Happy July from the Tandon Family

God's Goodness

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

    but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12

The last time I wrote I said I was going to send out another update within a week or so, well life got in the way. We’ve now been here almost a month and it’s been non-stop, in a good way!

Below are some highlights, then some prayer requests, and lastly Joshua’s recap of our travels here.

Thankfully we were able to get bank accounts settled our first full week here. That was no small challenge, but it happened and they are working well for paying things that need SA funds. Things like rent and the car. Initially there were some blocks on the account for verification and safety reasons. Paying the rent was the first one to go through, it took about two days to get all the details sorted out. Thankfully the company we are renting from was understanding.

In addition to getting the bank settled and the rent paid, the first two weeks were spent heavily looking into cars. With the help of some of the guys here we were able to find a suitable vehicle in the make and model we were looking for. Sadly there are not a lot of color options here so we had to settle for white, like most South African cars, but it is ours now. Fully paid for from our transition fund, God is good! Alex diligently worked to get funds transferred from our US bank account to the SA account so they were available the guy the salesman was coming to deliver the car. He arrived, showed us the car, came in for coffee and to sign the papers and transfer the funds. Then the funds would not transfer on the phone, so he tired the computer, no luck there either. Finally after about a half hour they set off for the bank branch down the street. After some trouble shooting there the customer service said the verification for that large of an amount had not been cleared yet. The person said they could take care of it, but it would take about an hour. The sales man graciously agreed to do the other errands he had in our area and as long as the funds were transferred before he needed to head back to his office (about a half hour away), it would be ok. Thankfully it went through before he needed to head back. Thankful for the kindness of the folks here!

We have also spent the past 3+ weeks actively looking at long term living solutions. We feel like pinballs bouncing all around. We found one home that seemed promising but the more we learned about the purchasing process here the more we realized we needed to slow down a bit and look at all the angles. We’ve spoken at length with the company who is renting us this short term place and they are really helping us understand some of the ins and outs of things. At present, we have rented this place for another month, during which we pray the Lord will make clear a long term place, whether it is to rent or purchase. Our shipment should arrive mid-July. The company we are working with has a storage facility in our city so we can store it if need be. We are praying that will not be for long if it is needed.

Praising God that I survived doing a half marathon here with two 21 yr olds from our young adults group. They kept me moving and I was so thankful for the challenge!

A few other funny things along the way, which we are thankful we can laugh about are that within a few days here part of the power went out to just some of the appliances. Electricity is pre-pay here, which we knew and understood as it was also like that in our home in Asia. But the meter had plenty of funds on it, and it was only some that were not working. We checked the breakers, it wasn’t that. Thankfully after a few chats back and forth with the rental agent he and we found out this place has two meters because it used to be an office building. The owner loaded more funds and we were up and moving.

A few days later the hot water went out, it is heated by gas and we had a back up tank, but it was also out. Again after a few messages back and forth the owner sent over a tank from the guest house they run which is right behind us. The tank was larger and had to be maneuvered a bit to get it attached. Thankfully after a day or so, the real replacement arrived and we were back up and moving. It’s running low again, so this time we are on top of it and working on getting a replacement before it totally runs out!

Oh, and the kitchen sink started leaking and it was a holiday weekend so on Saturday morning when we noticed it and reported it as an issue it was going to be Tuesday before someone could come look at it. We washed dishes in some interesting ways over the weekend, including the tub! SO MUCH FLEXIBLITY NEEDED!!!!

A fun thing and a reminder of God’s simple care to us was on one trip to the grocery store when our minds and hearts were overwhelmed with the housing details Alex and Caleb were in one part of the store and Joshua and I in another. Alex sent me the picture below.

Over the years of living abroad I’ve come to realize some things are interchangeable and some are not. For me, ketchup is not. It needs to be Heinz or not at all (unless it would be impolite to eat something else, my mom did teach me well!). Heinz’s is hard to come by here, so this was a blessing to me. Coming home it hit me that if God could provide the ketchup a prefer, He can provide us a house to use for Him!

Lastly, yesterday at church we were blessed by the opportunity to be here for a baptism service and family meal. We had over 100 folks come, the boys and I had to move seats three times because more chairs were needed. The testimonies of those being baptized were so encouraging and the fellowship after was sweet. Caleb often will pray in the mornings and thank God for helping us “get our dream” of moving here. His understanding is so simple. We do praise God for allowing us the privilege of finally being on the ground here long term. There are still hurtles to cross, but God is good and kind and He will continue to make the way clear day by day!

You can see more pictures and view a short video from church yesterday by going to this Facebook album: A New Chapter. If you can't see the album but want more pictures please let me know!

Prayer requests:

• The right home either for long term rental or for purchase

• For us to settle into a good routine here

• Brains and willingness from the boys and myself about getting back into school

• Alex as he prepares to preach in a few weeks

• Us as we transition to hosting/leading the Young Adults Bible study time every other week sometime in July

• Continued provisions as we sort out and fine tune our budget now that we are here on the ground

Move to South Africa

by Joshua Tandon

5,4,3,2,1 let’s go! A few days ago we set sailed through the air. On Sunday, June 2 we said our goodbyes to our church family, it was sad but we were excited for a new adventure. On Monday, June 3 we did all the last minute preparations and at 11:45 AM Mrs. Jenny Bare picked us up and we started out to the Charlotte International Airport, we checked in all our bags and went to get in to the line at security. It took about fifteen minutes to get through security. And then 45-60 minutes later we were on the plane to Atlanta. When we got off the airplane we quickly walked to our gate. Baba and I, dropped off our bags and went to get some chow. Last time we were in Atlanta he got a very good wrap from a restaurant, and he wanted to get it again for our long flight, and I wanted Chinese. We got back to our gate and ate quickly because our flight was staring to board. After we ate and waited until they called our section, we boarded our flight. We were docked at the gate for a while because they had to fix a broken panel they said, “Our priority is safety.“ After awhile, the panel was fixed and we were taking off. I watched Black Panther, 

Beat- Bobby -Flay, and Captain America Winter Soldier, and I listened to George Muller from Christian series, Christian heroes: then, and now. After about 15 to 16 hours flight was over, and we were all sore. We got off went through customs got our bags and Uncle Dave and Auntie Julie met us in Cape Town. We booked ourselves a room in a hotel near the airport. Got some pizza from the restaurant down on the lobby, and once we had eaten, we went to sleep. I slept hard, when we were all awake, we went down to get some breakfast at the hotel buffet. Once we were all packed up, we began the 6 hour drive to George. Auntie Julie Mac gave us our dinner, of McDonald’s hamburgers. We went up to to meet people at Inspire George Ministry Center because they were having a Bible Study that night, we only went to greet people because we were tired and needed to get to bed. We had moved to South Africa!