minute now to pray for Ron and Sharon.) We are shaken for our friends, and we are now fighting anxiety about our own situation. 

The first thing, as I woke up and came down for my morning coffee, I checked my Facebook messages. A university student in Dublin (Josh) had sent me an incredibly encouraging and timely note. Josh prayed for us and our visa situation earlier in the week and God dropped a verse in his mind. 

"Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you." 1 Thessalonians 3:11

Observing the context of this verse, we see Paul, having just received a great report from Timothy, praying "night and day" to be able to go to the church in Thessaloniki. I read in Paul the same passion, desire, and draw that Katy and I have to stay in Ireland. 

As we wait on letters from immigration, we want to echo Paul's heart and faith. God WILL clear the way for wherever He has called us to be. While we may be shaken in the flesh, we trust God in Spirit and in truth that no man, woman, or government can keep us from going where He has called us to go.

We appreciate your continued prayers during this time of uncertainty.

Amen and amen.

Answered Prayers

As most of you know, we have been praying for and traveling to IT Carlow to meet with Portia and the Alpha course she leads there. God has had his hand on her life as well as the group - so many great things have been happening over the past semester. Portia has gathered around her a group of her fellow students to help share the leadership burden for the group. For the past few weeks, they have all been meeting on Wednesday evenings to pray for the campus and the Alpha meeting the next day. 

Since then, so much has been going on! Two weeks ago, they dedicated the Alpha meeting to discussing the Holy Spirit: who He is and what He means for our lives. One of the student leaders received the baptism in the Holy Spirit that night and a couple of Muslim students came and were curious about following Jesus. This answer to prayer is a long time in the making - one of those Muslim students had expressed anger towards Jesus while in conversation with me last year. 

Portia has been meeting faithfully with her other co-leaders outside of the Alpha group meetings. One of her desires is that they would, in turn, begin following up with their friends who attend Alpha to help them walk closer to the Lord. One of her co-leaders has begun meeting with a Hindu student who has expressed interest in following Jesus too. 

Please continue to be in prayer for this group! The college is currently on break in preparation for the big exams in May. I will continue to meet with Portia a few times until the summer. Thank you for standing with her and this group as they continue to follow the Lord. 

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Huge Prayer Request

Last week, we received a letter in the mail from the Department of Justice - they had rejected our request to apply for another year-long visa. It seems that we gave them insufficient evidence that we are actually needed here in the work with student ministry. Here is the good news:

1. We received this letter with ample time to make an appeal. Our current visa does not expire until the end of May. 
2. The missing information may be fairly simple to obtain. With the assistance of a couple of AGI leaders writing letters stating why we should be here, there should be enough evidence in our favour. 
3. God called us to Ireland and will keep us here until the work he has for us to do is done...and it isn't done yet, as far as we can see. 

Here is our stress: 

1. We feel in limbo with this pending thing hanging over our heads. Please be in prayer that we can focus and not allow anxiety to rule our thoughts. 
2. The people who evaluate immigration cases can reject them based on their mood that day. Please pray that we have favour with the Department of Justice as we appeal. 
3. This is all occurring during the last trimester of Katy's pregnancy - we are under enough stress with the upcoming arrival of our next child! Please pray that Katy and baby stay healthy and that I (Blake) can keep my head above water with all the stress. 

We are so grateful for the incredibly supportive friends and co-workers here in Ireland who have our backs during this time. Thank you to everyone reading this for being our prayer team as we go forward.