Departure Delayed

To those who keep asking, "When are you leaving?"
Our expected departure is delayed from January to April due to finances, visa issues and family matters. Though our heart is to go ASAP, we have patience and faith to wait for God's perfect timing.

1. Financially, we are about $1000 per month short. We are continuing to build relationships with our home church CCMB and other Calvary Chapels on the central coast. God has shown us that it is not us who is raising support, but He is providing as we pray and faithfully serve Him.
2. Visa issues. We still need an invitation letter from a Latvian religious entity to apply for missionary visas. YWAM has recently informed me that they cannot invite us as they previously had hoped. So we are continuing to knock on doors, to see which church is willing to invite us to work with them and also give us the freedom to start a new church. We are exploring our options in Liepaja, Ogre, Jurmala and Riga.
3. April family commitments. Lena's brother is getting married April 21 in Chicago. As we prayed about our delayed departure, good stewardship and God's time table, we felt that it is best not to move to Latvia before the wedding. Although Lena's mom would help with airfare if we were to move sooner, to move after the wedding will give us enough time to build a care team, wait on God's provision and go through the visa application process. After the wedding we should be able to move to Latvia during the last week of April.

We have peace about the delay, knowing that God's plan is perfect and it is more needful for us to be here than in Latvia, for a season. He is still preparing us, He is still preparing our senders here, He is still preparing those who will receive us in Latvia. We are all are looking forward to seeing what He is preparing to do.