All the Way My Savior Leads Me

As a follow up to the last two posts, we want to share the words of Fanny Crosby's precious hymn - All the Way My Savior Leads Me.  They have been an inspiration to us over the last two weeks!

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

All the way my Savior leads me.

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy

Who thro' life has been my Guide?

Heav'nly peace, divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, what-e'er befall me,

Jesus doth all things well.

For I know, what-e'er befall me,

Jesus doth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,

Cheers each winding path I tread,

Gives my grace for ev-'ry trial,

Feeds me with the living bread.

Tho' my weary steps may falter,

And my soul a-thirst may be,

Gushing from the Rock before me,

Lo! a spring of joy I see.

Gushing from the Rock before me,

Lo! a spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me.

O the fullness of His love!

Perfect rest to me is promised

In my Father's house above.

When my spirit, clothed, immortal,

Wings its flight to realms of day,

This my song thro' endless ages:

"Jesus led me all the way."

This my song thro' endless ages:

"Jesus led me all the way."

Shocked!

When we returned to South Africa, we came back not expecting to set foot on American soil again for sometime.  Well, the Lord Who knows all things and directs the paths of those who fear Him... had other things in store for us...

In October of last year, I (Phil) entered South Africa on a 3-month visitor's visa.  I immediately set to work getting all the paperwork in place for applying for permanent residence.  As I dug into things, I realized that I first needed a two-year relative visa in order to apply for permanent residence.  So, I gathered all the necessary documents and scheduled an appointment at the Visa Facilitation Services on December 18th.  Upon producing my documents at the appointment, I was duly informed that I could not apply for a relative visa having only entered the country on a 3-month visitor's visa.  I was then instructed to go to the Department of Home Affairs Office to request a legalization certificate that would allow me to be in the country as an illegal alien, while making application for a relative visa.  Due to that fact that it was holiday season here in South Africa, and South Africa pretty much shuts down for a couple of weeks around Christmas and the New Year, we returned to Ladybrand and prayed.

Shocking News!

On January 3rd, Amrie and I arrived at the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) 45 minutes early, knowing that things might be busy after the long holiday.  Well... we had the right thought, but yet did not quite grasp how busy it might be!  At 7:15 in the morning, the line of people waiting to enter the building stretched around two sides of the big building!

When we arrived at the DoHA.

Two hours later...

After two hours of waiting in line, we were told that we could bypass the line, and go to a certain counter... Making a long story short - after talking to one official, being sent to a different department, sitting across the desk from an immigration officer, and then racing across town to do more research on line, and making more phone calls... it began to dawn on us that our plans had drastically changed.  Instead of returning to Mangusi to carry on with finishing our "house to be," starting formal language study, and beginning to reach out into the community, we needed to get back on an airplane and return to the States!

A Trip to the States!

Again and again, I was informed that I could not change the status of my visitor's visa, and my only option was to return to the States and apply for a relative visa from there!  (This is due to a change in the law of which we were not aware.  Sister Rose Blignaut entered the country some years back the same way I did, and found no complications.)  We cannot properly convey how our whole world seemed to be reeling from the sudden change of events... Not headed back to Mangusi?  Not going to be able to finally set up house and get back to a schedule after 4 months of our lives being so-to-speak upside down? Another trip?  More uncertainties?  Where are we are going to stay?  Well, after the initial shock, we are now somewhat more stable, and the Lord is helping us to rest in His providential leadings in our lives.

So, Lord willing on January 23rd, we will be flying to the States in order for Phil to submit an application for a two-year relative visa in order to return to South Africa.  While Amrie and the children do not really need to return, we felt it was best for all of us to return together - not knowing the length of time it may require or what complicates we might face.

How Long?

At this point we do not know exactly how long we will be in the States.  Phil needs to apply for an FBI background check, which can take a minimum of a week or two, and then the application for a relative visa is supposed to take three to four weeks.  Thus, it seems that we will be in the States for at least two months and possibly more.  Please keep us in your prayers!

African Highlights

It is hard to believe that almost three months have passed since I posted something on our blog!  There is no way to share everything that has transpired... so here are a few highlights.

Three Weeks in Ladybrand & Stolen Goods

Our first three weeks in South Africa were spent mainly in Ladybrand - visiting with family, sorting through our belongings, and packing for the move to Mangusi (12 hours away).  One event that stands out to us is the morning Phil went to the storage room where all our belongs were, and found that unwelcome visitors had been present!

In Shock!

Trashed!

Our unwelcome visitors stole Phil's guitar, trombone, toolbox of tools, 3 propane bottles and heater, two electric drills, a circular saw, and other personal items.

Destination - Mangusi, South Africa

After pulling everything together, we stretched the 12-hour-trip to Mangusi into a two-day / 15-hour trip.  We did have quite the load, and went down to first gear on some mountain passes!

Ready for the long trip...

Our borrowed vehicle and trailer with quite the load!

I had to include this picture of my most precious wife - while on our trip to Mangusi!

After arriving in Mangusi, we had a lot of adjusting to do to the new environment and circumstances.  We daily had to find things among all our boxed belongings...  Since there was not yet a house for us in which to move, we stayed with the Blignauts, who so graciously gave us their bedroom & restroom.

The Blignauts have been busy building a house for us, so Phil helped them with the building process.

Putting on the tin roof...

The present state of our house to be...

Back to Ladybrand & a Wedding

We stayed nearly four weeks in Mangusi, and then needed to return to Ladybrand to be present at the wedding of Amrie's sister - Joreth.  She is now happily married, and her and her husband are on their way to Windhoek, Namibia, where they plan to do mission work.

After the wedding, we spent some time visiting with family and friends, and then Phil started working on our two old vehicles to get them ready to sell, as we need a vehicle more suitable for the bush.  So far we have sold our old car, and the Lord has also provided a "new to us" vehicle.  It is an older model (1996), but it is still in very good condition.

Our "new to us" vehicle - 1996 Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4

 Currently, we are still in Ladybrand - four weeks later - as we have experienced a very shocking turn of events...  See the next post for details!