An encouraging meeting 3/10/10
This week we were able to meet with a veteran missionary family that we have come into contact with. They have been living and working in and around Dagupan for several years now. For various reasons they are returning to the States for ministry there. They were very helpful and encouraging with the information they provided. We have been determined to return after furlough and get started in Dagupan but God knew we needed this encouragement and information. One of the most painful things we have learned over the last 2 years is just how much we don’t know. Learning a new language and culture truly shows us that we will never be ready to do this on our own. We know we need God to make it all work. We are going to do our best and keep working but nothing will be accomplished without God. Please be praying for us as we wrap up some loose ends here before we return to the States for our furlough.
Posted by Jeff Stutzman on Wednesday March 10, 2010
Done at Immigration 3/5/2010
We just got home from immigration and wanted to share the blessings with every body.
On Wednesday we called and they said our visa was approved and we could pick it up on Thursday. So Thursday we went down and submitted our passports so they could be stamped. We turned them in and came back 4 hours later to pick them up. After we got them we wanted to work on applying for our I-card renewal. We were under the impression that this would take another 2 weeks so we wanted to get it started right away. After several different windows and offices, and fees they said "come back tomorrow at 11:30 and you can pickup your new I card. We were very surprised and happy. So today went back and picked up our I cards.
Any person who has a visa in the Philippines but is leaving the county has to pay a fee to keep their visa, called an Exit Clearance. So while we were there anyhow we decided to go ahead and get the exit clearance done today. It meant several more hours of waiting but we got that done too. Part of the time we were waiting they had some kind of a Catholic service that has to do with the approaching Holy week. The singing and such was loud enough that sitting beside each other we had to shout to hear each other.
Now we are home. We are tired and both have a headache but we are glad that we are technically done with immigration requirements till next January!!! God has been good to us and although we hit some rough spots everything was done in plenty of time for furlough. Praise God.
Thank you all for all your many prayers on our behalf during these events.
Posted by Jeff Stutzman on Friday March 5, 2010
Good visa news. 3/3/10
Good news at last. For those of you who have been following our visa renewal quest we finally have some good news. It has been approved and we will go down tomorrow (our Thursday) to pick it up. After that we will try to start our I-card renewal too. God is good. There were lots of frustrating circumstances but the final result is that our visa is renewed in time to get our I-cards renewed before we leave. Please be paying that our I-card renewal goes quickly now. In other news. We will be leaving for Furlough at the end of this month, and we ask that you be praying for our furlough. We will be needing to raise some more support, and so we have a few new churches lined up but may need more. Please be praying about that issue.Posted by Jeff Stutzman on Tuesday March 2, 2010
