The last few weeks have been up and down concerning our visas, but yesterday it all came to an end. The final verdict: a door slamming shut as we exit the country.

We heard last week that the appeal for Becka’s residency would probably have worked, as it was based on a mistake that the IND made. But this week we found out that was not the case with Aidan; he was rejected based on a new statute concerning volunteer workers. It’s the first time it’s happened to American citizens in our organization. (Unfortunately, it happened to us!) We received a letter saying the decision on Aidan is final, and that he was no longer allowed to be in the country; i.e. we have to leave ASAP. We could have potentially taken our case to court, but it most likely would have ended the same way (and we weren’t really comfortable with that option). We are not totally surprised; since the beginning of this process we sensed that this would be the outcome. But it is still a disappointment.

The timing, of course, is very awkward. Our team just finished our plans and budgets for next year; I recently started an internship; our Dutch was coming along nicely, and Becka was getting ready to start a new TESOL ministry. But the most difficult part is saying goodbye to all the wonderful people we’ve gotten to know in the last eight months.

We fly out on November 25, which means the next few weeks will be very busy!

Becka and Aidan have to be out of the country for at least three months. After that we could return and start the process over again. At this point, we are considering our options; we haven’t necessarily given up on Amsterdam, but we are leaning toward finishing some courses for our degrees first and then returning sometime later next year. We will be sending out a newsletter sometime soon with some more explanation and our thoughts on the future (once we catch our breath and get a sense of what God is saying in all of this).

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us. We will be seeing some of you very soon (one good thing about all this: we’ll be home for the holidays…)