OSI & ANNIA

Hello friends & family!

This month finds us in an interesting place. It feels like we are on the precipice of some big changes along our journey. A lot has happened over the past month regarding our immigration status and the lawyers who were working our case.

For context, in mid December we reached out to some immigration lawyers who were recommended to us. They seemed very knowledgeable and we were confident they would assist us in the necessary steps to get Annía into Australia as quickly as possible. However, once we had the initial consultation and payed a deposit, we waited almost two months for them to get started on our case. We signed documents, filled out the forms they requested, sent several emails and texts, but we still did not receive any legal advice or assistance.

After two months of waiting, it was clear to us that they were not understanding the urgency of our case and were not able to deliver what we needed in a timely fashion.  

All along we were surprised, confused and frustrated by their lack of communication and odd way of conduct. We had examined their client reviews carefully before engaging, but our experience with them was nothing like what was being portrayed in the reviews. 

In the middle of prayer one day, the Lord gave us the following scripture:
‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.’
I Kings 12:24

We immediately knew that pushing for answers from the lawyers was not what the Lord was calling us to do. Rather than fight, we needed to wait for them to start working on our case. At least so we thought…

A few days later, we received a word from a friend that the Lord wanted us to stop using the lawyers, as He wanted to take the glory for the outcome of our situation. We realised that we had been putting all of our hope in the fact that the lawyers would achieve a good outcome for us, instead of trusting that God is the one who is able to do all things. This word was confirmed to us as we turned to Proverbs 16:9 and Proverbs 16:25. At this point, the word from I Kings was clear. This was the Lord’s doing. The situation was not progressing, for this was not His will.

With prayer, and following the word we had received, we decided to terminate our contract with the lawyers.

During this process, we had the problem of Osi’s visitor visa to Chile expiring. Given that we hadn’t yet received our official marriage certificate from Canada, we could not register our marriage here or apply for his temporary residency.

This meant that our only option was to apply for an extension to his visitor visa. After much prayer, we submitted the application and trusted that if God wanted us to remain together here, He would have it approved. Within two hours of submitting the application, we received a notification advising us that it had been approved! Praise God for His faithfulness!

A Birthday Gift

Osi

I wanted to share a small testimony of the Lord's goodness and abundant blessing.

Ever since we started doing our live worship watches on Zoom/Youtube, I have been telling Annía that we needed a specific type of microphone for this purpose.  Of the three mics I brought with me overseas, two of them are not really suitable as they are intended for studio recordings rather than live performances.  I needed a different mic to do the job and mitigate some of the issues I was having with our current ones.  The specific model I had in mind was the Shure SM7B and I told Annía that I would try to get one as soon as possible.  

A few weeks go by and then one night we are invited to a small gathering of local belivers who are long time friends of Annía's. I was reluctant to go at first, as I'm very introverted and also have the issue of not being able to speak Spanish - therefore not being able to converse with anyone.

It took some convincing, but eventually I agreed to go.  At the gathering I am introduced to a friend of one of Annía's friends, who is a local music producer/audio engineer.  Amazingly he happens to speak English (very few people here do) and so we are able to chat!

We get talking about audio production and he asks what gear I have with me.  I tell him about some of the gear including the microphones and mention that I wish I had brought different mics, as we needed ones that were better suited to our current setup.  He tells me about his gear and says that he has a spare mic I can borrow while I am here.  I thank him and we continue talking. Later that evening while we are sitting around the fire and eating dinner, he comes over and tells me he forgot to mention he also has a Shure SM7B - the exact model I wanted! He says I'm welcome to borrow it while I'm here, and that he will bring it to the church service the follwing morning. 

It just so happens that the following day was my going to be my birthday.  No one apart from the family knew, and when we arrived at the church, true to his word, he gives me the mic.  I see that it was clearly a birthday gift from the Lord and it's a reminder that He does give good gifts to His children. It was certainly an encouragement to me as we continue to navigate this uncharted course. 

The Long Route

Annía

One Shabbat, while reading the weekly Torah portion, something related to our journey was being highlighted to us. 

“Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
Exodus 13:17

Getting ourselves to Australia has been a long and tiring journey. It could have happened in a matter of hours, but instead it’s taking months. Is the Lord purposely leading us on a longer path? Why wouldn’t He take us the shorter route? Through this scripture we were able to understand that going back to Australia too soon would have put us at risk of returning to Egypt. This is especially true for Osi, as there was the high likelihood of returning to old patterns and pursuits. It is clear that we were not yet ready to step into our promised land, and God in His grace had called us to a walk of preparation and testing. When I stop to meditate on how quickly the Lord brought us together in Jerusalem, this move of His humbles me immensely. Today I am extremely grateful for this longer route and see God’s lovingkindness all along the way.

“So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 13:18

This is our wilderness season as a couple, where the Lord is teaching us to depend on Him in a much deeper way, to trust with fierce reliance and know Him in ways we have not known Him before. This understanding has greatly increased our perspective. It is our call to walk in obedience, not rebellion; in thankfulness, not in bitterness, to cry out to Him instead of complain.

"For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment."
Psalms 66:10-12

Prayer Requests

• That we may grow in the understanding and fear of God's ways, surrendering our expectations as we learn to walk the path He has laid before us.

•  ⁠For us to have a deep grace for and understanding of one another.

• That Annía would not burn the challah so much!