South Africa

Newsletter and Updates, Nov. 2017

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

The Lord‘s Faithfulness Endures Forever

Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! Psalms 117

We are two months in! On one hand it feels like forever ago that we left home but on the other hand time has flown by. Life is good for the Rousehouse here in South Africa. That’s not to say that we haven’t had our days of frustration, missing “home” and all of you, learning how to navigate cultural differences, and the never-ending task figuring out day-to-day life. Just this morning as I was walking to the bank to, finally pick up our cheque card after 6 weeks, I thought to myself, “I am fully expecting this to take way longer than normal and not going to be surprised if things aren’t ready this time.” To my amazement it only took 35 minutes and I left with a bank card! One of the biggest lessons we have and are learning is that we have to constantly be patient and be ready for our plans to be messed up.

That is actually one of the things the Lord has been speaking to us about. We like to have a plan. We like to check off the tasks on our list. We like to be productive. Simply put, we like to get stuff done. Well, the Lord has been whispering things in our hearts like, be available, don’t miss this opportunity, be present with people, don’t let the interruption aggregate you but, welcome it. Being intentional about living like this way messes up the plans and schedules that we put together. I mean, we are here to make a difference and get stuff done, right? …I think?…maybe?…maybe i am not so sure?…

Our first African party in a township. Elly and Lara sat there and held babies most of the time.

God has wonderfully created Lara, our kids, and myself to be people who love people. We enjoy investing in others. We are filled up by serving people in need. And we really want to help others know Jesus and his great plan for their lives. Therefore, we have to be present and available. This means we have to keep margin in our daily schedules and hold our plans loosely so that we can welcome the interruptions. In Africa, we are finding that task list and productive days of getting 10 things done are replaced with impromptu moments of coffee, last-minute calls for a ride somewhere, a 5 hour-long braai for dinner and endless conversations of listening to people’s stories and hearing their hearts.

What does the Lord require of you? We are learning it is to let go of our time and listen, care for, love on, and encourage people for His glory in their lives.

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Here are a few updates from our past few weeks:

Water crisis

We are still in a very serious water crisis here in the Western Cape of South Africa. There are talks of the water running out in the next few months. After we let you know about this and you began to pray we saw days and days of rain, so PLEASE don’t stop praying! Some of our South African friends have even mentioned to us that they have never seen it rain during this time of the year. God is using this for His purpose.

Ministry

The question, “how is ministry going?” is a difficult question for Lara and I to answer right now. We are spending these first 3 months going through a valuable cultural adaptation period with some of our seasoned leaders here at East Mountain. We believe that this is a time that will prepare us and equip us for healthy, thriving ministry and life. With out this intentionality we would likely hit the ground running…running over people and running our selves into the ground! We are spending time with local ministry partners to hear about their vision and their needs, meeting other ministry leaders and missionaries in the area to learn how the Lord is using them here, building good relationships with our team, and having a lot of fun with our resident interns. The residents are teaching us a ton about language, culture, family and life from all over Africa and they are a lot of fun! Lara and I are also spending a good bit of time thinking, talking and dreaming of what the Lord wants to have us dive deep into and the people He wants to invest in. Things are about to get exciting as we are looking toward the new year!!!

Kids

They are doing great! We regularly thank the Lord for His grace over them. They have quickly gained some good friends, connected well with our neighbors, and are enjoying all of the adventures. These kids are awesome and you can see God all over them! (If you have any specific questions please message us so we can share stories with you, spanky.rouse@gmail.com)

Day to-day stuff

It is crazy how much time and effort it takes to do the regular things in a day compared to what we are use to in the US. We feel like we are beginning to get the hang of it though! Just a few things that feel more normal now are… buying electricity (you buy electricity at the grocery store or petrol station), continuing to try to get internet (7 weeks, 20 emails, and 5 phone conversations and we still don’t have internet in our home), grocery shopping (learning what stores we like to get specific items), taking 2 minute showers, learning how to collect all of our gray water, driving on the left side of the road, visiting churches, homeschooling, and learning celsius and kilometers. Slowly these things are feeling more natural and are taking less thought. Thank goodness!!! (if there are any specific question you have please let us know so we can try to answer them for everyone)

