Well, some time has passed since my last post. Since Masvingo, Andrew and I made our way back to my brother to celebrate my nephews' 2yr birthday. Although, my little nephew only turns two at the end of the month, we celebrated it early so that my mother (his grandmother) and I could share in the celebrations. One of the down falls of living overseas or travelling extensively, means that one misses out on many family occasions. I know this all too well since I have lived out of the country for 9yrs now. I have missed many weddings, birthdays, Christmases, and funerals over the years. Having had no family present for my own wedding, this is an all too often sacrifice that is made. Andrew is quickly learning what it will be like to spend these special occassions apart from family. This past December, Andrew spent his first Chrismas apart from his family, a continent and ocean apart.

After spending the weekend on the ranch with my brother and family, Andrew and I made the long trip back to the capital city to start the next lot of paperwork in process. We renewed Andrew's visiting visa, which was rather simple. Foreigners are allowed to stay in Zimbabwe for 90 days on a visiting visa. However, upon arrival, one is only granted a 30 day visa that one has to renew at the immigration office every 30 days, at no extra fee. I often tease Andrew and tell him how very unfair it is that he only has to pay $30 to enter the country and I have to pay several hundred dollars to pay for a visa to America (although, not anymore with my green card). Technically, a foreigner can stay in Zimbabwe on a visiting visa for 6 months but after the 90 day period you have to pay a $20 fee for every month after that until the 6 month period. Knowing all of this allows us to know the time frame we have to get Andrew's spousal residential permit upon our return to Zimbabwe in January. One of the main purposes of this trip was to figure out work permits, visas's and necessary paperwork for Andrew next year. While at the immigration office, we picked up the necessary paperwork, that we will begin with to start this process. Andrew will not need to apply for a work permit, but rather a spousal residential permit as I stated above.

We were hoping to hand in the paperwork and get the process started before January, but unfortunately there are police clearance forms required from the US before we can start the process. Supposedly, the process takes 6 weeks; however, as we've mentioned before, time works a lot differently in Africa and just because it's suppose to take 6 weeks, does not mean it takes that long. We were speaking to my cousin and his wife, who is South African. She started the process in March and only received her stamp in her passport two days ago. Thankfully though, once the spousal permit is granted (with lots of forms, documents and filled out forms handed in) Andrew will be granted the right to work here.

While in Harare, we also sorted out all other necessary paperwork for our car. We stood in long lines, paid necessary fees and finally got insurance, registration, and change of ownership all sorted out; in the mean time we've been driving on temporary registration plates etc.

We also applied for a UK visa for myself. On our way back to the States, we'll make a stop over in London. On our flight here we had a 12hr layover in London, but I could not leave the airport on my Zimbabwean passport without a visiting visa. So we decided we would apply for a visa and spend a few days with my mother and brother in London. It is a perfect opportunity to stop there, because it does not cost anything extra, since our plane had to travel through there anyway. I'm especially looking forward to spending some time with my younger brother, because a few days ago, his best friend of 7yrs was killed in a head-on car crash. Obviously he is devastated, and we are praying that God will use this tragedy for good. My heart is breaking for my brother's loss and I hope to encourage him while there. Please pray for him as well as the family of his deceased friend.

Our next stop was Shanghani to visit my father. We had been in the country for a month and still had not visited him. This past week, we have stayed with him on the farm. We tried going through all the paperwork we picked up in Harare. Speaking to my counsin's wife about the process has been informative for us also. On Sunday we attended church with the family, and Andrew listened while we worshipped in Afrikaans, and he was grateful that we also sang some English praise songs. Thankfully, the sermon was in English.

Every Tuesday night my family (my father, uncles, aunts, and cousins) gather together for mid-week Bible Study. They take turns to gather in a different home each week, and the host prepares dinner for everyone. This week, they asked me to lead the devotional. We sang a few worship songs, and then I shared on Colossians 3:1-17 and related this to spiritual disciplines. I challenged everyone to add one spiritual discipline to their lives this week. We ended in a time of prayer, and Andrew tried Afrikaans curry for the the first time, for dinner.

The rural Christian Churches/Church of Christ are in the process of building a Secondary school (a middle school and high school) in the area here. We received so many donations before we came this Summer and brought with us school supplies for "back to school" packs. So we plan to make packs today with pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, notebooks etc. We plan to donate them to the school tomorrow on our way out, when we return to the capital.

Please pray for:
- travelling mercies
- that my UK visa returns in time before we leave
- for a meeting we plan to have tomorrow night concerning Andrew's work permit, etc
- the upcoming presidential election on July 31
- our safety while in Chinhoyi
- a meeting for Andrew with a school in Chinhoyi

Thank you for your prayers in advance.

