We've Got 90-Day Visas!!

We promised an update on our visa situation so here it is…..  Success!  Yesterday we were able to pass through Botswana and back into South Africa with no hiccups whatsoever!  The Lord granted us favor with the right guard being in the right place at the right time.  Our driver told us that we had a 50/50 chance of getting 90-day visas, but I quietly told Josh, “Not with God.  He’s 100%!”  I never doubted the Lord’s faithfulness in this matter.  However, He still asks us to pray and let our requests be known to Him and then take steps forward in faith believing that He’ll provide.  So, a big THANK YOU to those that were covering our visa situation in prayer.  It saved us from having to apply through a different process and paying $1,200 for our family. The Lord has truly blessed us with free visas for 6 months.  Come the end of February we will be looking into purchasing temporary residential visas that will allow us to stay in South Africa for a longer period of time.

Other than hearing the question, “Are we almost there yet?” several times during our travels, the kids did great.  We spent between 10-11 hours in the car, and only got out at the borders.  Our driver complimented us on the kids’ behavior.  On top of that, our driver honored our hearts by not smoking in the car with our children.  IN FACT, shortly before driving us to Botswana he decided to give up smoking cigarettes – said it was a bad habit/addiction he’s had for far too long.  His health will thank him for it.

We pray that all of you whom are back in America had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  We didn’t celebrate it in the traditional sense, but we choose to be thankful daily.  As you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus next month, I challenge you to make it about HIM and not about gifts this year.  In fact, everyday should be about Him!  If it’s not then you’re missing out!

Enjoying the journey of life with you!  Much love from the Mason Family!

Traveling to Botswana - Visa Extension

It is time for us to extend our visas so we can continue to stay in South Africa, and to do so, we must exit the country and then re-enter.  So, on Thursday, November 27 we will be traveling out of the country to Botswana.  We will be catching a ride with a guy that travels there weekly so the Lord is blessing us already!  We need to be ready to depart outside the main gate of Footprints at 7am and are expected to return by 7pm at the latest….in time to Skype with my family back in the States!  It’s about a 3 ½ hour drive to and from Botswana, so we will be packing our lunch and bringing some “entertainment” for the kids.  I’m sure they’re pretty excited to have a day off from school, although we might plug in some teaching along the way! ;-)  We will pass through a guarded gate at the border and then re-enter the country of South Africa – the exact process we’re unsure of.  Typically the border guards either grant 7 days or 90 days, so of course we are praying for the latter.  After our new 90-day (see, I’m already declaring it!) visa expires we will apply for a residential visa which lasts much longer and does not require us to leave the country.  We are asking the Lord for the following and would appreciate you joining us in prayer:

1. 90-day visa extension.
2. No issue with my (Mindy’s) visa.  Since my expiration date is different from the rest of the family’s, due to my leaving the country back in September, we’re praying that doesn’t cause a red flag.
3. Smoke-free drive (the driver is in the process of quitting and is aware we’ll have children with us.
4. Safety and smooth travels; grace with children in the car for 7+ hours.

We will post another update once we’ve returned from Botswana.  Thanks and much love from the Mason Family!

Building a Home for Children

Years ago God gave us a dream of opening up our home to abandoned children/teens, and now we are getting to live out this dream because He is faithful as we choose to live in obedience!  The next step for our family is to build a home here on the Footprints base so that we have the proper living quarters to bring in more children and multiply our family size.  After the proper classes and training, we will take on the role of “foster/house parents”.  We’ve been praying about which children to “unofficially” adopt into the Mason Family, and the Lord has already highlighted 2 of them to us.  We feel an urgency in our spirits to move forward with building a home soon, so we would greatly appreciate your prayers over our next steps – that we would be led with His wisdom.  It has always been a dream of mine to design and build my own home, so I’m pretty excited that God is giving me the opportunity to do just that.  The cost of building a home here in South Africa is not the same as in the States, but regardless, there is a cost attached.  We’re getting out of the boat KNOWING that God will provide everything that we need to make this happen.  We know He doesn’t ask us to do something radical, seemingly impossible, without providing the means to do it.  BUT, we first have to take that initial step in trusting Him and being obedient.