The Goat

I am still waiting to see if I have won the GOAT! Be praying that I get it!!! (read our last blog to learn more about the goat)

Prayer needs for November:

Vision for the specific ministry areas the Lord wants us to invest in deeply
God’s grace, strength, peace, joy, protection and constant wisdom for everyday situations
Homeschool: Mom, dad, and kids
Year end giving and continued strong financial support
Water Crisis!
Sensitivity to the opportunities where we can be present and available to those that need us
God’s favor and favor with others (neighbors, community, team, partners, etc)

Vergoenoed Lara and Spanky — Lara and Spanky enjoying the South African wildlife at a local Saturday market

If you would like to join our financial or prayer team you can check out how to partner with us by clicking here Partnering with us…. It is coming close to that time of the year when many are thinking about those charitable donations. Would you consider a special gift to our family and the ministry projects we are planning for 2018. If you would like more info please email me at spanky.rouse@gmail.com. Thank you!

Lastly, we regularly post pictures and stories on our Instagram and Facebook accounts. This is a great way to stay connected and up to date!

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

I want the GOAT!

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Last night after dinner the boys and I were in the kitchen when we heard someone trying to come in our front door. I went to the door and saw it was just the neighbor’s little boy trying to come in, as he often does. Most of the time he just walks around the back of the house and enters through another door. When I opened the door he said with a confused look, “your door was locked?” I just smiled and said come on in.

He then began his sells pitch for a fundraiser his school was doing. He had to get 23 people to sponsor him at certain amounts ranging from R1 to R23 ($.07 to $1.64) and he was hoping that I would be one of them. Of course I would be one of his sponsors but I asked him to tell me what the fundraiser was all about. He didn’t really know but it was something to help his school out. Come to find out his motivation was the cool prizes he could win if he was one of the top fundraisers. We gladly took one of his top spots.

He then let me read more about the fundraiser while he joked around with Mac. I read through it and then something caught my eye that I have never seen in any single school fundraiser! I saw the prizes and one especially got my full attention. Come to find out I had bought a ticket to the drawing and I want to win that 3^rd place prize!!!

You will never guess what it is.

First place was a wine cooler…not the drink but a portable cooler for wine 🙂

Second Place was a TV…we don’t even have internet or satellite set up yet so I wasn’t too interested.

BUT third place was the grand prize for me!!! A GOAT!

That’s right, it said a GOAT! As if a goat was just any old, normal prize. I have seen iPads, phones, popcorn, carwashes, tv’s, books, gift cards, and much more for prizes, but I have never seen a GOAT as a prize! How cool would it be to say you won a goat! I have always wanted a goat and now here is my chance.

My excitement quickly went to full max! I asked the neighbor boy how he could ensure I win the goat. I told him I always wanted one and said, “wouldn’t it be so cool to have one in our back yard like a dog?!?!” He then looked at me with that same confused stare as he did when our front door was locked and he couldn’t just walk right in, and said, “it’s just the meat man. It’s not alive.” The tone of his voice and the way he said it was priceless. It was like he was saying, “Calm down man. You’re acting crazy like some idiot.”

I could feel my bubble pop as this little boy looked at me and tried to bring me back down to reality. I can always count on Greyson though. He quickly came up with a brilliant response to his dad’s downward spiral of emotions and said, “well, we will just have to have the biggest and best braai in history for all of our friends to come enjoy!”

It’s not as cool as having a baby goat walking around in my back yard but it would still be pretty cool to win a goat (of any kind) from a school fundraiser!

Gray Water

Posted on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

If you are like me and are from the West you probably haven’t heard of “gray water”. I had never heard the term until a few weeks ago. Gray water is something I have come to hold as a valuable commodity. Gray water is the relatively clean waste water from baths, sinks, washing machines, and other kitchen appliances. It isn’t really clean water but it isn’t really dirty either, to put it simply. What is the importance of gray water? Why am I spending time even talking about something that seems so insignificant? Well, it is actually a big deal in much of Africa and can make a huge difference for us here in the Western Providence of South Africa.

