Celebration!

Greetings to all my friends and family
Just wanting to share with the good news that we are celebrating.  We spent about three hours at immigration the other day but it was time well spent.  The result was that we have been granted an extension on our work permit.  It is not exactly what we had hoped.  We had applied for an extension of one year.  What they gave us was six months and the six months was backdated to May 9th, which was the date our previous one-year TEP (temporary work permit) expired.  So our permit now runs out November 9th, 2015.  We will be asking for an extension of that as our college year-end and graduation is the end of November.   would like to finish teaching the courses I will be in midst of teaching at that time.  And I certainly would like to be present to see my students graduate.  I believe we will book our tickets back to Canada for beginning of December trusting that God will work it out that we can be here for that extra month.  Please pray for us towards that end.

Enjoying fellowship with the Allans, our American colleagues, who have just returned from South Africa.  The four of us got together last evening for catch up time which always seems to center around the supper/dinner table.  Rhonda is returning to the US this week and Larry will be following in August as they go on their year long furlough.  Unlike us they have been lifelong missionaries and so their hope is that after their time back in the US, they will return to Zimbabwe but they are also waiting for work permits.  that is certainly one of the biggest challenges in this country for those of us in the mission field.  Prior to coming to Zimbabwe, Larry and Rhonda spent about eight years serving in Malawi.

It is hard to believe that we only have one month left of this school term...so I am once again busy putting together final exams.  Also busy preparing for the arrival of our accreditation site-visit team's arrival July 20th.  Much to do and so little time to do it in.

Things are going well.  We are hoping to host the staff and their spouses again at a Braii at our cottage.  Hopefully that can happen during the break in August.

I promise to blog one more time this month, but really had to share our good news of being granted our extension with all of you.  It is good to connect with family and friends and so good to receive emails from many of you.  Thank you...thank you...thank you.  Continue to pray for us as we continue to discern how God would have us serve in this country for the time He has us here.

Love and blessings to all

Marj