Date Set

We purchased tickets last week.  Because we have to purchase tickets to apply for a visa, and because the visa can take up to two months to process, we had to get tickets in January to make sure that the visa is processed in time for our departure.  The best date price-wise was January 17th, so our ministry in Bulgaria will (Lord willing) begin January 18th.
Please pray that David's visa application will go through quickly and smoothly.  Pray also that this waiting time in Minnesota will be productive.  We hope to use this time to spread the vision for Bulgaria, and maybe even lay the groundwork for getting future teammates to join us in Sofia.

Visa

Our big logistical issue holding us up from going to Bulgaria right now is David's visa.  We need to have the proper paperwork in order to return to Europe.  Unfortunately this visa may take up to two months to process, and we need to buy our tickets in order to apply for the visa.  To avoid the risk of not having our visa approved in time and wasting the ticket money, we will have to schedule our tickets for a couple months out.  This means that we are in a situation where our departure must be pushed back to December.
Such a late departure is not at all what we had hoped for, but we know that God is sovereign, and He has a plan through all this.  We know He has a reason for our arriving in Bulgaria at such a time, and we trust Him in this plan.  Perhaps there will be a home that will go on the marked just after our arrival that is just where He wants us to live.  Perhaps there is a reason He wants us on a specific flight.  There are any number of reasons that He may be orchestrating to put everything and everyone where He wants them to work all things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.