A very nice weekend and a great Monday

It is Monday evening and we're just back from our first dinner out! We went to Spurs in Manda Hill mall which is a nice North American style restaurant run by two South Africans. We figured that we would "reward" ourselves for having been able to start the work permit process. This morning we went to the Police Headquarters and as promised our clearances were ready for pick-up. After that we went to Immigration where the lady officer looked at all the paperwork and then marked it "Approved". She told us to pay KR 1,000 at the cashier and then to come back to her with the receipt. We went all hopeful to the cashier to find that she was gone but after a little while she came back. Then she told us that they didn't accept cash and that we had to get a certified cheque. Mama Margaret came to the rescue and said that we could deposit the money into Every Orphan's Hope's account and that they would then take out the certified cheque. So after we returned we went to the bank and after a 45 minute wait we had our certified cheque. Around 2:30pm we went back to Immigration to pay and after we got our receipt we dropped the paperwork off and were told to come in 2-3 weeks. So in 2 weeks we'll go back and if the permits are not ready yet we'll get a few more stamps in our passport.

This weekend was nice and relaxing. On Saturday morning we went to the Dutch Market. This is a market at the Dutch Reformed Church that has good quality crafts and food. It was nice to see all the different vendors and crafts that they have. Machteld was able to buy her giraffes (a mama with little one). The mama we called GeMaLu and the little one we called LuKi. You can try to figure out what this all stands for. Lucinda wasn't feeling the greatest so we left around lunchtime. Just as we left we bumped into Kevin and Drew and their families. We talked for a while and then we went back to the office.
In the afternoon some of the staff needed to go to Chongwe (Nyangwena) to hand our shoes. Since Lucinda wasn't feeling the greatest, Machteld decided to stay with her at the office. It was great to see the faces of the kids when they opened the shoe boxes and tried their new shoes on. We take it for granted that we just can buy pretty much everything we need but for these kids to get new shoes is something special and their faces are showing it. During our visit Jim Evans and his family from the Bible College visited My Father's House to pick up some wristbands. They stayed for a while and we got to know them a bit better. The college is about to receive a ton of medical equipment and a doctor will arrive shortly. Once it is up and running, they will have a first class medical facility at the Bible College. Good to know if something happens while we're out there.

On Sunday we decided to join the Word of Life church in Chongwe (Nyangwena) where the headmaster of the local school is the pastor (Mr. Chapman). It was a good service and I liked his explanation of what BIBLE stands for (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). It was focused on how we have to follow God's instructions and that we have to take corrections from others seriously and not being stiff-necked and close-minded when others point out something we did wrong. After the service we and the EOH-US team (Gary, Michelle and Peter) were invited for lunch at the DeKam and Roelofs residence. We had nchima, relish and barbecued chicken (from the EOH chicken farm) and it all tasted great. We even had  coffee with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We had a great time together and it was great to share stories and experiences with each other. The ladies already started planning a "ladies night" or maybe even a weekend. I am sure there will be some fun evenings/nights in the future.

This morning Gary, Michelle and Peter left for the US. Last night we said our goodbyes and as far as we can tell the flights so far have been without delays, cancellations, or other problems. We hope and pray that they will arrive safely tomorrow at DFW. It was a busy week after their visit was cut short by a couple of days due to some snow at Heathrow airport. It makes you realize how little we are in control, especially after hearing about snow and freezing rain in Canada this morning. The weather here is still the same, sunny with thundershowers and a temperature of around 27C. The last 2 nights were a bit cool in the early morning. Hopefully a sign of more moderate temperatures to come over the next little while.

Tomorrow Gert will start with Caison to work on revised and updated budgets for 2013. Machteld and Lucinda will try to do their first laundry in the new house. We're slowly moving towards moving over there and we expect that before the end of the week, we'll be in our house. Things are settling in and we are trying to get into some kind of routine. For now it still feels a bit like a vacation but that will change soon once we have our own place.

Thanks everyone for their continued interest in our blog and the comments and emails that we receive. We had trouble including pictures in this blog. We'll try again the next time.