Visas Answered

As I tore open the envelope yesterday, I was confused and disappointed to see a small slip of paper with some numbers on it, and our passports stacked inside, but nothing else. I read the piece of paper. No statement of "yes you've been approved" or "please send additional paperwork" or "your request has been denied." Instead the piece of paper was a receipt that they had processed our paperwork and our check had been taken as payment for their efforts. Did they take our money and deny us? Did they approve us and forget to give us our visas?

Now let me just say that I don't know what visas are supposed to look like, but somehow I expected separate little pieces of fancy stamped papers with our names on them and maybe some sort of cover letter that said, "Congratulations! your visas have been approved." or "We are writing to inform you that your request has been denied." Nope.

So I looked again in the envelope. Nothing else there. I looked inside our passports.

Inside each passport, pasted to a page, was a visa. Now I know what visas look like, and as I think about it I should have known before, as the visas are like the other travelers visas we have received in the past, but with different permissions listed in the length of our stay. Visas approving our volunteer status with Hands at Work, and visas approving our kids' studies in South Africa have been received. After all the waiting, our efforts and questions had been answered. Our visas were approved!!! Thank you for your prayers!!!

Of course, because the news was so important, Eric was out of town with no cell service and so didn't find out the news until several hours later via text message. Ha!

Today we will buy tickets for our trip. We hope to visit family on the East Coast and at this point we're aiming for a departure date in December so that we can be there in time for the start of the school year in January.

Another huge answer to prayers, in case you missed it earlier, is that Andy (Eric's dad who lives with us) has found affordable housing here in Alameda. This is just another amazing answer to our prayers for God's provision.

What's next? As we have been putting requests on hold for financial support because we were previously unsure of our visa status, we are switching gears and we are now back in full blown fundraising mode. Would you please pray about and consider becoming a monthly partner with us financially? One time gifts are always appreciated, but having partnerships with monthly commitments allows us to plan our budget with a little more steadiness and allows us to focus a bit more on the work there instead of the money needed to be there and cover our basic needs.

Thank you all for partnering with us in all the ways you do. We are truly blessed to have your support. *Cue 90's packing and moving across the world montage*