Dear Friends,
As you may have noticed in the "But God" section of our latest newsletter we have encountered some difficult situations. Within those we felt a little discouraged, but God has provided in His timing. Over the past several weeks we have been waiting on the Lord's direction for housing, set up costs, finances and our resident papers to be approved. Within the past week I sent out a couple of emails to some friends asking for prayer for these things. And now, only days after my email, the Lord has settled these matters and we are encouraged.
Concerning housing: a week ago we found a place to live within our price range and were about to settle on it when our manager, Mark Spicer, told David of another much less expensive housing opportunity for us. The opportunities we mentioned in our newsletter are just that...we'll be living in a guest house til mid-April and then we'll move into a co-workers house until she returns in January. All this will allow us to save tremendously on set up costs. And that is truly a blessing!
Set up costs: with this plan for housing in place we have been quite relieved of what could have been $10,000 of set up costs (which would also have included a vehicle).
Finances: before we left the states we had some last minute things come up concerning our bank accounts...without going into too much detail, we opened up a new bank account in Florida and applyed for a credit card. Coming to Botswana was really quite something for us as we only had the money available to us that we carried in our pockets. When we got here it was suggested we not change that money over into the local currency, Pula, so that if there is an opportunity to use US Dollars we'd have some. It was really something to feel pennyless and to be dependant on the mission when we were used to being independant. Thankfully the mission was able to give us some money for groceries and gas for the mission's car we're borrowing.
Resident paperwork: In December we filed our paperwork for residency. We got it in before the middle of the month, and were told it should be approved and waiting for us when we arrived in mid-Jan. Unfortunately that was not to be...things happen much more slowly around here than we are used to. We've learned that the government takes a bit of a break for the christmas and new year holiday - about a month long. Needless to say they get behind in processing paperwork around that time.
Yesterday, just over one month to the day since our arrival, two amazing things happened. Bob Patterson, a Flying Mission rep visiting from the states, arrived. With him he carried a packet including our new bank cards and our credit card sent to us through him and David's grandparents, Grandma Rose and Grandpa Ivan Turner. A half an hour before Bob handed me that packet, Roger, a fellow pilot, handed me a packet complete with our approved residence and work permits. After both the packets were delivered I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and relief. And I am incredibly thankful and delighted that the Lord has settled these matters within 30 minutes of each other.
Today David is applying for his Airport photo ID. And later this week we'll be opening a bank account.
Thank you for your prayers!
