The wheels on the van go round and round, all through the
town (or country)! Josh, Christian and
our friend, Matt, left at 5am this morning on a 12-hour drive to Mossel Bay.
There have been many blessings leading up to this morning’s
departure. Yesterday Josh picked up our
rental, only to find out that the van we requested was not available so…. They upgraded us to a larger van for
FREE!! The Lord knew we were going to
need a bigger van to fit all of our luggage in, and what’s amazing is that
after everything was loaded, we had room to spare! On top of that, this van gets better gas
mileage than the one we originally requested.
Thanks for the extra savings, Lord!
Please pray for safe travels and attentiveness on the roads. The adults had a bit of a late night last
night, as we got together with a bunch of people and went to a place called The
Barnyard which features live entertainment with singing/dancing to music from
the 1920’s on up. Again, blessed with
FREE tickets!!
The rest of the kids and I are flying to Mossel Bay
Wednesday afternoon and staying with a lady whom we met during our visit there
a few weeks ago. We will stay with her
until we find a more permanent place to live.
I am praying that Josh will find a place within 3 days, so if you’d like
to join me in prayer for that, that would be great. Our friend, Matt, arrived in South Africa on
February 5th. He didn’t sleep
much on the plane, but the Lord sustained him to stay awake for the entire day
so that he could go to sleep on a regular schedule. We are excited he is with us! He has a specific question that he is asking
the Lord to answer during his time here with us, so that’s something else you
can join us in prayer for.
Last Monday, February 2nd, Josh and I had our fingerprints
taken at the police station. Yes, we’ve
been found out!! Just kidding! This is one of the steps we needed to
complete in order to apply for temporary residential visas. We thought there was going to be a cost for
the prints, but it turns out they were FREE because we’re not having them
processed in Africa. We sent our
fingerprints and paperwork to a channeling company in the US that works for the
FBI. We paid a bit more to have this
company process our request, but their turnaround time is 7 business days,
whereas, directly through the FBI would have taken 14-16 weeks. Well worth the extra payment since our
current visas expire February 25th.
Please join us in prayer that the process would be accelerated and that all
needed documents would be returned safely to us in Mossel Bay. Our family will be attending a meeting prior
to February 25th to apply for temporary residential visas, so we are
praying that we will have sufficient documents to move forward with the
process. The total cost for visas, after
all is said and done, will be around $1,300.
The cost to move to Mossel Bay is around $800. The Lord is so faithful to provide for our
every need!
Speaking of needs, we weren’t sure how we were going to get
around Mossel Bay once we moved down there.
Right now we’re homeless, carless, jobless……..but rich in the sense that
we are so fulfilled with living for Jesus and doing what the Lord’s asked us to
do. I think about the disciples and how
they left their jobs, everything, to follow Jesus. Our family has a lot of growing to do, in
fact that will never end, and the Lord continues to teach us what’s important
in this life and what things we can continue to let go of to follow Him. A couple drove us to the police station, and
on the way there they nonchalantly asked us if we needed a car once we go to
Mossel Bay. We told them yes. Immediately the guy said we could have his car
and use it however needed. I honestly
didn’t know if my ears had heard right or if he was serious….turns out he
was! He is leaving the country from
March-July and said we can simply work out arrangements for when he needs it
back after that time. It’s a little car
but big enough to squeeze our family into, and it gets around 45mpg and 600
miles per tank fill-up!! And get this,
he and a friend are driving to a conference which is located ½ way between
Pretoria and Mossel Bay. They leave on
Wednesday and offered to drive the vehicle the rest of the way to Mossel Bay so
that we could have it. What?!?! Our dilemma - how do we get the vehicle to
Mossel Bay? Problem solved! They will arrive with the car next Sunday evening,
and then we are taking care of their transportation back to Pretoria via the
bus. As I read in Acts about people
selling their belongings to help others in need, I’ve seen that same generosity
in this house we’ve been living in. I am
observing and learning a lot about giving without being stingy, and I’m not
just talking about money here either.
You know the saying, “Me casa es su casa….” Well, people here literally live that
out. They are so selfless and full of
love for each other. It’s not a
sacrifice but a blessing for them to give to others with no reservation or
hesitation.
Some of you may be wondering what we’ll be doing once we
arrive in Mossel Bay…. Well, all we can
say at this point is that the Lord has highlighted the following to us: land, a
garden, townships and the youth prison.
We’re excited for what’s to come for our family, but most importantly,
we love getting to know each other and the Lord more and more every day. That’s what our journey is all about – loving
God, loving people!
No comments:
Post a Comment