I’ve been in the 🇺🇸 trying to renew my visa application. Today, I received the news that my visa application was refused.

In the spring, a new law went into affect in the UK that states that those working in the UK on a Tier 5 Charity or Religious Worker Visa (the type of visa that I was on) must have a 12-month cooling-off period before being able to apply again. This is a crushing blow to our goal of doing ministry in the UK but more so for our family as I have been away from Tracy for coming up on 3 weeks and the kids for nearly a month.

In my cohort, there are 5 apprentices and their families. 2 out of the 5 have been successful in their applications but the rest of us have been refused. For the immediate future, this means that I’m not allowed in the UK for a minimum of 12 months.

We are still exploring what this means in terms of ministry. For now, we’re working to figure out what we need to do to be reunited as a family again. Our goal for now is still to do ministry in the UK but we may need to spend some time in Europe for now, particularly while Tracy and the kids are still entitled to live and work there without a visa.

So please be praying for these things:

1. Pray that we are reunited soon, as we have already been apart for too long.
2. A path to continuing ministry would be made clear.
3. Pray that there would be a way for the other apprentices to continue in ministry as well.