In Canada

Ok, so the last few weeks has been a whirlwind of activity.
Here is the update, after lodging our application we waited a week to hear back from immigration and when we did it was not good news. They told us that they would be immediately declining our application if we chose to continue to go through with the lodgment. So we decided that it would be wise to take it back.
This means that we will have to lodge the application again outside the country, but at least they didnt take our money. $1900 for that part of the application.
They gave us about a week to leave the country...

On Dec 5th we flew out to Saskatoon Canada, to drive to Tisdale where my parents live.
We will be setting up camp here for the next bit of time while we wait for our visa to be processed. We are guessing at somewhere between 6 months and 2 years but we really have no idea. I am trying to get a job, and we will be plugging into the church as much as we can as well.

So the post just below this one is a picture of the truck that Dad Schmale bought for us to get around while we are here. He has been wanting a small truck for a while so this was a good opportunity. But of course it is a huge blessing for us as well, as we cant do too much without a vehicle around here really.

We have just got broadband setup out at the farm here too so that is very helpful for us to be able to communicate and as well Julie and I will still be working with the base through remote connection. So that is good for the base too.

So things here are working out pretty well, but please pray with us that our visa will be granted soon so we can get back home to Perth

Our Truck

Oooh softness!!!

With nothing but time on our hands, what are we supposed to do?
Well, you sew pillow cases for your couch cushions, obviously!!
Here's the picture of how they turned out...  

Visa news

Ok,
So the latest is this, it seems that things have changed since what we heard from immigration at the airport and the lawyer that we asked to look into our case has told us that there is no restrictions stopping us from applying for whatever we want. So after seeking God we have decided to apply for Permanent Residency.
This will mean that if we get it we are allowed to stay as long as we want and actually get all the benefits of being citizens. So that is pretty exciting.
However the process can take a very long while, we are expecting around 9 months to a year for it to all happen.
So on Tuesday we will lodge our application and then pray that we get a case worker that will allow us to work while we are on the bridging visa waiting for a decision.
Anyway, that is kinda us for now.
Update you as soon as we know anything

Back in Australia...For how long?

Ok, so the deal is, we can back to Australia on an ETA (tourist visa) planning to basically hang out at home till we could get a religous workers visa again. However, in the airport they took that away from us, saying that we were going to work on the ETA which isnt allowed. So they gave us one month to pack up our flat and leave. For 3 years.
We have a couple options, we could apply for permanent residency, which would let us stay for as long as we wanted, and that would waive the 3 year exclusion. However the issue there is that it takes a very long time to process. Like easily a year. However that is still better than 3 years out.
The other thing is that we currently have a lawyer looking at our case to see if there is anything that can be done to get around the decision they made in the airport. But, we may not find anything out till we pay them $1000 and then it still might not accomplish anything, and if it doesnt we need to have our flights payed by the monday or we wont be able to leave in time... Fun eh?
So if you are praying person, please pray for us. We need to Gods wisdom and intervention for our situation.

Work in Gammel Holte

On the way to work in the morning

Its a bit dark to be doing gardening dont you think?

Our Work in Rungsted

A couple pics from our work on a large job.

Reading

Julie, doing the only thing we can really physically do after a days (10 hr) work.

New Haircut

Ok, so the latest is that we have applied for another type of visa and they officially recieved it Wednesday last week, so we are hoping and praying for a fast processing time. The base has had these put through as fast as 6 days, but the suggested time by immigration is 28 days. So realistically it could be that long, or longer. But we are both really hoping we will hear next week.

In the meantime, Julie has cut my hair, and so we included a few pictures for you.

Pics

Well, here are a few pictures, I know its been a while. But this is Julie with her new job working in the same place as me doing landscaping.

Gardening in Denmark

So, I am an official gardener now. Have been working at it for about 2 weeks now. Cutting hedges, pulling weeds, mowing lawns, laying bricks, cutting down trees, removing bushes, renewing graveyards... You name it. Julie says my muscles are huge these days. :)

Still in Denmark

So, surprising to all of us, we are still in Denmark. It seems the Australian immigration office is not too sure about letting us in the country.
Currently we applied for a visa that they told us to, and then they have denied it, so YWAM Australia is talking with them to try to get them to reverse their decision.
If this happens we could be back in Australia within a week, and if not, then it could be several more weeks as we would have to apply for a different visa type.

So for now we are both working to earn a bit of money, and also to have food to eat. :)
Write us an email, we miss home.

Lydolpher Ice Cream

So, this is the famous (In Copenhagen), Lydolpher Ice Cream. It is the biggest thing I have ever seen. And as you can see, having considerable trouble finishing. Okay, I admit, didnt finish it. It was a blow to my male pride as the guy beside me in the one picture, did finish it.
I was sabotaged, my cone was broken :(

Fun with Dirt

So yesterday we spent the day at our friends house helping them move approx 20 cubic meters of dirt. We didn't get it all finished as we were working with just shovels and wheelbarrows.
This is where we really realized that we are not exactly "conditioned" to hard manual labor.
Our muscles hurt and hands are sore. Julie has a couple nice blisters, but a hard days work leads to a good nights sleep and there are no regrets.

