Praying for the Paperwork

We think of praying for many things for our missionaries and local leaders we support, but we often overlook a very common stressor: Passports, Visas, and various governmental paperwork.

For three years, I earnestly sought the Lord for how to best serve Him in Brazil: I wanted to be in Brazil as a missionary, but the country would only allow me to be in the country 180 days out of the year on a tourist visa. I was not eligible for any other visa at the time. This struggle only ended when I was able to pass a college entrance exam (entirely in Portuguese) and get a student visa. It was later solved by having my first (and then second) child in Brazil, making them a Brazilian citizen, and I a permanent resident.

So how can we be aware and pray?

Every situation is different. It would be good to ask what paperwork issues you can pray for. Passports have been backed up since Covid, and renewing a passport can take forever. For local missionaries wanting to travel outside their countries to raise support, there may be a bunch of other hoops they have to jump through to get a passport.

A politics are always changing, so are visa situations. Many countries are closed to US Citizens (have you seen the rise in Latin American missions?). Others, like Brazil, require creative (and often time consuming) solutions to serve their full-time. For many local missionaries, getting a visa to the USA may be but a distant dream. For others, it requires regular visits, lots of paperwork, and a financial budget that might include bribes to just get the legal process going. Whatever the case, paperwork is probably (or has been/will be) an issue for your missionaries. Make sure to lift them up in prayer.