We've got some exciting news on our visa status. On Monday, we had our second appointment with the German immigration office. At the conclusion of our first appointment, they gave us a list of documents that we need to bring this time to prove our provision and support while we are living in Germany. We spent the last couple of weeks gathering all of that information, and it paid off. The immigration official approved our visas on the spot! This is a HUGE answer to prayer! We were expecting them to send our application on for further review - instead everything went very quickly! Thank you for all of your prayers regarding this.
Soon after our appointment, we went out and got new permanent cell phones for the both of us. In Germany, most cell phone companies want you to have a residence permit before they sell you a contract for a cell phone. With our new visas in hand, we were able to finally get that errand taken care of. It sounds silly, but it was really en exciting moment for us. Even while we were living in the States, we didn't have permanent cell phones because we didn't want to get locked into a contract. These cell phones mean that we're finally some place to stay! It was a moment of realization for us - we're home!
We are now almost through our second week of class. So far everything has been going really well. They initially place Kathi is a high level than what she's probably at. Regardless, she's been adjusting well and learning a lot. My class seems like a good fit. After less than two weeks, we both notice a difference in how much we are speaking and understanding German. Please continue to pray for our language learning.
This evening we had our first appointment with the German Ausländeramt (Immigration Office). We met with an immigration official to begin our visa applications for our residency here. Germans are know for their red tape and bureaucracy, so I was expecting that this wouldn't be our only visit. After reviewing our documents, they let us know that they need more information regarding our stay here. So, we have to go back in a few weeks. Please be praying that we'll be able to get out visa quickly.
Jetzt geht's los! We are now fully engaged in language learning. We attended our orientation at the
Goethe-Institut on Monday where we took some placement tests and learned about the program. We were really blessed by the time - in fact, we met one woman working at the school who has a legacy in her family of pastors.
Today was our first full day of classes. Surprisingly, both Kathi and I were placed at a higher level than we expected. We're going to see if it's over the heads of either of us, but so far we're doing pretty good. We're excited because we have classmates from all over the world: Libya, France, Australia, Japan, Brazil. It's going to be so wonderful getting to know these people. Pray also that God might give us opportunities to love and serve them.
This morning we started class on Monday, we were reading through Daniel 1. In that chapter, we came across an awesome verse: "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." We are praying along these lines, that God would give us the ability to pick up German quickly so that doors might be opened. Thank you for praying with us.
