Update on our current situation

This is from an email we sent out earlier today. If you are reading this here, but didn't get the email let us know so we can add you to our distribution list!

Dear Friends and Family,

First, if you are receiving this email it is because we believe you were on our Newsletter distribution list. Long story short, the computer with the our email distribution lists has been replaced. The lists were one on the very few things we did not have a back up of. Thankfully all the important stuff we had on a back up drive. So if you are getting this email and you don't want to be, just email us back and tell us. Undoubtedly, we will miss some people and we're sorry for this.

The church leaders in Stirling met with an official from the U.K. Border agency this morning. The purpose of this meeting was to evaluate the church's ability to manage foreign workers (that would be us). As you may recall, the British government implemented a new system of issuing work visas. This new system took effect earlier this year. In this new system, an organization must apply and receive 'sponsorship' before the workers (us) can apply for our visas. This morning's meeting was a step closer for the church receiving sponsorship.

Our supervisor Mitch Vick informed us that the meeting went very well. He was very positive with its outcome. Unfortunately, the outcome was NOT Tristan and Leslie can get on a plane tomorrow. The next step is: the U.K. official will send a report tomorrow to the office in Sheffield, where a decision will be made. Once again we are uncertain of how long it will take to get a decision. However, we believe it will not be more then a few weeks (hopefully even sooner than that). Once a decision is made, a letter by mail post will be sent to the church in Stirling. Once they receive this, they must register the workers (us) online (thankfully an online process). After they do that, then we can apply for our visas, which will take another week or two.

We (us and the church in Stirling) have no one to tell us about this process. There is no one we can ask: "how long did it take you to get this or do that." So our estimates on time are all guesses. However, if all goes fairly smooth, we could look to be back in Scotland by early December, maybe earlier if things are processed faster. One potential problem is that the British Postal Service has been going on and off strike for sometime and will continue to happen in the coming weeks. So that doesn't help things.

We appreciate your prayers, support and understanding. So many of you have just overwhelmed us with your generosity and hospitality. We are extremely undeserving of such wonderful friends and family. We are so blessed to be supported by the Northside Church of Christ in Wichita. They have been so wonderful to us. Thank you all very much.

Please continue to pray for this process. We are not at the end of it but we feel the end is near. If you would please also say a prayer for Jed and Shiloh Lovejoy. They are HIM workers in Morley, England. They have to return to the U.S. in November because of this very same problem. They will also have to wait, as we have been waiting, until the church in Morley gets sponsorship. It is a frustrating process and we pray that their wait is shorter than ours has been. Thank you all very much. We love you. If you have any questions about any of this, please email us.

With the Love of Christ,
Tristan and Leslie

And a picture because our blog has been sadly missing them with our last few posts!
Fall colors in Stirling

Controlled Excitement

Have you ever had a moment where you just need and want to jump up and down and scream with joy, but you were a little nervous to do so? All three of you who follow our blog might just be able to relate.
Leslie and I can't help but ooze with excitement right now! We have a date to look forward to! It is NOT a departure date, but it IS a date. Thursday, October 22, 2009 the church in Stirling meets with the U.K. Border Agency to discuss what essentially is our fate and the fate of the Central Belt Scotland Team. The Border Agency will meet with the church leadership to review their application for sponsorship of international workers. Once the church is approved for sponsorship, we then can apply for our visas.
That is what we know. Here is what we don't know. We don't know if approval is given on the spot after the meeting or if there will be more of a paper trail. If they are approved on the spot, we don't know how long it will be before we can apply for our Visas; the hope is that we can apply almost immediately. If they are denied on the spot...we'll were not going to go there just yet.
So, you can see why we have "controlled excitement." We ask that you please pray for the meeting this coming Thursday. It is huge! Not only for our work but also for previous mentioned Scotland missions team (check out their website from the link above). Please pause right now and say a sincere prayer for this work. Thank you so much for your prayers and support as we wait upon the Lord!
Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."

Wait upon the Lord...

