The South African Department of Home Affairs didn’t do its usual thing of announcing the extension of the visa waiver at the last minute. Despite still having thousands of backlogged applications leaving people in limbo, there has been no announcement, so we have to leave the country by tonight (30th June) or be here illegally.
We didn’t quite expect this to happen, but at the same time we’re not particularly surprised.
Thank God for the sense of peace within the sadness and organisation of a sudden departure. Thank him that we have a strong sense of his presence through it all, his preparation of the way and that he has something in mind for what’s going to happen, even if sometimes we have to wait to understand.
Thank God for being able to research and purchase plane tickets online and that we’ve saved and kept an “emergency ticket” fund.
Thank God for friends and neighbours who have taken care of our animals and given us a lift to the airport, and for Dawn’s parents who always have space for us.
Pray for the men in Drakenstein who will miss the Tuesday Bible studies (and Dawn will miss them).
Pray for a smooth journey back to England.
Pray for wisdom about whether to abandon the current visa application and try again. There’s always a sneaking suspicion that our paperwork has been lost. The problem is not knowing.
We have return tickets for the end of August, so we should get the usual 3-month tourist visa at the airport.