~~~~~~~~~~~~ Siaki Prayer Update Aug 4 2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For every complex problem there is a simple solution. And it’s usually wrong." -Anonymous

 

Life has been crazy but I thought I’d better send you a mid-furlough Update. It’s going to have to be short and punchy or it’ll never get out. Here’s a quick recap: the family got here in the evening of June 28th and I threw them into the fire immediately with the kids singing an African song they wrote in three services on Sunday morning. We got up at 5 a.m. and finally left the church at 1:30 pm. What a start to their furlough!

Actually, the adventure started before that and here’s Barb’s version she sent to some friends:

“Before we boarded, we had a bit of trouble at passport control. They were very unhappy with us for having an expired visitor’s visa in two of our new passports even though I had the valid work permits/visas with me in the old passports. She said, "You are wasting my time—go over there!" and pointed to the ninth circle of hell known as the Airport Home Affairs Office. We were jammed into a crowded room with crying babies and desperate looking people. We waited while she yelled at people and refused to stamp passports with exit stamps. The kids were getting seriously upset (Isabelle whispered, "Why is she so mean, Mommy?") I knelt next to her desk (there was no chair and it seemed an appropriate posture anyhow) and apologized for our mistake (a one day trip into Swaziland without our old passports had been the problem, even though we had been assured by several sources that our valid work permit/visa would override the other).

She did not want to help me and stamped only Dominic and Michaela's passports. I told her my children could not continue alone and was there any way she could help me. She finally granted me permission to leave and gave Isabelle and me a $500 fine. I was shaking so much that my signature on the form was illegible. Thank the Lord she finally let us go through and get on the plane!” (Barbara)

You’ll recall that I arrived by myself on June 1 and spent the month here without them traveling around to different churches. It was great for us to do that but boy was I ready to be with my family again. That month is the longest we’ve been separated and if it weren’t for free calling on Skype (computer to computer) I would have gone crazy. My family keeps me sane and alive!!

I only had a mild adventure coming over: a lady had a stroke so we had to divert 3 hours to an air force base in Goose Bay Newfoundland. She looked stable when they took her off. My brother who was picking me up heard that someone had had a stroke and immediately thought it was me. Hmmm. Not sure what that means….

God has definitely been telling me (and us) that I need to really try and rest—that undeniably falls into the category of easier said than done. I’ve been very behind in setting up our itinerary (even buying tickets the day we fly!); I’m trying to organize fund raising for the new church and children’s center and preaching every Sunday.

 

The journey so far….

 

We spent two weeks in SoCal then went up north to San Jose for a weekend. From there we flew to Colorado Springs where we had an agency conference for 10 days, then flew to Dallas, TX, to preach and flew back to Northern California.

We’re now visiting friends, supporters and churches up the West Coast to Seattle, WA and then back down to LA mid-August and we leave for Australia on Aug 24. Yes, even the purely conceptual part of it sounds tiring. However, we praise God that we get to see so many wonderful people and everyone tries to spoil us rotten!

 

Request (then some Big prayer requests) -

 

Quite a lot of people have asked what they can do for us while we’re here on furlough. That was hard to answer and then I sort of stumbled over it. Two spiritual words for ya: gift certificates. (Trust me, they bring peace and tranquility and we’ll say all kinds of nice things about you)

 

We’ve already received a few gift certificates and a friend/supporter started it off by giving us some gift certificates and said they just wouldn’t be using them but could we use them? That was one of the easier questions to answer this furlough. We are going to do an enormous amount of shopping for clothes on this furlough.

Clothes in South Africa are shockingly expensive and comically unreliable and so this furlough we are really looking to stock up for the next few years.

 

So, here’s the picture: if you would like to do something for the Siaki Family while we’re here what about sending some gift certificates? (You may already have some handy) Because I’m so far behind on everything, this Update is coming to you late so you’ve got to do this pretty pronto. As in, fast. We would need to start receiving them no later than the 16th or 17th as we leave that week for Oz and Kiwi Land.

 

So again, if that strikes your fancy, we’d greatly appreciate it and you can send them to us at: 1880 W Surf Dr. Anaheim, CA 92801. Just a reminder: would you just check to make sure that the company has places in the Orange County/Southern California area? I know it’s hard to believe, but even the food of heaven, Krispy Kreme’s, aren’t found everywhere. Sad, but true. Thanks so much!!

 

2 BIG Prayer Requests–

 

Pray for Ruimsig Church. The reports I’m getting are very distressing. The numbers have dropped dramatically and there’s been a lot of infighting amongst the core leadership. The first leadership meeting they had after I left was so bad that one core leader threatened to walk out and quit. The very cold winter over there is also not helping. I’ve had half a dozen people email me saying they’re not going to church for awhile and are waiting until I get back.

 

I don’t compare myself to the Apostle Paul in anyway other than the fact that we share a name but I know now in a very real way how he felt hearing those troubled reports from the churches and why he wrote so many letters. I sometimes dread opening up emails from SA.

Please pray for God’s intervening presence to calm the situation and strength and grace on them during this time.

Secondly, please pray for our visa situation. This is stressing us out. We were unable to resolve our visa problems before leaving. Our work permits expire in late August (before we return) and no extension will be given. We have now been told that when we return to SA there is a high possibility we will not even be granted a visitor’s visa to enter the country. This is greatly distressing to us and no clear solution is available.

Please pray for some clarity in these next few days because honestly we don’t really know what to do. We’re trying to get as much help and advice from that side but nothing is clear or easy. We really need God to make something quite clear to us and open some doors. Please pray that we would be able to resolve this issue soon to give ourselves peace about how we can get back into South Africa in October!

That’s the nutshell version of the mid-furlough report. See, there are those moments in my life when I can be brief.

Thanks so much for your prayers and emails. We appreciate all of you and thank God for your partnership and friendship with us. As always, we hope this letter finds you doing well. Please let us know if there’s something that you’d like us to be praying about for you.

 

Trusting Him to lead the way,

Paul for the family
Rev. Dr. Paul Siaki
Pvt Bag XO9, Ste 168
Weltevreden Park, 1715
South Africa
011-794-8001
011-794-8002 (fax)

 

USA address until August 16:

1880 W Surf Dr.
Anaheim, CA 92801