Airplanes, Containers, and Realtors, Oh My!

After an absurd amount of preparation to submit Hunter and Jeremy’s visa applications, and a long journey to the South African consulate in Los Angeles, we are thrilled to say our efforts were not in vain! In short, our trip was a complete success! The drive was long, but the wait was not! By God’s grace, we arrived and departed to and from the consulate within an hour! Aside from Jeremy’s vaccination records (which I was told to email later from home) we had everything we needed!

It was such a relief after having such a hard (read: impossible) time communicating with them via phone or email. It turns out they are wonderful to work with in person, and for that we are so grateful! Since it was too early for them to process the visas, they plan to do so in December. We’re thrilled that we can check this daunting item off the list and move on to the next. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement on this long awaited milestone! They were felt and absolutely appreciated.


In keeping with our unplanned, yet somewhat apt, theme of The Wizard of Oz, we wanted to share with you the three major beasts we have to face as we journey on the sandy, desert-y yellow brick road to Cape Town.


First, the Container. Since the “wicked” visa of the west has been slayed, the next challenge is taming the costs of the container. I’ve followed up with the local company we hope to use, and he’s promised me a quote this week. The estimate he gives us will be a huge stepping off point in determining our fundraising goals as well as what the rest of our timeline will look like. Please join us in prayer that the quote will be a favorable one. We would love to hire the local company instead of continuing the search for another one. Another business had previously given us a quote, estimating the entire cost will be right around $8,000. For now, at least we have a ballpark.


Next, the Airplane. Once the details of the container have been arranged and a date has been set, we can purchase the airfare and have an official moving date. (Cue: happy dance!) Of course, waiting too long could result in the costs going up, so we are praying we can lock in the well priced tickets that are available as soon as possible. We’ve found tickets for $1,200 a piece, which is a pretty great deal based on our past experience! So for the three of us, the total cost will be about $3,600.


Last, but most certainly not least, the Realtor. Of course, the sale of our home plays a pretty large part in all this. Knowing there would be a lot to do to prepare a house for listing, we got in touch with our realtor to create a game plan. At the end of October, she came over to see our townhouse. Much to our surprise, there was less to do than we had imagined. There are some things that need to be tweaked and updated, but, overall, it’s all fairly manageable! The main projects involve paint touch ups, carpet replacement on the stairs, and fixing the flooring on our patio deck. In addition to the little “renovations,” we have a lot of packing up of personal belongings to get the house ready for staging and pictures. The packing and sorting process is taking much longer than we’d like, but we are slowly beginning to gain momentum. Our realtor is hoping to have our home listed before Thanksgiving, which leaves us with less than two weeks to have everything done! (Lord, have mercy!)


As you can imagine, there are many pieces to this story’s puzzle and all of them, naturally, have to fit together perfectly in order to create a cohesive picture. It may be cliche, but it’s true. It’s starting to truly dawn on us how much of an undertaking this huge step of faith requires to become reality. We know our God is bigger than this and can make any and all things possible. We believe with our heart, mind, and soul that He has called us to a life of ministry in Cape Town. So we are trusting that He will provide and praying He will be glorified in the process!


Please continue to pray for strength and focus on the Lord during this time. We love you and thank God for you!“Oz” may not be in our line of sight yet, but at least we are getting closer to it. After all, the “joy is in the journey,” right?


P.S. Many of you have asked how you can support us in our ministry. You can donate online, by clicking on the Donate tab under the “Hunter and Andrea Combs” heading at:
frontlinefellowship.net/support_our_american_missionaries

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

P.P.S

Hello!

We're so excited to invite you to a brunch we will be having at our
church on Saturday, the 9th of December at 10am!

2501 E. Cactus Rd,

Phoenix, AZ, 85032

This will be the perfect opportunity for those of you who are local to
hear our vision in South Africa as missionaries and also will give you
a chance to ask any questions you may have 😉 We will also be asking
our friends and family to prayerfully consider becoming a part of our
prayer and financial support team.

We'd love to see you there and fellowship over food! Please let us
know if you can make it so we can plan accordingly.

With much love in Christ,

Hunter, Andrea, and Jeremy