Leslie and I have been waiting for I won’t tell you how long. Not because I haven’t been counting, oh believe me I have been counting. I won’t tell you because no longer should it matter to me. If I wait, then I wait upon the Lord.
I, Tristan, have been doing the Beth Moore study “Esther: Its Tough Being a Woman.” (Leslie has been as well) I started it as some study material for a class I was going to teach. Now I am finishing it because God has been blessing me through this Bible study in my own personal situation...imagine that Bible study helping your own personal situation. Who knew?!?!
I was in the car listening to one of the audio sessions of the study. And because I was traveling (not driving) and a little sleepy my focus wasn’t as good. I was divinely interrupted with a phone call and a conversation that lasted until we arrived at our destination. But that meant I still had 25 minutes left in this session to listen to. God knew, HE KNEW my focus was not where it need to be in that car for the final portion of the audio, and he had me finish the session later this evening.
Let me share with you a portion of this session. Sorry you have to read it because I couldn't get the audio clip to play. Use this also as a little highlight and advert for doing this study. Ladies and most of you fellas would really benefit from doing this study.
This quote and these scriptures speak to our situation so clearly it frightens me a little bit.

“Never, ever in our wait, is God inactive. NEVER. We have got to trust that if ever he puts a stay on something, if ever he has put a hold on something, if ever he has called us to wait upon Him: SOMETHING is up. Something is happening in the heavenlys. There is someway that things on earth are coming into the will of the things in Heaven. And we have got to trust Him.
“ Isaiah 40:31 in the KJV: ‘But those who wait on the LORD, Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.’
“What is more exhausting than waiting? What? And here scripture says if we wait upon the Lord, he is going to renew all our strength. Whereas to us it (waiting) feels the more we wait the weaker we feel. (The Lord knows) we will lose our strength, our strength will be depleted if we wait upon ‘The Thing.’ When we wait upon a person, a thing, an event, we will lose; but if your waiting on the Lord, you will renew your strength: you’ll renew strength, you’ll mount up as eagles. Do you see the difference? We’re waiting on the THING. We’re waiting on the...(fill in the blank) wedding day, we’re waiting on that baby, were waiting on that promotion, waiting on that provision... you fill in the blank...(waiting on that Visa). And these are huge things to wait on, important things, noble things to pray for and to want but if all we’re doing is DAY after DAY waiting on the thing, waiting on the event: we’re depleted because the event, person, thing doesn’t come. Wait upon the Lord, WAIT UPON THE LORD. Sit as a watchman on the wall and wait upon the Lord. With expectancy and antcipation that the longer you(God) are taking the hard you(God) are woking and I cannot wait to see what you are orchastrating in the heavenlys. The longer we wait the more we’re to renew our strength. Tell the Lord in prayer...IT waits but cause me to wait on you and not just the thing. Renew my strength. Listen to the words of Habakuk 2:3: ‘For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”



I have been too long waiting on the Thing. Waiting on the Visa. Help me in prayer to wait upon the Lord. It is going to be difficult for me to shift my focus from waiting on the thing but my strength is being depleted because I am not waiting on the Lord.
Each of us has a Thing we wait on. I have just told you one of mine. What is yours? You don’t have to tell me but are to waiting on it and not on the Lord. Focus on Isaiah 40:31 and Habakuk 2:3 and wait on the Lord!

The UK's Deadliest Biscuit

We interrupt this extended break from blogging to bring you an article that we think you should read so that you may protect yourself from injury when consuming a biscuit from the U.K. The best thing about this article is that it is totally serious! Please check it out!

Catching up... June

At the beginning of June, Tristan was able to go down to Dallas to visit his brother, nephew and niece. He had a great time hanging out with Travis and playing with Noah and Chloe. They are such darling kiddos!

We've also been helping out Leslie's parents as they redo their kitchen and dining room. They have been needing an update for a very long time and we have been very happy to help out where we can.
Below is a picture of Tristan with Talon the Cat. Leslie parents have many cats but all of them are wild. So at the beginning of June, Leslie's sister Callie was able to catch three kittens. Sadly one of them died, but the other two are very friendly and going strong.

We were also able to attend the wedding of Blake and Rachel. It was a beautiful wedding and we were able to be together as a family again.

Sisters!
Derek, Megan, Leslie and Tristan
After the wedding we traveled to Muskogee, OK to visit with Leslie's family. We stayed with her grandparents and were able to visit with aunt, uncles and cousins as well.

