The Change

Why the change from Brazil to Bolivia?? We've been preparing for this trip since before Christmas, meeting every week as a team to have fun and plan together and just to pray, and almost had everything in place. Then our visa applications came back in the mail. In order to enter Brazil, you need a visa and our applications were rejected. This was in the middle of exams, 15 days before our leaving date. My first thought was that we don't have time for this!! We got on the phone and did what we could to get things straightened out, and then waited, not knowing if we would be able to go. We prayed and sent out prayer requests and had a bunch of people at school praying for us!
CBM, the organization we are going with, worked hard to sort things out, talking first to the consulate in Toronto and then in Ottawa. Then we received word that we were no longer going to Brazil. There was no way we would get our visas in time. This was kind of dissapointing. We don't know why this happend or why God chose to close this door, however, when God closes one door, He always opens another. CBM switched us over to a missionary in Bolivia!!! So even though we aren't going where we expected to go, God still has it in His plan for us to be going. So we are still in the midst of changing flights and finding out the difference in work and everything. This is such an exciting change because Phil speaks fluent spanish and Dan speaks some and understands alot of it, so language won't even be as big of a barrier!
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support through these last months. If all goes as planned from here on out, we will be heading out in 10 sleeps :) and would love your continued prayers! May God bless each of you as you follow in His ways, no matter where or how He leads. I just find it so inspiring that even in the planning stages of this trip, God has found us worthy of being tested and tried. It's so easy to assume that all change and challenge will happen while out there, but God is in every stage of the journey. May you all find rest and peace in Christ.
Love in Christ, Kristen