Yesterday I spend 4 hours at the Department of Labour & Immigration trying to get our work permit/visas renewed. I was able to get my work permit until July 4th & will be able to have my visa renewed until then. The biggest challenge is that Teresa & the kids have new Canadian passports which are "supposedly" on there way. Immigration told me & our centres Mongolian employee that they would "not" place Teresa & the kids under my visa until their new passports come. My old visa expires April 4th (next week.) Teresa & the kids are still under their 6 month before their passports expire, but they just said "we are really sorry", in Mongolian of course. The Mongolian immigration lady that served us was extremely polite & nice to us, but said we need the new passports before we can add Teresa & the kids. Please pray that their new Canadian passports arrive before next Wednesday (Tuesday evening for many of you) when the old dates will expire. If they come late then we could face up to a 1,000,000 tugrug penalty per person, in the thousands of dollar range. Either way we know that Teresa & the kids will need to stay here until their new passports come because in Mongolia in order to leave this country at anytime you need to get an exit & reentry visa which has to go on your passport.
Many other organizations & families have been having really difficult times presently (this year.) Many of us have come to this conclusion that it seems that the Mongolian government doesn't want foreign families with children here any longer that will volunteer with community development organizations. Especially new families that will need to study Mongolian language. Older children now are required to have their own visas when their parents are serving & just found out that all children need to have their own visas when their parents are studying Mongolian language. Something bigger is going on. Many of you may think that this is a really bad thing & it may be, but there are many of us here serving that think it just may not be a bad thing. I know in the past I have alluded to this, but think it may be coming to pass. Please pray for us & the Mongolian people (believers & non) as they move forward as a nation. We love this place & are hopeful that the future will be better for Mongolians.