A letter in English

A letter... in English (*especially* to all our english friends) ,
Thursday, 20 August 2009

Dear family and friends,

We are very well... it's been 9.5 months since we arrived in Perth on 8 November 2008. After Christo was offered a 4yr contract with a 'all-expenses-paid" working Visa457. We decided to accept as the offer was so good, work experience great, Christo's time with us at home would be full-time as would be office based and not go to site so often. And Perth offered a bright and more certain and safer future for our baby daughter, Isabel. As soon as we made the decision our cars and house sold within a few weeks (even though the market was terrible at the time) and our visas were approved in days, so we were certain that it was God's plan for us to move! We packed up and were "ready", or so we thought...

The past months has been a time of excitement, discovery, but mostly a lot of difficult adjustments and lots of tears. Not to mention the longing for our home South-Africa and the people we love and miss so much, our family and friends.

The first month in Perth was very exciting, as we had so much to explore, discover and felt like we were on holiday! The parks, river and beaches are absolutely beautiful here and perfect for a family to enjoy! Western-Australia is a wonderful place to live and Perth is a fast growing prosperous city which is extremely clean and safe!

In the second month I started crying (everyday!!) and felt as though we made the biggest mistake ever!!! Isabel was very insecure after all the big changes and moves and became very clingy and difficult. And it was Christmas time, our first ever without our families and instead of feeling joyful, it was a sad and lonely time for us.
After that; came the heat!!, for six weeks from Christmas to end January it was above 35'C (with mostly 38'C) every day!! What a shock, as we never expected such immense heat and discomfort (the average temperatures aren't indicated so high on graphs?). It is common here to stay out of the sun between 10h30 and 16h30 and we adjusted to that quickly as the sun is scorching hot and dangerous! You also never leave house without SPF+30 sunblock, sunglasses and a hat, almost getting "looked-at" for not wearing it. How awful the warm easterly wind howling around our rented house sounded and the nights that didn't cool down were almost unbearable. We had all four of the house airconditioners on 24hrs a day, our electricity bill doubled!!

In February the worlds' financial crisis; the Recession, hit Australia and the major companies in Perth started retrenching employees in large numbers. We were so afraid, did we come all this way, with everything, just to be sent back again? Meetings were held a few weeks later to tell employees at the company Christo works for that they too would soon receive emails on followed arrangements and be told whether they are being made redundant. But God didn't give us a 'spirit of fear', so we prayed, trusted and Christo wasn't called to the office:)

In March we enjoyed better weather and started becoming real good friends with some of the South-Africans we've met here. We often visited. Christo, Isabel and I enjoyed cycling along the river and went to parks and beaches often!

April was a awesome month as my mother took 4 weeks leave to come and visit us on 6 April. How great to see my mom again! Isabel immediately recognised her granny, put her little arms around her and pressed her head down on her shoulder, just holding her and staying in the moment for about 5 minutes. Everything was alright again! We had a lovely time, showing her around our new city, Perth and we all enjoyed spending time together!

My mom went back to RSA on 5 May and I was recharged again!! We then decided to become "partners" (members) at Riverview Church which we had been attending regularly since December. Then after having to wait as there weren't available, we joined a newly formed "connectgroup" (homegroup), (South-African people) that started in our area.

At the end of May, Christo surprised me with a ticket for Isabel and I to visit my parents and in-laws in South-Africa from 12 June - 13 July. (at special rates and before Isabel turned 2yrs and we pay 75% of the fee). Her grandad uncle and had missed her so much and as they hadn't seen her in 6 months, couldn't wait for our arrival!

On 13 June, tears flowed at the airport as we hugged and saw each other face to face again:) What an amazing time we had with our family! It was so good to see everyone again and to see Isabel thriving on the extra love and attention received from loved ones!

It was awesome to be back in Perth after being without my wonderful husband for 4 weeks, missed him! Now I was busy planning a party; our little baby girl was turning 2yrs on 24 July 2009. What a blessing she's been and what joy she brings to us daily! We thank God for such a special gift!

Now, in August we are more settled in and happy here. We've experienced very wet and wild rainstorms, with gale force winds that turns the river around us into a wavy sea, fiercely rattles our windows and howl around our house. (Funny how one can get used to the sharp thunderous summer lightning storms and dry winter there in Johannesburg, but be scared of wind:) Winter here in contrast has been very wet with icy stormy winds.I have now, after auditioning to volunteer, trained for 2months and been accepted into our church choir. I love to serve God in this way! I have also had the wonderful opportunity of singing with Darlene Zschech of Hillsong in a 'Just Worship' evening last Friday at a neighbouring church hosted and enjoyed it so much! This ARISE Zimbabwe charity event was specificaly for the Buhera region in Zimbabwe to finance the urgent need to upgrade and build water wells to stem the tragic incidence of water borne diseases.

Trusting God, was what helped us through these past months!! How we've missed being part of the London Road Church (NCMI) family, but am now happy to say that Riverview Church is becoming our new home! I see that there are lots to do and add to this church and the people in it and hope to serve God in it. In numbers it is such a huge church that we felt so lonely and lost at first that I cried everytime as soon as we started with praise and worship. And how we missed the warm hugs and welcome hearts of every 'family' member at LRC!!! Now we pray that we can add service to Riverview Church and make a difference to peoples' lives. Also praying to meet up and make friends with Australians and find our purpose for being here... God has a plan for us!

God is so faithful and awesome! We are so thankful to Him for being such an amazing God and being with us every step of the way. Without Him, I wouldn't have been able to cope with the longing in my heart to be home. And God has protected us as a family and Christo's job, while all around us people have been let down by the companies they work for. I know that wherever you are, God is always with you!!

Love (and hugs) from Christo and I.

Keep in touch, xoxo