An Update on Our Visa Situation

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been told and recently experienced the number one rule of being a missionary… BE FLEXIBLE! This week has presented us with many challenges and given us lots of opportunities to test our flexibility. About a week ago we received a letter from the local Austrian office that issues visas/resident's permits asking us to come in this past Tuesday. Everyone on our team was feeling pretty confident that we were receiving our visas.

You may remember that while we were raising support we were also concerned about getting to Austria as close to the beginning of the year as possible to apply for our visas. We knew all along that Austria only issues a certain number per year and it was important to get our application in as soon as possible. We proceeded to apply in February and prayed that we would make it before the cut-off for the year. We learned only after getting to Austria that we would have had zero chance of getting a visa if we had applied from the US, which made our decision to apply in Austria feel even more right.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday we learned that unfortunately we did not make the cut-off for a visa this year and would need to leave the European Union for the rest of this year. We were told by the man from the office which is higher up than the local office that if we come back to Austria and turn in our complete applications to his office on January 2, 2009 there was a very good chance they would push our applications through in a speedy manner.

We know there is still much prayer that needs to surround this matter and we ask that you join us in praying for this situation. We feel confident that God wants us here in Austria and have faith that He will work things out for His glory. Already we have seen God at work in this situation in numerous ways and are giving thanks to God. The fact that we have been allowed to be in the EU for the last eight months, the timing of where Regan is at in her pregnancy, and the fact that they have told us to reapply at the head office in January, all of these things are huge blessings.

So what that means in a practical sense… We will be returning to the states for the duration of the year. We fly to Omaha, NE this Thursday, October 2^nd, where we will be spending the next five weeks. We will also spend some time with our church family in Kansas and then we will go on to spend time in California. We will return to Austria just before the end of the year so that we can be one of the first families in line applying for a visa in 2009. Dan has recently begun working on a website for the Oasis and will be able to use this time away from the demanding Oasis schedule to focus on getting that up and running. Both of us look forward to spending time with you and are excited to share about what God is doing through the Oasis ministry.

While this is not ideal in our minds, we know that God's ways are not our ways and that there is a purpose for everything God does in our lives. Throughout this week we have thought a lot about the refugees with which we work. They live everyday not knowing what is going to happen next. They could be moved from one camp to another, sent to another country, or deported back into the often dangerous situations from which they came. Thinking about the fact that we have a safe place to go with the support of family and friends makes us extremely thankful. We also think about the friendships we have formed since we have been here, and it is saddens us to think that many of these people will not be here when we return. This makes us all the more eager to return to the Oasis at the first of next year. In the meantime, please pray for the refugees here in Austria and the Oasis team. For us, pray that we will not get discouraged. Pray also that God will use us in unexpected and marvelous ways to bring glory to His name.

Again we look forward to catching up with all of you. You can reach us through email at danielandregan@gmail.com. Feel free to email us at any time.

In Christ,
Dan and Regan