We are in the middle of the worst drought in over 100 years. What makes this even more critical is the fact that we are heading into summer which is the dry season. NO RAIN in the forecast for months!!! Gray water is more than just waste water for many. Gray water is water what most of us flush with, let flow down the sink freely, and pour into the sewer without even a thought. Not here! We collect and save as much of it as we can. It’s not just a “green, earth friendly” thing to do but a must so we can use or reuse it and hopefully not run out of water one day.

Challenge: for the next 5 days pay attention to the extra water that you may waste by leaving the sink run while brushing your teeth or washing dishes, time how long your normal shower is, count how many times a day you flush the toilet, how long do you water your lawn (with clean water), calculate how much water you use to fill a bath…You will be shocked at how quickly 23 gallons of water is used up!!! Here is a link to a helpful calculator that will help you gain an accurate number on how much water you might use in a week, http://mycapetownneeds.co.za/thinkwater/

Our family can only take 2 minutes or less showers, collect the shower water in buckets to use in other places, turn the water off to toilets, and follow the motto “if it is yellow let it mellow but if it is brown flush it down”, to do our part in helping with the water shortage. We are only allowed to use 87L (23 gallons) of water per person a day or we will receive a large fine. The city is now talking about the pipes drying up one day and maybe sooner than we think, if we do not take drastic measures to reduce our water usage. We are grateful to live in a community that has three lakes that supply our clean water. Those is the townships and more heavily crowded areas like Cape Town are the ones that will suffer first and are suffering today from the lack of clean water.

Thankfully it has rained 3 days this past week!!! But we need so much more rain for this problem to be fixed. Will you PLEASE join us in prayer that the Lord will fill our lakes and reservoirs with ample amounts of water?!?! Join us in asking for a miracle and trusting that the Lord is going to use this for His purposes and fame here in our community and providence!

Father, in your power and authority we pray that you will fill our lakes and reservoirs either from the ground up or from the skies down. Let it be said that the Lord is good and has shown us his favor. You are the one that is able! Amen

Job 5:10,he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;

Job 38:37, Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

Zechariah 10:1, Ask rain from the Lord
in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm clouds,
and he will give them showers of rain,
to everyone the vegetation in the field.

James 5:18, Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

We live in AFRICA!!!

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

I can’t believe that I am writing our first newsletter from our home in South Africa!!! We still can’t believe that we get to live here and be a part of this great work. This place is beautiful and the people and culture is special. We are enjoying learning everything and figuring our way around so far. I feel like we have so many stories to tell you but with our limited internet they will have to wait until we can get a reliable service in our house…hopefully soon!

Not our house just a great view from the Guest House

Our first 4 days here in South Africa we stayed in a guest house which is like a bed a breakfast since we had some students from around the world staying in our home. It was a great place to land, relax, and spend some family time together. We then moved HOME and have been working hard to get everything set up there. Without Lara (Super Woman) we would never make it. She is doing awesome at learning how to do, well everything. The most simple task can be a bit confusing and taxing on time. For everything there is a process and it can seem like there isn’t much of a “black and white” way of doing it. We usually end up laughing and reminding ourselves that this is Africa and things take longer and processes are just a little different than what we would expect them to be. Even things like going out to dinner can take 2-3 hours and you might end up ordering the wrong thing. It’s not bad just different, and slow.

Hike on Helderberg Mountain behind our house

Mac and I with our new Springbok jerseys

We wanted to give you a snapshot of some of the things that have been taking up our time:

Paying rent

buying electricity (you buy electricity at the grocery store)

trying to get internet (which we still do not have after many attempts) This is why our Update has been delayed

grocery shopping (you have to go to multiple stores and just because this store had it last week doesn’t mean they will have it next week)

take 2 minute showers and flush the toilets with gray water (We will explain this in our next story/blog but it has to do with the drought that we are in here)

set up a bank account (still in process and a process it is)

all car related things (tags, registrations, inspections, and much more)

getting library cards (it’s actually harder than you think)

Learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road while the steering wheel is on the opposite side too

Visiting churches

Getting into a homeschool rhythm

Exploring our little town and the big city of Cape Town

The kids seem to be doing really well so far. They really seem to be enjoying all of the different aspects of living in another country. They are constantly learning and picking up new things. They have meet some friends just about everywhere they have gone including in the neighborhood which is a blessing to Lara and I. Elly has found some South African friends that take dance and gymnastics and she is going to start going with them this week which makes her happy (social butterfly). Grey is starting up soccer this week with a friend that is a part of the East Mountain community here and has lived here for 4 years already. Mac has been looking around at some science and robotic clubs that are offered at a local museum but he is still on the hunt for something to do. Exploring around is a family favorite and there is much to do and see so we are always out and about.

