Update and prayer requests

 Hello and greetings from us in 2021, another year closer to the return of Christ!

     Last update, we were waiting for new visas, which we applied for in July and still didn't have come November 1st when our old ones expired. They were granted! It is the shortest we have ever received, just 16 months, but we praise God we got them! Lord willing, we will be able to apply for a work permit for Dejan with a clergy exemption that, if granted, may allow us to stay for a longer stretch between renewals, as long as 5-10 years. It is a new application for us, so prayer for thoroughness and no mistakes is appreciated.

Preparations for applying for a Canadian Work Permit

     We will have to renew Dejan's U.S. passport and begin the application process later this spring, as getting the new U.S. passport alone could take up to 5 months. This is because they are taking highest priority cases first. From the time we request an appointment at the U.S. Consulate to the time we receive the new passport book can be weeks and weeks, according to the officer at the consulate in Calgary.  Then the Canadian processing time for the work permit, once we apply, can be up to 6 months. It will be a year of paperwork!

Prayer for a New Visa

     Our more immediate need for prayer is for one of our daughter's visas, which was only granted for 15 weeks due to an expiring passport. We couldn't renew her passport earlier due to Covid, as the consulate was closed. But...by God's grace we got an appointment for her passport in January and it arrived in about 10 days! So we set to work re-applying for a new Canadian visa, which we submitted last week. Please pray that she will be approved in a good time, as she will be part of Dejan's work permit application and will need a current document.

Prayer for Neighbours
     

     We also request prayer for the house beside ours. It is up for sale, and the previous neighbours who rented from a distant owner (living in another province) were very troublesome, both relationally in their household as well as with the law. The owner had them evicted and renovated the house and put it up for sale recently but didn't sound too sure he would really sell. We are asking the Lord to sell the house to people our children can feel safe around and who are literally more quiet. We praise Him for protecting us and our property during the last occupants' short but tumultuous tenancy.

Prayer for our congregation

     Last, we ask prayer for the Lord to open the door for our congregation to be able to meet in-person again. The church we rent from is part of a larger group of churches whose leader has directed all of their congregations to broadcast online only, and we were asked to do the same back in late November. We asked once for an exception and were turned down, but Dejan talked to the parish pastor last week who offered to ask on our behalf again, noting some exceptions had been granted elsewhere. The patient people in our fellowship are eagerly awaiting the green light to meet, since Alberta is the most open province in Canada for churches right now, with meeting allowances of 15% of building fire code capacity. This would mean our whole group could come, as we are not in such great number as to exceed the capacity of the huge space we rent. Please pray for open doors, literally.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update and for your prayers. We greatly depend on, benefit from and are thankful for those prayers! They truly make a difference.

Much love in Christ,

Dejan and Julie <><