PRAISE THE LORD!

Will is registered!

The drama continues

We've come up against another obstacle in getting Will registered. Please pray, especially today! Details will follow, when we understand what's going on ourselves.

Today and Tuesday

Well, one prayer answered: the unpleasant man wasn't even there today. Will spent the whole day running back and forth or just sitting and waiting, and he still isn't registered, though. So, keep praying. He's supposed to go back again on Wednesday.

Tomorrow he'll be leaving very early to get a place in line at the Vladimir Regional Migration Control. Hopefully he'll be able to get questions answered and start on invitations for the children and me.

Tomorrow

Will's going to try to register his new visa tomorrow. Please pray that they'll be willing to do that here. The local migration inspector that we've dealt with before was not very pleasant, so pray that he'll be nice. We're also praying that he'll register Will for at least six months; three months is more standard with a religious visa.

What's next?

For those of you who are already asking what's next: that's what we'd like to know! Just kidding. But the main prayer request right now is probably just for us to be able to keep track of all the details.

And there are some specific things to pray about:
1. Pray that Will would be able to register his new visa here in Kovrov on Monday.
2. Pray that we would figure out how to get an invitation for me. We're going to try to do that through the regional Baptist Union and Migration Service in Vladimir. We just found out today that the Baptist Union will have to register to invite foreigners. We tried to do that with a friend's business last year, and it was impossibly complicated. Will and the Union lawyer will probably be going to Vladimir on Tuesday to see what they can do.

Praise the Lord with us for Will's new visa and how smoothly his trip went!

Full of praise

Will's visa process is going very quickly and smoothly. And I was thrilled to find out that the consulate in Kiev doesn't require AIDS tests for small children. That was something I was really dreading. Thank you, Lord!

Thank you for praying!

The summary is that we're not being deported and things are looking up, but we still have a long road ahead of us. Please keep praying! If you want to read all the details, go here.
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Good night!

Will's on his way home and should be here soon. I probably won't post another update until tomorrow, though. He'll have to explain everything to me, which could take a while, and we're both tired. I do know from his phone messages that we're not being deported. But that's all I know. Good night! Thank you so much for your prayers.

A little more

I think Will has already talked to someone in Vladimir by phone, because he said they sound sympathetic. He says that if the director there will have mercy, our case won't go to court, so PRAY FOR MERCY!

Small update

All I've heard so far is a quick message from Will, saying that he's going to Vladimir now to plead our case with the regional authorities.

Urgent prayer request

A man came tonight to deliver a paper calling Will into the office of the local Migration Service tomorrow at 11:00. Migration Service is who we have had problems with this year. We really don't know what this is about, except that he mentioned the documents that we turned in to get Asya's birth certificate. As Will said, "Don't panic, because we don't know what to panic about, and we don't want you getting ahead of us." :-) But please do PRAY!

Thank you, Lord!

We now have a birth certificate for Anastasiya Vilburnovna Khansaker! (That would be our Little Asya.) Thank you for all your prayers! It was much quicker and easier this time than last time.

We also have tickets to go to Moscow on Tuesday to apply for her passport at the embassy there. Please pray for us, as that's a pretty big trip to make with three little ones.

Still working on it

Well, today we learned that all the notaries in town close early on Fridays. Will's still going to try to go in tomorrow morning, since the nice lady offered to let him come in then, when they don't usually do birth certificates. Maybe she'll let him have the birth certificate, with a promise to bring in the last papers next week. Then we could start on Asya's passport.

Oh, the letter from Tanya was fine, and probably not even necessary. Thanks for praying about that!

Getting closer

Will did get to all the places he wanted to today. But. . . he still needs to do a little more. Tomorrow he'll have to get copies of the visa sections of our passports notarized (but not translated. At least, he can do that locally.) Then he can take that in on Friday, and hopefully we'll be done! Thank you for praying. Everyone has been very nice through all of this, and things went remarkably well today.

Pray for speed!

Will is trying to do everything faster than I said yesterday. He left for Vladimir at 5:00 this morning. He's trying to get there and back quickly, get a witness letter from our friend Tanya (pray that will be acceptable!), and then turn everything in for the birth certificate today.

Slow progress

After all day in Vladimir, Will has to go back again tomorrow. He got the translations done. They just need to be notarized now. Please for everything to go quickly, for safe travel, and for strength for me. I'm exhausted!

Nothing is ever simple

Laws have changed a little. Now we need a witness letter and notarized translations of our passports and marriage license to get a birth certificate. Will can go to Vladimir to get the translations tomorrow. Please pray that we'll figure out what to do about the witness letter. Hopefully we can get everything pulled together by next Tuesday, get the birth certificate then, and go to Moscow the next day to apply for Asya's passport. (She has to do that in person. )