My mom asked me the other day how ministry and work was going. I had to think about it for sometime since we haven’t jumped into our roles just yet. I figured that many of you would be wondering the same thing therefore I thought I would give all of you an update on this too.

East Mountain has done a great job at encouraging us to take it slow, learn the culture, get settled, and make sure our family is in a good place before we dive in to ministry. This goes against our “doer” personalities and thankfully they know that too. Lara and I are so ready to immerse ourselves and family in all kinds of ministry and work but we know that if we don’t say no to the good things and yes to the best things we will have minimal impact. We have been spending a lot of time getting to know all of the East Mountain staff and residents (like interns that are going through the leader development program). This has been so good for us as well as really fun! This week we are having all of the residents over to our house for a cookout (braai) and game night which we are looking forward too!

Our plan is to start visiting all of the current ministry partners and communities that East Mountain is currently serving alongside to gain a better understanding. I was able to go to last week with Steve (Siyabulela), one of our residents to see his ministry site in one of the largest townships, Khayelitsha. It was so great to see the impact being made in the lives of young teenagers through soccer and life on life discipleship! I got excited just being there observing! We are also reaching out to some contacts trying to build some relationships with potential places/people our family might serve together with. I was reminded by a South African friend last week that this is Africa and the needs will never end so be cautious to not get over extended. It was a good reminder since our goal is to go deep with a few people and a couple of places to make the largest impact possible.

We can’t wait to share all of the many stories of how the Lord is going to use our family. We believe that he has created us for this time, this place, and these people! We are beyond thankful for each one of you that are partners with us financially and through prayer. Our hope is to live and work for God’s glory, love and serve others so they know Jesus more, and to honor each of you for being a part of our lives and this mission! There is so much more to come and we are busting with joy and excitement!

Please continue to partner with us or consider joining us in this mission by praying for our family and ministry, follow us on Instagram or Facebook, and give financially as the Lord allows you. Thank you and God bless!!!

Traveling to Cape Town, South Africa

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

We made it!

To sum up how we all felt Monday morning as we woke up I will quote Greyson. “Are we really moving to Africa today?!?! I can’t believe it.”

We started the day off with a drive to Atlanta, then took a 7 hour flight to London, toured London on a Big Red Bus, and finally took our last flight to Cape Town which was 11.5 hours. The journey went well and the kids did great! After all of the different travels this summer they are pro’s at airports, planes, and and getting around new places.

The kids wanted to share with you more about our journey so here you go…

To be continued…after some much needed rest!

Packing bags and counting hours

Posted on September 16, 2017September 16, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

VISA update!!!

Posted on September 5, 2017September 5, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations.

O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.

My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

^{Psalms 59:8-10}

It’s time to celebrate! The Rousehouse received our visas for South Africa this past Friday in Los Angeles! After our fourth visit to a South African Consulate office we couldn’t believe it when they handed them to us. I [Spanky] stood there and read them over and over just to be sure it really was the correct visas we had been fighting for, for more than 3 months now. It has taken months, many trips out-of-town, lots of unexpected expenses but more than anything, it has taken a toll emotionally and we have struggled to keep the course. God has once again proven His faithfulness, His presence, and His care for us through this battle.

Before sharing the joys of getting our visas in LA, let me catch you up on all that has happened over the past month quickly...