God has been speaking to me a lot about faith and what it actually means.  During my last flights on my way home to Africa from my dad’s funeral back in September, the Lord directed me to read Hebrews 11.  It recounts many examples of people of great faith in the old days…  Noah built an ark because He trusted the Lord when He said a flood was coming even though there was no sign of it.  Abraham left his home without knowing where he was going because He trusted that God would lead Him and provide for him once he arrived there.  To me, faith can be described by Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”  Simply put faith = TRUST.  The way we live our life truly reveals just how much we truly trust God.  If you live a “safe” (i.e. logical, no-risk) life, maybe you’re missing out on God’s purposes for you.  Have you ever felt like God was asking you to do something and then you reasoned it away because it wasn’t logical, seemed impossible or didn’t make sense?  If God told you to sell all of your possessions and then use the money to feed the poor, would you do it or would you say, “But what about me Lord?  How are you going to take care of me?  How am I going to live without this or that?”  The God I know isn’t someone who calls you to do something and then leaves you stranded or doesn’t provide for your needs.  However, your perspective on what exactly your needs are might need a little adjusting.  What if God asked you to give away one of your vehicles to a homeless guy on the street, and you reasoned it away with the thoughts, “But what if this homeless guy is ungrateful for the gift or just uses it to go buy beer instead of to get a job?”  When did God ever say we were responsible for other peoples’ responses or actions?  NEVER.  We are responsible for our connection with Him and Him alone.  As a parent, I am responsible for teaching my children truth, but ultimately they must choose how they’re going to respond.  It is so freeing knowing that I don’t have to control my children or manipulate them into making the right choice, which is something I see often in this world and have been guilty of at times myself in the past.  Instead, I get to model making good choices for them, ask for grace and forgiveness when I mess up, and then watch them make good choices because they “want” to – not because they “have” to or are fearful that if they don’t they will be judged, punished or won’t be accepted.

Do you have faith for things that are logical or do you have radical faith to do something that doesn’t make sense to you and you can’t see the “big picture” but you know how to hear God’s voice and trust Him clearly to act without fully understanding why?  The serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say not to eat…..”  Since the beginning, Satan has been instilling doubt in man’s mind and causing confusion and deception.  Adam and Eve lived an alternative life to the one God originally had planned for them in the Garden of Eden all because of their disobedience and lack of trust in Him when they didn’t understand the bigger picture.  They had a moment where they allowed the enemy to get them to doubt, and look at what the results were….  Although, thank God He had a plan to restore man’s relationship with Him through Jesus.

Hebrews 3:14 says, “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.  BUT, never forget the warning: Today you must listen to His voice.  Don’t harden your hearts against Him……”

You can’t obey God and walk in faith if you don’t know how to hear His voice and know how He speaks to you personally.  If you’re not hearing God’s voice, you’re either hearing your own or Satan’s, and yes even through man.  You can even hear God’s voice and still live in unbelief because hearing and acting upon His voice are two different things.  Faith requires action.  Faith isn’t just a set of doctrines that one believes in.  Faith is living out your trust in God.  Living = an action word. In Hebrews 3:16-19 – God says that those who live in unbelief (who disobey Him) were not allowed to enter His rest.  Examine your life – is there an area in your life where you’re not “at rest”?  Maybe it’s with finances, a relationship, a job, etc.  Could it be that you are not at rest because either a) you haven’t been obedient to what the Lord has asked you to do with $, relationship, job, etc. OR b) you haven’t fully surrendered those things over to God trusting that He’s got your best interest at heart?  Lack of trust in God prevents us from receiving His best.

When you trust in Jesus, the vine, you can partake of all His fruits – peace, love, joy, gentleness, patience, etc….  When you don’t trust in Jesus, you are choosing to sever yourself (the branch) from the source of life.  My greatest inner healing came when I realized that I had an issue with trust.  At times I was skeptical, at times I doubted, often I lived in fear of being wrong.  BUT when the Lord healed me of trust issues, I became FREE because the truth literally set me free!!  Do you want to be free with Him, to soar with wings like eagles into greater depths of His heart?  I pray that today you will surrender your heart to Him and ask Him to show you areas where you don’t trust Him and are listening to lies instead of truth.  Then allow Him to gently speak truth into your heart.  It will change your life.

As we are living out our own personal journey of faith, we would greatly appreciate it if you’d join us in prayer for the following:

1) God’s blueprints being downloaded to us for our new home

2) Wisdom on where and when to build

3) Clear direction with our finances, as we want to be good stewards

4) Names and number of children to bring into our family

We thank everyone that has covered us in prayer and acted in obedience as the Lord has led – whether financially or sharing a word the Lord has given to you for us.  God is good, all the time, even in the midst of a storm!  Hold on to what is true even when you cannot see!  Love and blessings to you all!

