Visa Appointments

11

Dec

2018

Do you know anyone who works at the US State Department? We may need your help!

On November 13th, it had officially been a year since Michael Omondi, Ndoto pastor and husband to Ndoto Executive Director Allison Schlack, received approval for a five-year tourist visa to come to the United States. Since then, his application has been stuck in “administrative processing”, a bureaucratic black hole in Washington D.C. from which virtually no information has been forthcoming. There is no way to know when, or if, the application will ever be released. For now, Michael is unable to join his wife in the States to either visit family or speak about Ndoto.

His situation has baffled experts, from State Department employees to a US Senator’s office that attempted to help. In a last-ditch effort, Michael has resubmitted his application and has another appointment at the US Embassy the morning of December 13th. It is very possible that this application will be rejected as the other is theoretically pending.

At the same time, the Kenyan visas that Allison has used since she moved in 2011 are less available to her. She has been on an 8-month struggle to receive a visa that would allow her to stay in Kenya permanently as the spouse of a citizen. Allison and Michael have an appointment in Nairobi in the afternoon after their morning appointment. If she cannot get approved for this visa, she may have to leave Kenya every month to repeatedly renew a $50 tourist visa.

It’s hard to overstate how critical both of these appointments are to Ndoto’s future. Both Allison and Michael are feeling unwelcome by each other’s countries, while at the same time we know that God has brought them together and will sustain them together somehow.

We earnestly covet your prayers for these appointments! Please remember to pray before you go to bed Wednesday night – the first appointment is at 11pm US Central time, and the second is during our night. And if you do have any contacts at the State Department, we would love to hear from you. We hope to share good news soon!

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