Wow, What a day!

Last night before we went to sleep we spent some time praying together and specifically asking God to provide a way for us to buy the hostel from Christ Baptist Church in South Africa (see previous post). We told God that we would dedicate this home to Him to use as He wanted and for the purpose He wants to. We felt He had brought this opportunity to us and we were trying to wait patiently on His timing. I will tell you though we were constantly thinking and talking about it, trying to figure out how and asking God to show us etc. This morning we were getting ready to walk out the door to take the kids to school and we had a Skype call on our computer from the guy who is in charge of selling the hostel. Even though we needed to go to we knew we needed to take the call. So I called the school and told them we would be late and Mark answered the call. I was in our closet as Mark began the conversation. I was praying that the Lord would give us more time. I knew that if he asked Mark if we had the funds yet, Mark would have to say no and that if they needed to put the house on the market we completely understood. Well, he didn't ask Mark that question. Instead he told us about an opportunity that was brought to their church on Wednesday and it would allow for us to put a down payment and make monthly payments to purchase the house! We will be able to have it the day we arrive. They will start the repairs on the kitchen around the 1st of June and then we will have the carpet replaced and the walls painted. We are so excited!

Later this afternoon we came home to find a Fed Ex package at our door. It was our VISAs. Keep in mind the South African Consulate received them on Tuesday and we now have them and it is only Friday. It was supposed to be a 10 day turn around. I have been asking the Lord to allow us to have favor on our VISAs, that they would be approved quickly and that no new paper work would be required. Not only did we get them back today but they are approved for 24 months, instead of 12. They will then be renewable.

We are almost finished packing and we needed boxes and something to protect our furniture. We stopped by Gallery Furniture and they gave us several boxes, lots of thick plastic and a roll of tape. We were also able to get more boxes from another friend at the church.

We are totally overwhelmed with God's grace today! He is our Provider and His timing is PERFECT! We fly out in exactly 1 month.

Thank you for your prayers! If you want to see pictures of the house scroll down to the middle of the previous post and you will see the slide show.