Worship Weblog
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Prayers for overseas Symposium guests denied visas
Our friend and associate staff member Mary Hulst summarizes at her blog some of the very sad stories we’ve been hearing this year from would-be Symposium attendees from overseas who have been denied visas, often unfairly, often after extraordinary sacrifice and travel to apply. Over 70 visas were denied this year, and too many of those denials went like this:
One person spent a year’s salary and hours of time gathering the appropriate paperwork months in advance, only to have the woman across the counter take his papers and stamp a big NO on them without even reading them. A letter from a congressman, letters from his church, information on the symposium--she never read a word.
We grieve this injustice and pray fervently for these brothers and sisters. And we hope for the New Jerusalem, when no visas will be able to keep us all from worshiping together!