June 13th the Rousehouse heads to NYC South African Consulate to apply for our visas.
June 21st we get an email from the Consulate asking us to fill out an extra wavier form. No explanation as to why we need this, we were just told to fill it out even though we had all documentation they require for our volunteer visa.
July 30th, 2 days before our departure flights for South Africa, Spanky returns to NYC to hopefully get our visas and passports. He spoke with the consulate who made it very clear that he was not on our side and was intentionally delaying our process.
August 1st, we cancelled our flights and were not able to leave for South Africa like we had planned.
August 14th, Spanky returns to NYC for the third time this summer to get our visas but ended up leaving with nothing more than our passports. We were back at square one with the visa process.
We began pursuing every avenue through friends in South Africa, talking with other people who have been through the process, and our ministry leaders who were talking with am international consulting firm in South Africa.
We started the visa process from the beginning (paper work, background info, applications, etc) while working with this South African visa consulting company.
Planned our trip for all five of us for Los Angeles because we were advised that the LA office was much more willing to work with us to get visas and in a timely fashion.
Headed to the west coast on August 28th and were the first person in line at the Consulate’s office on Tuesday the 29th.

This has been a trying season in our life. Nothing like it to be honest. It seemed like the door to our dreams had been shut. We weren’t sure what to do and the worst part was not having a back up plan or a time line. We were sure that we had heard from the Lord and that He said He had good plans for us in South Africa. There were days that we struggled hard and had nothing else to do but hold tight to the Lord and His promises for us. Thankfully He never let’s go and is always completely in control. The Lord has used this experience to awaken us to His presence and power like never before!

We walked into the Los Angeles Consulate office, handed them our files and moments later were sitting in an interview room. The lady on the other side of the glass was extremely nice and made our kids feel very comfortable. She seemed ready to help us get approved for visas to South Africa as soon as possible and even better with no extra hoops to jump through. Once she found out that we were going to hang around LA for a few days this government official said she would do her best to get us visas in hand before we left town. We didn’t really believe her, after all that we had experienced from the NY office this summer this seemed crazy. Never in our wildest dream did we think we would leave there with visas last week.

On Friday morning we woke up and called three-times to the Consulate’s office. No answer! It rings three times and then hangs up on you, every single time. We decided that in faith, we were going to drive back to the office and ask where we were in the process before we left LA. Lara and the kids went to a coffee shop next door while I went up to check on everything. The lady at the front desk went to ask someone else behind the scene and came back to let me know that everything would be ready in 30 minutes! Nerves, excitement, and disbelief were all going through our minds as we waited those 30 minutes with sweaty palms and a shaky knees. “Was this really about to happen?!?!” Five minutes before the office closed for the day, the lady who did our interview a few days earlier came out with a handful of passports. Talk about my heart pounding out of my chest! The piece of paper that gives us the right to head to South Africa, the key to all of these plans of us moving, and the prize we had been working and praying so hard for these past few months was right in front of me!!! As the passport was opened and I read the phrase “3 year volunteer visa for multiple entries in effect September 1, 2017 to serve with East Mountain Leadership Development” and was speechless. I couldn’t wait to run out of there and show everyone.

I left the South African Consulate’s office praising the Lord and partially wondering if this was really true. I had all five passports and visas in my back pocket! As I saw my family standing across the street waiting on me by the car I could barely hold in my excitement. I decided to walk up to them with a somber look and an empty envelope as if things had not gone well. They looked at me waiting on some kind of emotion as I huffed and said, “I don’t know what we are going to do now.” I started to feel bad as I saw the kids faces turn towards disappointment. I then pulled the stack of passports out of my back pocket and yelled, “WE GOT THEM!!!! WE ARE GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA!” In the middle of the parking lot we jumped around and yelled with joy. We have been hoping and praying for this moment!

We walked through this trial, questioned lots of things, experienced an array of emotions, and felt bombarded daily with thoughts of fear and uncertainty. It is by the grace of our Father and His Spirit that we were strengthen to continue to stay the course. I saw my wife [Lara] battle through this well! We saw and felt the support of our family, friends, and ministry partners through this time more than we could have asked for and it kept us going day after day. And we believe that we saw the hand of God and felt His love wash over us over and over.

We may never know why we had to walk this path but we can trust that it is all part of the Fathers best plans for us! And now we are rejoicing in the fact that He has chosen to now give us visas to go love, serve, and care for those in need while leading people in a growing relationship with Jesus. He is also allowing us to go to be impacted and developed personally and as a family in ways we can only hope for.

