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Category: Visas

Is this real?

a layne post

Jon and I keep looking at each other and asking, “Are we really moving to Africa on Friday? And by the way, where are we going?”

Maybe it is because we do not know exactly where we are going, or maybe it is just our current, crazy, unsettled life, but it all feels a little unreal. There is this part of me, that is currently buried in the extreme emotions that accompany “good-byes”, that is excited and filled with anticipation. I have moments, normally fleeting, when I can grasp this feeling and remember, “Layne, you love this. You love Africa. You love serving.”

It is during these moments that I gain the strength, once again from our gracious Lord, that enables me to board that plane on Friday and leave my family… my precious, precious loving family.

Prayer Points

  • We still do not have an invitation or visa to Angola. We still are holding onto a small hope we could get some paperwork together before we leave, yes, in 4 days. Please pray with us! No matter what happens though, we believe the Lord has a plan laid out for us, and as long as He guides us for the day, we’ll be alright.
  • Pray for emotional strength on Friday.
  • Pray for wisdom and direction upon our arrival in South Africa.

Thank you all your support and love while we have been in the States, as well as commitments for the future! We have felt so loved. My spirit has been refreshed.  We look forward to posting reports of our (that is you too!) work from Africa!

Leading worship at Quiettime Ministries

Leading worship at Quiettime Ministries

Some girl time

Some girl time

More pics to come…

November 2, 2009
Angola, JonandLayne.com, Visas
5 comments

Website Updates and Making Memories

A Jon Post

The days keep counting down and it is really hard to imagine some times how committed to this thing we really are. Are we really going? Is the dream this big?

I’ve been able to meet new people here in Corpus Christi and it seems like I’m often telling people where Layne and I are going and what we’re doing. Part of it is because Pete (my father-in-law) always introduces me as “This is Jon my son-in-law, he and my daughter are moving to Africa for good in two weeks!” (thanks Pete haha). The more I tell people about our heart and dreams for Angola the more it is solidified in my head that we really are moving there. It’s not a small deal.

I updated our website to have a couple new pages. You can click on the “About Us” and “Support Us” tabs up on the top left there. I am pretty happy with the “Support Us” tab. You can now support what we are us in Angola with a credit or debit card! You can even set it to a certain amount monthly or quarterly or yearly or daily or however often you’d like and it’s all tax-deductible!  I know it sounds like I’m just asking for money here but I’m mostly just happy that I got all the php code working for the Paypal links and all (and I’m asking for money… we’re still working towards our goal of $2000/month). I have a bit of training in html code but this php stuff that powers our blog is ALL learning and new to me.

Anyway, we’re busy making memories here in Corpus with our family here. It’s so good to be so loved by so many people. We certainly don’t deserve it.

Please pray for us. We are getting closer and closer to our leaving date and we are still hoping and trusting hard that paperwork for Angola will come in soon. Layne and I get up every day and check our email hoping for good news and we will keep doing it.
God please, please, please, bring these plans to fruition. We need you so much. We need Your dramatic, over-the-top, no-other-explanation-but-from-You actions. We trust you. We trust you.

Pray with us. Partner with us. We love you all so much.

Memories

Memories

October 25, 2009
JonandLayne.com, Visas
3 comments

First move

Our bags have been weighed, I would say approximately ten times a piece, and are finally narrowed down. Jon will have two 50 pound bags, and I will have two 50 pound bags… plus one 70 pound bag. While the three are technically mine, you should know that the 70 pounder is carrying many reading material and resource material for the both of us! ;) (Ah, I feel better now that you are not judging me so harshly. Hehe.)

Our time in Arizona has been sweet. I am pleased with the amount of people we were able to connect with, though some unfortunate timing led to us missing a few of you! My apologies. We love and appreciate you greatly. It is important to us for you to feel connected to us and our ministry (“our” includes YOURS!). Please feel free to comment or email us whenever.

We leave early tomorrow morning and arrive in Corpus Christi, Texas early afternoon. There we look forward to more sweet times and dread more sorrowful good-byes. We will be staying there until November 6th, and then heading to South Africa. Great news… We are so blessed to have Jon’s parents coming to Corpus to see us off there!

We are overwhelmed by love.

Today at Trinity Christian Fellowship as we were prayed over and sent out, my heart was filled. Your support is treasured.

As we spent the day with family, love, love, love.

How precious these days are! How many times will I look back to them, and find strength amidst my loneliness! Thanks.

Quick update on visas:

We are still hopeful about taking a short trip to Angola in December to meet potential partners for the future and allow them to meet us. We are still in need of a letter of invitation; however, communication is flowing and it is still possible! Continued prayers are welcome.

We love you.

Jon and Layne

October 18, 2009
Angola, Personal, Visas
6 comments

In Arizona!

a layne post

I am sorry we did not get a post up this past weekend; it is our goal to post between Friday and Saturday every week, however, that did not happen this go around.

Mainly I would like to update everyone on our upcoming schedule. We will be in Arizona until October 19th, when we will fly to Corpus Christi, Texas to visit my family . On November the 6th we will be making that long international flight again; this time to Johannesburg, South Africa.

From there we will rent a car, drive to Gaborone, Botswana to pick up our 4×4 that some good friends have been looking after and some of the things Jon had left there previously. This is where it gets a little tentative…

We will either be driving to Mozambique or Angola, and this will be determined by our visa possibilities and invitations available. We have currently have a couple of things in the works:

  • One international organization is praying and considering partnering with Jon and me. They are already established in Angola, which is a must. There is a possibility we will meet a staff member in Angola in the beginning of December to meet people and get a feel for the organization.
  • The other is a pastor, who has connections with a school in a town nearby to where we would be wanting to live. He has offered a letter of invitation, and we are currently “becoming clear” on expectation and requirements involved.

We would really appreciate prayer for wisdom and discernment as we go through this process of making a decision. If we do not have a visa ready, we will spend some time in Mozambique “waiting” and learning. Jon and I feel that it is imperative that we be in a Portuguese speaking country, in order that we maintain our language acquisition.  We have been put in touch with some ministries there, and I strongly believe we can learn and grow, if the Lord decides to place us there for a period.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We love you all!

Just us...

Just us...

October 7, 2009
Angola, Visas
1 comment
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