I was excited to bring Andrew to my home town, Masvingo. In some ways it hasn't changed at all in ten years and in other ways it's not at all the same place I grew up in. We drove past the homes I grew up in, and I was shocked to see how bad the roads had gotten. The pot holes are so bad that I was grateful we were in my brother's land cruiser compared to our little spacio, which would have had a hard time traveling on the poor roads. We went to Great Zimbabwe Ruins, which is the worlds 4th largest pre-historic structure. We enjoyed ourselves climbing the mountain and seeing the beautiful landscape. We were grateful to be staying with goods friends, fellow missionaries and a present board member - the only board member that lives out of the country.

Along with my excitement to show Andrew where I grew up, I was also excited to introduce him to my home church. We attended a women's fellowship event (where they invited the men as well). Karen, who we are staying with, was also the speaker. The topic was unity, and the issue addressed was the importance of unity within the church irrespective of race, which is a major issue here. The men's choir sang several beautiful hymns. It was a joy to to introduce Andrew to several church members and people who have watched me grow up.

The following day we attended church and Andrew met some more folks I knew. I also met my name sake - Yolanda, who is 11 years old now. It was amazing to see how many of the toddlers and young children had grown up to be in either middle school or teenagers.

Things are ridiculously expensive here. In the capital you can get pretty much anything you want, but you have to pay astronomical prices for them. The cost of living is 3 times more expensive here than in the US. Money doesn't go very far here, and some days when we look in our purses we wonder what we spent it on. The high cost of living and the low salares make for either very poor people or barely those making ends meet. 

We have gotten several other things accomplished this week so far, but of course things move a lot slower and do not get accomplished quite as fast as we would like. God is teaching us patience. We were happy to find out that we would not need to get international driver's licenses, which will save us $100. On Wednesday, we got a new ID for me, something I was required to do. It was a full day's process - neither of us were excited about the long lines and unnecessary waiting.

Our plans for the end of the month might change due to presidential elections. We can't say much else concerning that, but please keep us in your prayers.

There's so much to share. Where to begin on sharing about our first week in the country. Suffice to say, it's been rather hectic, but we have gotten lots accomplished, which we are proud of. Time works a little differently here in Africa, and everything takes a lot longer to get done. The first couple days are recorded below, so let me share what happened after that. The friends we stayed with in Harare (the capital city) were gracious enough to lend us their vehicle until my brother came up to meet us. We spent the next day visting over a dozen car dealers, looking for an affordable, economical, and yet good condition vehicle. Thankfully, my brother knows cars well, and as a mechanic, he was able to look at each car in which we were interested. This was a huge help to us, because neither Andrew or I are very knowledgable about cars. My father's wedding gift to us was money to put towards either a second rception in Zimbabwe or a car for us personally. After some prayer and discussion, Andrew and I finally decided a car was a wiser choice. Therefore, after combining my Dad's gift and a wedding gift from my brother, we were able to purchase a little vehicle. Ultimately, what this did was really help the ministry. We looked into renting a vehicle for the summer due to all the traveling we'll be doing, and the final cost came upto $6500 just for the rental, not including the gas we would need to cover. My brother obviously knows the culture and the dealership business well, and was able to get us a real deal. We feel so very blessed to have had the support of family. After purchasing the vehicle, we started the process of licensing and insurance etc, again a lengthy process. 

A couple days after that, we picked my mum and younger brother up at the airport, since they flew in from the UK for a visit too. After 2yrs, it was nice to see them, since they were unable to travel in December when Andrew and I were back here for Christmas.

After my mum arrived, it was time to start the process of applying for a new passport. The lines are ridiculously long at the passport office and people have been known to wait for a week in lines just to have a form signed, and then still need to return to have have something else handed in or checked off the passport renewal list. Again, my brother was a big help in knowing the process in order to have it move a little faster. Finally, after several hundred dollars, lots of patience, standing in long lines, and walking down rather unsafe roads (to the passport office) we were finally blessed to receive my passport. Thank you Jesus! This was a big concern for us since we had heard horror stories of some people not receiving their passports until several months later.

So, although it doesn't seem like much was done, we feel like a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders after getting a new passport and being able to purchase a vehicle. We will leave the vehicle with my brother, and he will service it for us and care for it until our return in January.

This past week, we have visited with my brother and Andrew has experienced eating lots of new things, such as prickly pears, sharon fruit, cream of tarter, sugar cane, and lots of game meat, such as impala and wildebeest. Andrew was also excited when he saw several wild animals in their natural hanitat; such as giraffes, elephants, lions, and rhinos to name a few.

Next on the agenda, for this upcoming week, is:
- getting a new ID for me
- visiting my home church
- visting a local orphanage
- visiting a local retirement center

We will give you our weekly agenda as the summer progresses. Feel free to comment below, email us to tell us of your news, send us any prayer requests and encouragement.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.