OCTOBER LETTER     see also October Photos

Dear friends and family,

God is so good! We have been blessed beyond belief this month. This year's September Conference went very well.
The attendance at the conference was lower this year than in previous years; however, God brought the right people
here. There were about 300 people from churches all over the Eastern Cape as well as speakers from Canada and
America. It was nice to fellowship with the teams from Canada and the US. It was a blessing and an encouragement
to have a little taste of home.

After the conference Lizzy and I were busy trying to put together the requirements for renewing our visas. We traveled
into East London only to learn that we had to travel five hours north to Umtata to have our visas processed. One of the
requirements was that we had our return plane tickets for next year purchased. However, we still do not have the
money for our plane tickets. But we knew we had to try anyway. We prayed for divine favour and knew that God
would have to work a miracle in order for our visas to be stamped. This is our story…

Neither Lizzy nor I have ever been to Umtata where we are supposed to renew our visas. So we called the Home
Affairs for directions. The man who answered the phone told Lizzy to stop and ask for directions when we got to town.
Well, no, that's the reason we called. He proceeded to tell us that he neither knew the address of the building, or the
street on which it was located. Furthermore, he couldn't tell us the colour of the building or whether or not there was
any signage. Lizzy was frustrated but managed to get some obscure directions. The next day when we arrived, we
found his directions lacking. We ended up down a busy street with no building that resembled a Home Affairs office,
just this ugly, yellow, rundown, war-torn building. So we asked a lady on the side of the road where Home Affairs was
and she pointed to that very building. Once we approached the building we discovered that the only entrance was a
skinny back alley crammed with people. We muscled our way to what we thought was the receptionist but only got
more confused. Eventually after visiting a few of the wrong offices we stumbled upon the right office. The office
reminded us of a prison cell in Cuba or something. The lady was quite incompetent and we had to explain to her what
our visa was and how to renew it. She had me make photocopies of our applications but didn't tell me where to go. I
ended up back in the reception office where a man was strategically avoiding eye contact. When I finally got his
attention and demanded that he tell me where I could make photocopies, since Home Affairs doesn't have a
photocopier, he asked if my wife had called the day before. He was the same guy who gave us the directions. When I
said yes, he immediately led me to the place where I could make photocopies. When I got back the lady who had
helped us then referred us to her supervisor. The supervisor reviewed our application and noted that we did not have
our plane tickets, but that we had submitted photocopies of our current plane tickets that are booked for this year. She
asked where our new tickets were and we told her they were coming. She was really confused at this, but some how,
miraculously, she said okay and went on to process our visas. She told us that she would present our case before a
committee on Tuesday of next week and we could pick up our visas on Wednesday. We were not about to travel all
the way back to Umtata next Wednesday in the middle of our first week back at school. We told her that we would
wait if they could process it that day. When she saw the desperation on our faces she went out of her way to call in the
committee and present our case. After five hours of waiting they came back and said we were approved. Somehow, a
miracle had occurred, the entire committee had also overlooked the fact that we had no plane tickets. Furthermore, they
extended our visas until 2007 instead of the applied 2005. It is unheard of to go into Home Affairs and the same day to
get what you needed. God worked a miracle… When we got home last night from Home Affairs we were still in a state
of shock and amazement at how God had provided yet again.

We still need to raise the money for our plane tickets. We are so much closer to our goal but we still need help. Please
remember us in your prayers; pray that God would provide the $2600 that we need. We worship a God who makes
the impossible, possible. We are so encouraged by what God has done and we know that He will provide what is
lacking.

Please be praying for our kids this next week. Many will be travelling long distances to arrive back here on Sunday for
the start of our last term on Monday.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. May God richly bless you.

In Him,
Tyler & Elizabeth Jorgensen
Willowvale, South Africa
vdcs@iafrica.com
http://www.sugaweb.net/tylerliz.htm