Our Next Steps - Leading the Footprints School

Would you laugh if I said we moved once again – yes our 5th living quarter in the past 3 months?!?!  Well, it’s true!  Only, this time we just moved up the pathway to some new “cabins”.  Pictures will come soon (once we get unpacked and more settled).  Josh and I have our own bedroom/cabin, and the kids have their own joint rooms next to us – the girls in one and the boys in the other.  THANK YOU LORD for a room with a door AND lock AND walls for me and Josh!  Our gift from Footprints!  What’s even cooler is that I’ve always told Josh that if we ever built a house, I’d want to have a bedroom that has French doors that open up to a deck/porch.  Well, wouldn’t you know, God has given us just that….only the simple African version of it!  How cool is that?!  We are truly grateful for our privacy as a couple, and at the same time, enjoy having company come visit with us on our porch.  Josh is having a great time with some of the young adult guys here.  In fact, in a few weeks all of the guys on base will be heading back to the farm where our family was last weekend for a “guys’ weekend.”

Our time at the farm last weekend solidified some things for us.  For those that don’t have access to Facebook and the video we uploaded, we announced that the Lord has confirmed we need to stay at Footprints indefinitely until He leads us elsewhere.  That means we will not be heading to Pemba, Mozambique at this time.  The Lord worked differently for me this time in giving direction.  Often times He will give me details for direction and then an answer comes through those details.  This time He gave me an answer without having the details or next set of blueprints.  When we first arrived to Footprints, immediately Josh and I noticed the acronym on the Footprints sign that read: P.L.A.Y.  (Participating in the Lives of Africa’s Youth).  My spirit leaped as God reminded me of the vision He gave me earlier this year regarding a dirt/grass soccer field and Him telling me to “play.”  I wrote more about this vision in a previous blog post on May 24 titled, “It’s Official – Mozambique Bound!”  At first I didn’t want to accept that God was already giving me the answer to where we should be, without having all the details, but looking back I can see that’s exactly what He did.  He continues to teach me to trust Him in greater measures, even when it’s outside my comfort zone or typical way of thinking.  It’s a good reminder for all of us to not get set in “our” ways so that we end up missing how God wants to speak to us in “His” ways.  I remember telling my mom and a few others how God had been speaking to me about “feet” prior to leaving the States.  How many of you know that God will use whatever it takes to get your attention and speak to you?  Yes, even a simple word like “feet” might mean something, and I know it was one dot that connected to the next for our family.

We’ve posted on Facebook that some big announcements were coming.  First off, we’re excited to announce that Josh has taken on the role of Head Master “aka” Principal at the Footprints school here on the base, and I will be assisting him as needed.  I’ve been thinking about my dad A LOT lately, as he was a principal prior to his passing.  He talked about coming to Africa someday, and I wish we could call him up right now for some wisdom and advice.  He was great at what he did!  We are praying for more long-termers to come that have a passion and desire to teach children, so we thank you for covering this great need in prayer with us.  Josh will be involved with teaching 4 older girls, while I will continue to teach Gracie and some other children that are at her educational level.  We will both continue to play a role in Christian’s education, but his primary teacher will be one of the single adult ladies whom has a degree in Animal Science.  Jade will continue to do her independent studies for Math and Language, but she will begin attending a few classes with some of the other children that are close to her age.  We’re seeking wisdom on how to integrate our own children into the Footprints school, as it’s a bit tricky since our kids are only 2 months into their schooling and the other children are just about to end their school year.  We’ll continue to use our curriculum to teach and assess where the other children are at, at least for the next 4-5 weeks.  Once the next school year begins in January, things may look completely different, so prayers for the Lord’s blueprints to be downloaded to us would be greatly appreciated.  Our children will also be changing from a 4-day school week to 5 days.  When we shared with them the news about mine and Josh’s involvement in the school and how it will affect them, they all seemed pretty excited – especially Christian since he’ll get to join some of his friends.

Some prayer points to cover:

1. Creativity for building relationships with the children and keeping learning fun!
2. Peace over all the children - that they would adapt well to the changes both emotionally and psychologically.
3. Wisdom and organization for all teachers – successful assessments for the next school year.
4. Unity amongst Josh, myself and others on the team.

Tomorrow is a big day for us, as that is when we will begin to be involved with the school.  We’re excited, but at the same time, I’m being stretched as I feel somewhat unprepared for the changes that are coming.  Please cover us in prayer that nothing would come and distract or detour us from what the Lord wants us to do here.  Thanks and much love to you all!

And, on a side note, there is another announcement coming……….but you’ll have to wait until it’s time for that!