Hangin’ in there!

James 1:2-4

At the end of 2006 in faith we started a process that, Lord willing, will soon be completed. Well, at least the first stage of it anyhow. Those of you who also follow Gorgeous’s blog will be aware that we have been preparing to move to the US in order for me to begin working towards a Masters degree at a seminary in San Francisco.

A lot of prayer went in to making the decision and there has been even more pray as we have encountered various obstacles to the shift actually happening. One of the major obstacles has been the paperwork requirements for my green card application. I’m married to a citizen so application is made under that basis and once all the boxes have been ticked approval is pretty much a sure thing; it is only a question of how much time it will take. The most elusive piece of paper has been the police report from the country I grew up in as a missionary kid. I’m required to provide a police report for any country I lived in for more than 6 months after the age of 16. Getting this piece of paper has proved to be quite an exercise, but hopefully today our representative there will be handed the official document and will fax it to us.

Assuming that’s the way it happens then I could very well have my visa sorted by Monday (although the consulate will be closed for July 4th so that might delay it a couple more days). Then it will just be a matter of purchasing some plane tickets and we’re counting down the days! What would be a really cool provision on the Lord’s behalf is if Air New Zealand does one of their cheap grab a seat deals to the US. They did one to San Francisco a couple of months ago that was $595 return (if you’re in NZ and don’t know about Grab A Seat then check it out now). Considering I normal one way ticket is about $1200 then we would happily forget about the return leg if these tickets were offered again.

We still have few loose ends to tie up here, we need to sell our van and some other household goods but we’ve done pretty well disposing of one way or another all our various possessions. The USD / NZD exchange rate is currently VERY favourable (like the best in 30 years!) so barring the visa we’re pretty much good to go.

Of course, getting there is only the first part of the equation. When we arrive I will need to find work (we will not be living close to the seminary (too expensive) but they offer an option to commute in on a Monday and do all your classes in one day and then go back home to do assignment work). Preferably I would like to find a ministry position in a church (worship/creative ministries or youth or missions) but obviously I’ll do whatever is required to support my family.

One thing that I keep reminding myself is that the destination is not the only goal. Life and ministry don’t stop just because we’re working towards a specific project or thing. God has used the process itself as an instrument to mold us and mature us. As the James passage illustrates it is the testing of our faith that (if we persevere) produces maturity not achieving certain goals.

I need to get on and do some other things right now but there is more I could write so no doubt I will return to this some time in future.