We had a lovely send off from Taumarunui at Church last Sunday and also on Friday at the bus station (we have sold our 2 cars Praise God!). Thank you to all who came to say goodbye to us, that was really special. :)
Tomorrow we leave the beautiful country of the long white cloud and head off to the beautiful island of Madagascar. We would like to ask for prayer for a safe and peaceful journey. Travelling with 4 young children is never easy, and it is about 52 hours from Auckland to Antananarivo, so it is a very long way! The first flight is the longest. It is 17 hours straight from Auckland to Dubai (one of the longest flights in the world). It is a night time flight, so we would like to ask for prayer that all of us sleep well and that Hadassah is peaceful and sleeps well. We then spend 4.5 hours in Dubai Airport. Our second flight is 8.5 hours from Dubai to Johannesburg (this is a day time flight). We then have an 18 hour layover in Johannesburg. Please pray that everything would go well as we exit customs, collect our suitcases and head to a hotel for the night. Please pray that there would be no visa issues in South Africa, as New Zealanders are now required to have transit visas, and we don't have them, as we found out that we are exempt, if we are in South Africa for less than 24 hours. Our third and final flight is 3.5 hours from Johannesburg to Antananarivo the following day. Please pray that we have no issues with luggage, or losing any of our belongings. Finally, please pray that the visa process in Madagascar goes well for us!
For the first few weeks after arriving in Madagascar, we would like to take time as a family focusing on settling into our home (the same house we previously lived in), unpacking, language learning, saying hello to all our Iris family and friends in Madagascar and doing fun things as a family. It is important to us, that we transition as well as we can in the first few weeks. We know that the way of life in Madagascar is very different from what we have been used to in New Zealand,(different language, culture, new house, new people etc) and we would like to make things as easy as we can for our kids. Please pray that our kids (and us) do not go through cultural shock, but handle all the changes really well. Please pray that we can spend time relaxing and enjoying time as a family. Gerhard has gone straight from finishing his job as principal/teacher (literally this week) straight to packing for Madagascar, and we need time just to breathe!
In brief:
Prayer requests:
* Smooth airport times (Auckland, Dubai, Johannesburg, Antananarivo)
* Sleep on planes (17 hours Auck-Dub, 8.5 hours Dub-Joburg, 3.5 hours Joburg-Tana)
* Sleep in hotel in Joburg
* No complications with luggage, it stays safe etc
* No complications with visas in Johannesburg or Antananarivo
* Smooth adjustments to life in Madagascar, no culture shock for any of us
Thanks for all your prayers!
We will miss all of you in New Zealand and we love you all!
Next update will be from Madagascar! (when we sort out internet etc). Please do email us, we would love to hear from you.
God Bless
Potgieter Whanau
