Grace and greetings in the Name of Jesus,

Many of you are expecting this e-mail (because of Facebook updates you have already seen), but some of you will be hearing about this for the first time. So I am re-posting my initial prayer request below to give context to what follows:

(The following was posted on Facebook around May 20th)

Important Prayer Request:

We received a couple phone calls from the police in the town we've been
living most of the past year and a half, asking for me to come by
their office on Wed morning. It could be nothing, but then again it
COULD be something rather serious.

The authorities have never fully known the extent of our activities,
and if for some reason they have found more info about us than they
previously had, we could be in big trouble.

So pray for us to have peace in our hears, tons of wisdom, and of
course protection from anything the Enemy would want to do against us.
We trust in God's guidance, and know that He will keep or take us
where he wants us all in the proper time!

And here is the update that many of you have been waiting for:

Well, my Residence Permit has been cancelled, but only mine
(not the family's). And I was told I just need to leave China (within
15 days) and then I CAN apply for another visa to come back.

So I am not "banned for 5 years" or for life or anything like that.
The "crime" I am guilty of is fairly minor (I was found to be in
possession of illegal Christian literature). They "intercepted"
a package of literature that was destined for our address
(but addressed to a different friend's name) back in late March
and that's what got this all started.

This is definitely GOOD NEWS because it means they
DIDN'T discover most of the things we are really involved in
(much more than just possessing a few thousand Scripture Booklets!).

The obvious question now is WHAT'S NEXT for us...

Well, since its only my Residence Permit that was cancelled, I'm going
to try for a new visa in Hong Kong next week, and my family doesn't even
have to leave China until their current residence visas expire (late June/July).

At that point, they may also need to go to Hong Kong and apply for new
tourist visas or MAYBE my wife can apply for her own student visa (with the
kids as dependents) here in "the big city" and I would be the only one in the
family who has to bounce around (leaving China every 30/60/90 days) to
renew a tourist visa.

I don't have a choice but to be a "professional tourist", because the
local authorities definitely won't give me another residence permit
(teaching/student visa) in this province for a LONG time.

That's all for now, more coming later :-)

Thank you all so much for your concern and prayers and encouraging words! Please continue asking God to open every necessary door and to lead us in every decision we make and step we take.

Blessings,

The West Family

P.S. Since I will no longer be permitted to teach part-time, I'm going to lose the income (about $400/month) that I was using to help support both of our Latino missionary families. Please contact me if you feel led to help cover for this ongoing need!