In 10 hours, a big moving truck will show up at our gate and we will transition our life to the Freestate.  Things have been happening at an accelerated pace and we wanted to catch you up on where we are since we are nearly at our transition point.  
 
While we were in the states, friends were looking for a home for us to rent.  They toured several options and lots of pictures, videos and property links were flying back and forth between us.  Recently after arriving back to SA we drove from Johannesburg down to Bethlehem to tour one of the most promising rental options only to find out that the owner now wanted to sell rather than rent.  A few days later, a new option popped up on Facebook Marketplace and within an hour our friend Etienne was touring the home and sending us videos.  His voice note said, “Guys this is the one!”  The owner apparently had a long list of interested people, but after meeting our friend, decided she’d like to rent to us.  We texted back and forth and she asked us to commit by the end of the day or she’d move to the next person.  So, based on Etienne’s recommendation, we agreed to rent it.  It was a big faith step for us, but after months of looking, everything came together in about two hours.  We drove down a couple days later to look at the house for the first time and to sign the contract with her.  Many people in recent months have told us they feel the Lord wants us to know that this transition is going to be easy, that we don’t have to work hard for it and to know that he is going before us.  
 
The house is absolutely beautiful, newly remodeled, spacious, in our budget, and is more than what we were hoping for.  It has a large garage which we hope to convert into a ministry space and a big shop in the back where Dan’s tools can finally all be reunited and where we all have some creative space for projects.  There is a guest cottage in the back which needs a bit of work, but we are going to make it beautiful as soon as possible to be available for friends and family to visit and rest with us.

The home shares a fence line with a school called New Horizons and the house is being rented to us by the daughter of the man who owns the school property.  He was also around to welcome us to town and when he heard what type of ministry we do he was full of invitations for us to teach in assemblies, to present Conquer Series to the guys living in the boarding school dorms, to use the school hall for conferences, our kids were invited to take elective classes, he is going to bring the Vice Principal by to have coffee with us and more.  We are excited for the possibilities and clearly there is a wide open door a few steps away from home.  
 
This past week has had some challenges.  Isn’t that always the case as we are trying to push into what the Lord is calling us into?  The gasket on our water heater blew and thankfully Dan was home and was able to direct about 95% of the water outside.  Our bedroom and Titus’s got a bit wet, but Dan was in the ceiling all day trouble shooting and eventually was able to fix it himself.  
A few days later, Dan was one of three speakers at an evening conference in Welcom. As Welcom is also in the Freestate Province, Dan took a trailer load of things to Bethlehem on the way.  I got the text with the picture of the blown out trailer tire just as our scared kitty was making a mess in my back seat on the way to the vet.  Dan didn’t have the right sized tool to change the tire, but he made a plan somehow and got the spare on.  Thirty minutes away from Bethlehem, the spare also blew out.  (There are so many potholes on these back roads!). Two friends from Bethlehem came to help and Dan dropped the trailer at one of the homes and sped to Welcom just in time to teach later that day.  
 
Dan said the conference was aimed at parents and teachers, but that the crowd ended up being full of influencers like social workers, police officers, head masters of the local schools, other pastors, and local teachers.  Amazing!  The planning team and speakers met following and Dan was able to speak and minister deep

ly into the life of one of the leaders.  Definitely a divine appointment.  We hope to be able to share the recorded audio on our website sometime soon.
 
We were also having planned power outages where every day we were without power for approximately 6 hours.  This messed with our house alarm and gate batteries so our alarm would go off in the middle of the night for no reason and sometimes we couldn’t drive into our driveway because our gate wouldn’t open properly.  Truly – even though each of these things were not too bad on their own…it felt like a lot when all added together.
 
Even with all these challenges, we feel your prayers and somehow we are still working from a place of peace!  Our veterinarian is also a friend from church and she set up a meal train for us so we have had friends dropping by to hug us and feed us the rest of this week.  Several friends from church have popped by after work to help pack a box or thirty boxes with me.  We are so grateful!
 
Today is our final day of packing and I am confident we are going to be ready in time.  Prayer is appreciated as we load the big truck tomorrow and officially transition to our new home.
 
A friend on Facebook recently wrote to me:  “Praying for you guys.  Moving is always a challenge.  Breathe in His peace and exhale His joy.”  I love this!!
 
We always have a choice about what we focus on.  My day can be ruined because there is kitty pee stinking up my car or I can be exceedingly grateful for all the amazing friends who have surrounded us to help, care, support and pray us through this transition as well as all the brilliant new ministry connections.  I choose peace and joy! We are so blessed and so grateful.  
 
So many of you have given extra gifts to help us cover our moving expenses, thank you so much!   Every bit of it has helped.   Thank you for your prayers for us as we travel on our Tuesday, your Monday evening/night.
 
My next note to you will be from our new season.  
 
With joy, 
Janell for us