Dear Praying Friends,

Ya'll - I don't even know fully how to express my thankfulness for your prayers this week. As you know from last week, my wallet was stolen in Athens - but we were able to find at least my id cards - which was a really big deal because our son Joshua had his visa appointment for permanent residency last Wednesday.

We had submitted the application and most of the paperwork in advance, and Joshua had worked really hard to get all of the other requested documents together. We went over them last Tuesday night, and we had all of the documents (and extras) in order. We walked into the building (much earlier than I would have gone, but Joshua wanted a cushion of time), waited for his number, and as we had arranged in advance, I was present - but he did all of the talking. He could not have been more organized and clear. Joshua received permanent residency, a temporary visa to use until his visa card arrives (which allowed him to come back to the US with us!), and he received some other helpful information. What a relief!

We had several great days with friends and teammates in Berlin - and were packed up and settling into bed Friday night before our return to the US on Saturday when I got a message from our other son saying, "I spent the last 2 hours tearing my room apart and can’t find find my passport anywhere. I’m on my second go-through, if I can’t find it I don’t think I can fly tomorrow." I messaged him, we talked on the phone, and I got in an Uber to head to his house to help him look while Elissa sent out emergency prayer request messages. 20 minutes later, in the car with the Uber driver, I received a call from Caleb saying he had found his passport. I was able to tell the Uber driver that I needed to go back, explained the situation, and told him we had been praying he would find it - and he did! He had no real response to my religious interruption of his nightly drives - but we were all able to fly together the next day!

We landed Saturday, moved into our new place (until we return to Berlin) on Sunday, and are slowly recovering from our travels.

Here are some prayer requests:

1. Pray for us to get over jet-lag, the busy schedule, and the rigors of a new move. We are both feeling a little run down, and want to enjoy the short weeks with our family all on the same continent.
2. Pray for financial support for the Alliance, for Envision Berlin, and for our family and our teammates. If you are getting to the end of the year and are looking for a year-end giving opportunity, I would be happy to talk with you or send you information about how you can support what God is doing around the world and/or support our work in Berlin.
3. Pray for our son Caleb as he finishes up some coursework remotely this week. He has several things to catch up on, and jet-lag is not his friend!

Thanks for your prayers!

Mike