Stuck in Denmark

So for the time being, we are stuck in Denmark, It is not sooo bad of a thing. We are are stuck. Australia hasnt given us our visa yet. And so currently we have pushed our flights back by 5 days and hoping that is enough.
We have been kept busy while being here though. We spent some time in Kolding with Julie's Grandmother, and that was fun. She had a big 85th birthday party. Then being back in Copenhagen has been fun. We went to a Danish Dance Theater, it was really good modern dance.
Then we spent the night last night around a fire pit in the back yard. They were singing Danish songs, and My job was to keep the fire hot.
Anyway, sorry about the lack of pictures. We seem to be having trouble uploading them at the moment from this computer. Hopefully soon we will get it worked out.

Made it to Denmark

So on wednesday we arrived in Denmark, to flags and hugs. A great danish welcome.
We relaxed for the first couple of days and then on Saturday we had a big outing to Tivoli, the famous Copenhagen amusement park. We had a lot of fun riding on "Demonen" (The Demon) the new roller coaster there. We didnt even get sick. The evening ended with a great light show on the lake. A great time had by all.

Still in Munich

Well the interesting thing is that we are still in Munich. The money never came in for us to get to Cairo so we stayed here. I have to admit that it has been a great time and we have enjoyed spending time together and just being the 2 of us. We will be here now until we travel onto Copenhagen, we leave on the 18th or 19th (not sure, havent checked our tickets lately).
We look forward to seeing Julie's family and developing a bit more of my Danish.

Trip to Niagara Falls

As promised, there is more frequent writing, now that we are better connected.
Here are some pictures from our visit to Niagara Falls today with Steve's brother Jonathan and fiance Kendra. It was pretty incredible.

Back on Broadband

Okay, so I will have to write more about all this later, but literaly it would have taken me over 10 minutes just to get onto the blog site let alone write something up to this point so now we are in Waterloo Ontario, staying at my brother's fiance's house. (will be "their" house) and they have broadband set up and so I thought I would let anyone that checks this website know that that is what is going on. You will likely hear from us more in the next little while.

Today though was a big family get together with lunch and supper and we played a couple games of settlers. I won both. :) Anyway, it is exiciting that the wedding is less than a week away.

Please keep praying for us as we need tickets to Cairo from Munich still and we also need more ground fees. Total about $1500.

Write to us, we will write back now.

Back in Canada, on Dial-up

So after about 32 hours of travelling, we made it back to Canada. I used to say "home" when we came to Canada, but I have to admit that it is no longer that. Especially with Julie and I being married now, we have made Australia our home.

So we arrived in Saskatoon, SK, on thrusday evening, made it home just in time to crash into bed, and then the next day prepared to have people over for a "Thank You" dinner to thank them for their monthly financial support. It turned out that only one of our 5 monthly supporters came, but along with my parents, we had a good time anyway.

So we are here in Saskatchewan until the 24th of June when we will head to Toronto area for my brothers wedding and go from there.

I assume we will probably catch up with some of you reading this post, so we look forward to seeing you!

Staff debt paid off!!!!

In an amazing time of giving today in a staff prayer time, we saw $1160 come in to cover the total of our staff debt from the past. We have been able to pay our current staff fees each month with small miracles along the way, but this was the final breakthrough to being debt free with the base.

On another note we also saw enough money come in to sign up for health insurance for the next 3 months (health insurance is a requirement to be on staff in YWAM Australia).

Thanks to everyone who gives monthly towards our finances, or has given donations in the past. You are the ones who enable to do what God has called us to.

Going on holiday

Okay, so I can hardly belive that we are going to be going on holiday in a weeks time.
It really snuck up on us, but we are very excited.
We will be in Canada from the 1st of June till the 4th of July (including being there for my brother Jonathan's wedding on the 1st of July)
Then we go to the GYO and from there to Munich to visit my other brother Michael and wife Natasa for a couple days.
From there to Copenhagen for a few weeks to hang out with Julie's family.
Anyway, its going to be soooo good to take some time off and even just spend some time with our family and friends.

Prayerpoints

• Potential problems related to our visa situation; favor with the Australian Immigration
• Intimacy with God; the danger is that we're easily too busy to just BE in His presence
• Needs; financial support in order to live out what God has placed in our hearts
• Knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and the fear of God for both of us

Finally working

Okay, so it was spontaneous, and its now quite late, but we officially have a web presence, only time will tell to see whether we will maintain it, and whether or not anyone will look at it. But if you are looking at it, and think that we should keep updating it and keeping you informed of our lives then send us an email to let us know.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Love heaps
Steven & Julie

Picture of Us