When are we leaving for South Africa??? We just re-booked our flights (2 hours ago!) and will be heading out to South Africa on September 18th!

Please continue to follow our journey so you can keep us in your prayers and know how to partner with us further in this journey! To be continued…

Also, following along on Instagram and Facebook, we will regularly be posting pictures and stories.

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

June 2017 Updates

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Time is getting close to our departure for South Africa! We are really excited and probably more nervous than we realize. We are scheduled to take off on August 1st. Much has been done to get us to this point and we feel like we are closing in on one of the big mile marker moments in this journey.

Here are a few updates from our last Newsletter Update in May:

Visas – we need to be applying this week and praying that there is no issues with the consulate accepting and approving them quickly.

We did apply for our visas and had all of the paperwork and more they needed thanks for my organized wife!!! We have not received our visas nor passports back yet, but from all of those that have gone through this process before us have said that “no news is good news”. If there was a problem we were suppose to hear with in 14 days. We haven’t heard so we are assuming all is well! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!

Trip to NYC to apply for visas with the SA consulate

You can read our latest blog about our New York trip here, The Big Apple Adventure

Putting our home on the market and selling the rest of our furniture, cars, etc.

The Lord gave us this house as a blessing and it continues to be a blessing. We did sell out home in a matter of 4 hours!!! We even got over asking price which is amazing! We know that it is all of the Lord’s doing. We are just about to close (Tuesday the 11th) and are currently getting rid of the last few things. We believe that life will feel a little less heavy after this is all said and done.

From our family’s prayer card, the letter T – Travel arrangements: purchasing the best plane tickets, cost, routes, etc.

We are purchasing plane tickets this week! Our church, Ridge Church said that as part of their support for us they would like to purchase our tickets! How cool is that!!! We even got a pretty relaxing schedule where we can spend a day in London as a family walking around between two long flights.

To have 100% of monthly support finalized and one time set up cost in

We have been blown away by the generous people the Lord has brought our way this past month. We have reached 100% in our monthly support! Praise the Lord! It feels so good and we are extremely thankful. We still would like to raise about $7000 in set up cost before we leave August 1st so please let us know if you would like to help meet this need.

Prayer needs for July:

Visas to safely and quickly get here in hand
The closing and moving out of our house to go smoothly (Closing is July 11th)
Packing essentials and things we will want in SA. We can only take 2 free bags each but currently have 4 extra bags ($200 each x 4 = $800!)
All of the goodbyes. There are many!
From our family prayer care we have a couple:
- J-Joy, “Not to feel sad”, Ellyana
- E-Everyones luggage will arrive safe and sound
- K-Kids, Trusting God to provide what they need in each step of the journey and that they will recognize His goodness

If you would like to join our financial or prayer team you can check out how to partner with us by clicking here Partnering with us…. Thank you!

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

The Big Apple Adventure

Posted on June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

A couple of weeks ago we had to make a last minute trip to New York City to apply for our South African volunteer visas. Lara and I thought it was going to be just the 2 of us but it ended up needing to be all 5 of us. None of us had ever been to NYC so we were excited to see the city but nervous about the visa application process. We arrived early in the morning to ensure we could make it before they stopped accepting visa applications at 1pm. You should have seen us jogging from the train station, through the city, with bags in hand, in 95 degree weather, for as really long way. #touristbecrazy

We made it and only had to wait behind one person before it was our turn. Lara had done a ton of work to make sure we had everything they would ask for and had it in order which made the process a little more simple (not that there is anything simple when it comes to dealing with a government office!). She did ask us for a couple other documents but we were able to have them sent to us and printed at the local FedEx store (Thanks to all at East Mountain in South Africa for making that happen!!!). When we went back to the Consulate office the to deliver the documents you should have seen the ladies face. She couldn’t believe that we had gotten everything together and came all the way back to give them directly to her. Hopefully that helped us out some!

