WE DID NOT SEE THAT COMING...
ANOTHER ROUND TO THE “FOREIGNER’S OFFICE” AT 5 AM.
Waiting at the gates early this morning we found ourselves asking God to let us walk away with our visa. The problem is we still had very confusing financial report, and we needed some grace in areas that were gray. Honestly, our prayer was that whoever had the role of interviewing us would overlook our lack and at least let us walk away with a year long visa that would allow us to get our stuff in order.
After waiting 4 hours to get our number which would allow us to get called into an office between scheduled interviews, our anticipation was rising. Having heard of difficult interviews in the past that led to year long processes before acquiring visas, we had no way of knowing what would come. Finally the number rang and we entered the door. We were greeted by a young woman who would be asking us about our visa. We explained that Hunter would be applying for a family reunification visa, at the recommendation of our previous interview back in September. In order for that to pass it had to appear that Miranda would make enough in freelance to support the two of us. The visa Hunter applied for allows him to have any job or no job, so they had to be sure that one person’s income can sustain them. Hunter’s work being more varied, we felt it was important that he wasn’t restricted by the type of visa. She then told us to go back to the waiting room and she would call us back in to discuss what else she would need. Going back to our seats we could only imagine what else would be asked of us.
OUR GUESS IS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO COME BACK ANOTHER DAY.
The time seemed to drag on forever as we waited for our number to be called again. We hoped that the amount of time it was taking was a sign that something good was happening. We walk in and the lady who had interviewed us was holding our passports and responds to us IN ENGLISH, which for the german bureaucracy is NOT normal. She turns to Miranda and says “I have for you a freelance visa”. At this point we nearly cry. We could not believe we were going to get it! Then she says …
“OH, AND IT’S FOR 3 YEARS”.
We obviously were believing for three years, but we had read and heard that this was very uncommon. Typically they give you a year to see whether or not your freelance is sustainable. Yet she continued to tell Hunter that he too would be receiving a 3 year visa. We nearly jumped out of our seats to give our interviewer a hug. Walking out to pay for our visas all we could feel was such freedom, finally being “allowed” to stay in Germany. As we write this we are filled with thankfulness to Jesus for his kind provision and to our supporters for believing, praying, and supporting us. We have felt since the beginning that our open door as, The Razos, for the gospel in Germany is through the creative world. We are no doubt still full-time missionaries, we simply have just been granted access to our lane. As we build our business we would love your continued support and prayer for revival not only through the arts but revival through unity and common purpose in the church of Europe. In the next few weeks, we will be sure to share what’s on the horizon and how you can support.