We also experienced some crazy Kansas weather one evening. We went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant with Leslie's parents and sister when the tornado sirens went off. Everyone took shelter in the basement of the place until we were given the all clear.

We made another trip to Colorado and stayed for a week. We were able to spend time with Tristan's mom and dad and and enjoy the beautiful Rocky Mountains again.

After traveling to Colorado we made our way to Nebraska to visit Tristan's family there. We had a good time with more aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Pictured below are pics of us with Tristan's Grandma Pearl and Tristan's dad.

Catching up... May

The first weekend in May brought on Leslie's brother's wedding. Derek and Megan were married May 2, 2009 in Oklahoma City. It was a beautiful wedding and a lovely reception. It was wonderful time to spend with family.

We enjoyed a trip to Colorado to visit Tristan's Mom. It was great to be out there again. Tristan especially looks forward to seeing his beloved Rocky Mountains.

Mid May brought Leslie's sister Callie's graduation from High School. We were glad to be witnesses to that momentous occasion in her life. Congrats Callie!

May also brought a very sad and heartbreaking time for Leslie's family. Nick Prindle, Leslie's uncle passed away on May 22nd. We will never forget Nick and all of the joy he brought to our family. Please keep his family in your prayers.

We were also fortunate to attend Family Camp, a Northside Church of Christ tradition out at Rock Springs 4-H Camp near Junction City. It was an encouraging time of fellowship and great lessons. One of our favorite parts of family camp is the talent show. Tristan participated in the show by being a "contestant" on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" It was great!


Now here's the story of why we are still here in the States as of July 15th...
A week after we first got here in May we sent away for our new visas that we would need to continue working in the U.K. for the next year, since our original 2 year visa had expired. We applied for the visa that we thought we would need and really thought nothing more of it because we thought the process would be fairly easy and we would get our visas back plenty of time to get on the plane on May 27th. Well... we didn't get anything in the mail until after that date (which was okay, since we had already postponed our flight because of Leslie's uncle's funeral). When we did receive word in the mail, the word was DENIED. Our visas had been denied! We couldn't believe it! We were very upset and worried by this news. We would have to apply for a complete different type of visa.
At the beginning of this year, the UK government completely revamped their visa application process to include new rules and regulations regarding how people came into the country to live. In order to apply for our new visa, the church in Stirling has to go through a "sponsorship" process so that they can get clearance for us to come over. Once they all of the paperwork organized and turned in, the evaluation takes at least 4 weeks. We are now in week 4. So, beginning at the end of this week is when the church in Stirling should be hearing about their sponsorship. When they receive sponsorship, they will send us a number to put on our new application for the visa that we need. Our visa process should take 1-2 weeks, no more than 3.
So there you have it... the reason we are still on U.S. soil. This has been a difficult thing for us, but we know that through this whole process God has been with us. He's given us many opportunities to support others during this "waiting time". Although we are very very tired of living out of our suitcases, we are thankful for having this extra time with family and friends. If you are reading this and you have supported us in any way this summer (feeding us, housing us, encouraging us with a word or smile, entertaining us, or just plain loving us) we thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU! It's hard to say where we'd be with out you!

Catching up... April

Okay, it may seem a little pointless to go back this far, but I would like to give a run down of a few events to let whoever would like to know what we have been up to these past few months.

April...

At the beginning of April we went to a Young Adults Retreat in East Scotland. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know some people our age better.

We were blessed to be able to find a new place to live. We are excited about moving into this place as soon as we get back to Scotland (more about that in a later post). We'll be sure to post pics as soon as we get settled in.

We moved out of our Nailer Rd house after about almost a year. The reason we moved was because our landlady who lives in Australia is coming back by the end of this year and we wanted to live in a place for a year rather than staying in the Nailer Road place and then finding a place to live for our last 6 months in Scotland.

We were also blessed to attend the Kirkcaldy Social. It was wonderful to spend time with other people in congregations around Scotland that we had met previously and getting to know some new people.

We also left for the States on April 22nd. We were able to spend time with the Church in St. John Kansas who has decided to partner with us for our remaining year in Scotland. They are a lovely congregation and very supporting of various missions efforts around the world. We are very glad to know them!