Now we wait. We have no way of knowing how the process is going, if we are going to get approved, or when our 5 passports may show up in the mail. So we wait and trust in the Lord to handle it. We are moving forward with everything else in life and planning on leaving August 1st!

If you would join us in praying that we would be approved quickly and receive our visas and passports promptly, we would really appreciate it! Be praying for the person that is reviewing and approving our application, that we may have favor with him. God has provided every step of this journey and there is no reason to not trust Him with too. He is faithful and trustworthy!!!

PS – NYC was awesome! We loved sight seeing, eating at cool local spots on the street, and meeting some people. It is a big city with tons to do so we will definitely need to go back and stay longer!

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May 2017 Newsletter Update

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

May has been a whirl wind of a month for us at the Rousehouse. Busy busy busy! Thankfully we are holding up well and have experienced the joy, strength and peace that the Lord can give. Thank you for all of you who have been praying for us. KEEP IT UP!!! Let me catch you up on a few prayer points from last month to start…

Decisions on what to do with our home. Rent it or sell it?

After many conversations, prayer, wise council, weighing the options, and moments of grieving we have decided to sell our home. We love our sweet little house and realize that it was given to us by the Lord for this short season to enjoy and that is what we have done. We will always remember this blessing from the Father!

Finishing up fundraising, 100% by June 1st

Almost everyday this past month was filled with meetings, speaking opportunities, and lots of conversations. We are now super close to being at our 100% monthly financial goal!!!! We are in need of just $200 more a month! PTL! If you would like to help get our family across the finish line check out how to partner with us here or email us at spanky.rouse@gmail.com. We do still have some set up cost needs too so any special one time gifts would be very much appreciate as well.

Ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to know the Father’s leading in every plan and decision as we prepare to move

This season has been tough but priceless, for sure. I don’t know that we have every heard from the Lord clearer, seen Him at work, and experienced His presences like we have recently. We are reminded that His plans for us are the BEST and that He desires to care for us more than we could ever imagine or ask. We are learning that you get to experience this part of the Father the most by going through tuff stuff which in the moment isn’t too fun but we are learning is worth it.

Successful silent auction fundraiser and all the planning that goes into it.

Lara killed it! She worked really hard and it paid off! It took a lot of work on her part to put it all together and I am grateful for her! We also had some amazing people that donated a whole lot of awesome gifts and packages for auction. Lara and I wanted to keep all of them for ourselves because they were so great! Thankfully we had many of you come out and bid on them instead. I had a really fun evening with our friends and family celebrating my birthday as well as we were able to raise over $3100 to go towards purchasing plane tickets and vehicles in South Africa. Definitely a great night!

From our family’s prayer card, the letter J – joy: That we may be filled to an overflow of His joy. Romans 15:13

Some fun events this month have been celebrating our 15 year anniversary, Elly’s dance recital and 2 weddings.

I can’t believe that it has been 15 years since we got married! Definitely the best thing that has ever happened to the both of us and yes we are more in love today than ever and have so much fun in together! This is the only way we would choose to do life. We were suppose to go out of town for the week but ended up spending the night and next day sitting under a tree in the grass in the small town of Davidson. It wasn’t the week we had planned but it was just what we needed…it just needed to be much longer!

Elly did awesome at her recital! We could really tell that she has improved from the time she first began a couple years ago. Masterpiece Dance Studio is amazing and we will miss all of them especially Mrs. Jackie! Elly’s favorite dance was the Jazz dance because it is fast and she gets to “shake her booty”. She gets her dance skills from her mom for sure! It was a bittersweet time as well seeing Elly and two of her bff’s dancing together for a special ballet piece. Great memories and we got the DVD so we can watch it over and over and over.

Prayer points for this month:

Visas – we need to be applying this week and praying that there is no issues with the consulate accepting and approving them quickly.
Trip to NYC to apply for visas with the SA consulate
Putting our home on the market and selling the rest of our furniture, cars, etc.
From our family’s prayer card, the letter T – Travel arrangements: purchasing the best plane tickets, cost, routes, etc.
To have 100% of monthly support finalized and one time set up cost in
Strength: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalms 28:7

The Lord‘s Faithfulness Endures Forever

Job 5:10, he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;

Job 5:10,he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;