More to come...May, June, and now July!

March!

Wow. March has really gotten away from us, and in a week it will be gone!

We began March with a short trip to the Isle of Skye. Ever since we came to Scotland people have told us that we needed to go to Skye. Because of a break in Youth Club, we found our chance to go.

Skye in Purple.

Below: Eilean Donan Castle is not on Skye, but on the way there. It is a very popular castle that you might recognize from a movie or two.


This is the B&B where we stayed on the western most part of Skye with the sea in the background.

Niest Point Lighthouse on a VERY cold day!


Sheep seemed to roam free through the town. These were going single file down the single track road.

The village of Portree.

One day we were able to climb a hill. The "Old Man of Storr" is the taller pinnacle in the distance.


Lots of snow and a beautiful view at the top.


Resting from the vigorous climb!


We had a snowball fight and made a snow ghost at the top. So much fun!


Having a lovely salmon dinner at sunset.


Our new favorite mountain range the Cuillins in the background. Just stunning!

Even though rainy/snowy weather was forecast, we were extremely blessed to have such beautiful sunny weather while we were there!

We got Youth Club started back up again. Although Youth Club hasn't been as consistent as we've liked, the kids continue to do well with participating. In the picture below, the kids are playing review Jeopardy, reviewing all of the Bible lessons we've taught in Youth Club so far this year. They did quite well!


Yesterday we were able to enjoy a walk near Callander to Bracklinn Falls. It is amazing how many walking trails there are in Scotland! We love to take advantage of them when we have the time.


And, although I don't have any pictures of it, we've had visitors here since last Friday. A group of 12 have come over on a survey trip to look at working in Scotland. It's been great to be part of some of their devotionals, since it's not often that we get to sing "devotional type" songs. Tristan and I have 2 guys staying with us. We love being able to open up our home to them!

February Happenings

Thanks to James for getting us back on track here in the blogging world! We just needed that little push to get us going again! :)

February has gone by very quickly for us.

The first Tuesday we had our first ever Youth Club Parent's Night. It was a great success. Many parents attended and we had a lot of positive feedback about how great youth club is for their children.

Parent playing dodge ball against their kids. So funny!

The first Saturday of the month found us having a youth night at David and Emma's. We had lots of fun eating pizza and playing the Wii. We had a lot of good laughs and it was a great to get back together as a group.

Wii Sports!


And this past Saturday we hosted another FriendSpeak dinner party. We had spaghetti and meatballs and cheese cake for dessert.

We taught the game of Pit to them and they loved it.

It was a smashing night! We got to spend time with some of our readers that we already knew and got to know our new ones better. :)

Back Row L-R: Tina, Tristan, and Peter
Front Row L-R: Fina, Ring, Judy, Mia, and Leslie.

Burn's Night

This year marked the 250th Anniversary of Robert Burns birth. This year is also known as a year of Homecoming in Scotland. Basically it's a campaign to make people aware of Scotland's heritage and promote tourism. Check out this site for more information and to help plan your trip to Scotland! :)

Now onto pictures of a wonderfully fun evening!

Tristan enjoying his haggis, neeps and tatties!

Everyone that wore traditional Scottish attire.


The guys in their kilts.
Almost everyone "took a turn" and preformed something for Burn's Night. We had several poems read, traditional Scottish songs sang, guitars played, sing alongs, and an amazing harpist! Tristan even got to resurrect his Chi jigging skills from college. He was a big hit!

Me and my wee boyfriend, Cameron.

Me and my man boyfriend. I opted out of the Scottish attire this year. :)

Continuing in my effort to post weekly...

This post is especially for those of you out there who don't get our newsletter. If you are reading this and would like to get our newsletter via email, then just leave a comment and we'll get you put on our list!

We had to say goodbye to a couple of our dear friends at the beginning of this month. Danny and Jie have returned to China. It's been only a little over 2 weeks since they've gone, but we are really missing their presence.

Here are a couple of pics from the airport.


Also, this is a picture of Jie's hand. Do you notice anything different about it?

She and her father are the only people that she knows of that have the one line running all the way across their hands. I love unique things like that (which is why I had to get a picture of it)! Look at your own hand. You'll probably see 2 different lines!