Caleb's Immigration Application

Yesterday we filed our petition for Caleb to become a U.S. citizen.  The Department of Homeland Security made an exception for us, and we were able to file through the U.S. Embassy in Maseru rather than the very long process of mailing it to a lock box in America.  The consular officer who processed the application said if my police background check comes through clear, she believes our file will be in order and Caleb will get a visa.  She will be sending the file to the Embassy in Johannesburg for a final decision once those results are in.  Once Johannesburg has the file, we understand it will still take 3-6 months.  We have no idea why it should take that long, but governments are pretty much the same the world over!

Thank you so much to all the people who have helped us get our file ready.  A few names immediately come to my mind:

• Bryan and Anita Geurink from Beautiful Gate.  Thank you for sharing the information you had on immigration.  It was a big help to point us in the right direction on what to include in Caleb's file!  
• Ms. Masealimo from the Ministry of Social Development. From start to finish, we have been very impressed with the way Ms. Ntebo and Ms. Masealimo and the Ministry of Social Development handled our adoption.  Special thanks to Ms. Masealimo for getting a letter written and signed for us when your department was VERY busy hosting an international workshop!  The adoption (which involved the Government of Lesotho) was DEFINITELY easier than the immigration phase which involved the U.S. Government!  
• Ms. Malefa from Small World Adoption Agency  Thank you so much for getting information for us and staying in touch even though you had no obligation to help us!  We're impressed!
• Everyone who has and is praying for us!  

Two Years with Caleb Ts'epo

Can it be?  Already two years?  Only two years?  Thank you God for giving us Caleb Ts'epo.  He's a VERY special part of our family!  And perhaps the most special part of two years with Caleb is that we can apply for his immigrant visa now.  Please pray that everything will go quickly so he can go meet the rest of the family in America!

This boy loves anything that moves!  Trucks, tractors, bulldozers...
His Oupa Piet would say he's a "petrol head like his daddy!"

Fixing his motorcycle.  Good thing he has a sister to jack it up for him!

We celebrated the day with pizza!

Photo credit: Engage Media Team, November 2016

Class of 2016

The graduation ceremony for the Covenant Bible College Class of 2016 was held as part of our annual Easter Conference.  Only four graduates managed to complete the four-year course!  We are very proud of their hard work and perseverance!  Join us in praying that they will be fruitful in God's Kingdom work.

Class of 2016
L to R:  Prof. Kali Nthabi, Pastor Ntutsoe Namane, Miss Lintle Maseka,
Mr. Ts'eliso Qhobosheane, Pastor Manti Matmane, and Prof. Glenn Gault 

Rev. Manti Matamane was the valedictorian.  He is HIM's
pastor at Mazenod.

After the service everyone was invited to enjoy a meal.
Samp (hominy), pumpkin, beets, pork, chicken and another salad
were on the menu.

The service was well attended.
Many people sat outside the tent on the ground.

Answer to Prayer

A clear answer to prayer!  The transformer was replaced today--
Good Friday!

Lesotho Update

Dear praying friends,

Autumn greetings from Lesotho!  Our weather seems a little mixed up at the moment.  Normally fall brings cool, dry, sunny weather.  The last couple days we have had the cool, but not the dry or sunny!  We've had an inch of rain since the weekend and no sunshine.  It's supposed to get down in the 30s later this week with a chance of snow in the high moutains.  I guess we'll see.

Praise:

• Ntate Kali was the main speaker at a weekend prayer conference at Hobhouse in South Africa.  He said that the Lord really blessed the services and some backsliders came back to the Lord.  
• Last weekend Pastor Lehlomela invited family, friends, neighbors to a celebration to dedicate the house he built.  There was a short evangelistic service at the beginning, and a number of people expressed an interesting in seeking the Lord.  You can read more on the previous post of our blog.   https://gaultsinlesotho.blogspot.com/2017/04/house-dedication.html   

Prayer:

• As I'm writing this, Stephanie is in Germany on her way to spend a few days with her mother.  Although her mother's health is still fairly good, we felt it was good for her to spend some time with her.  Please pray for her travels and for the children and I here in Lesotho.  Update:  She arrived safely and is enjoying time with her parents.
• Please pray for us as we prepare to apply to the U.S. government for Caleb's immigration visa.  We can apply after the 28th of April.  (We will have lived with him for two years then--a part of the requirements for him to get U.S. citizenship.)  Please pray that the U.S. embassy in Johannesburg will decided to process our application in South Africa rather than making us send it to America.  If they process it in South Africa, it will still take 3-6 months.  If it goes to America, it can take a year or more!)  Also pray that our application will be complete and correct on the first try and that it will be processed quickly.  Update:  I just got an email yesterday saying that the Department of Homeland Security has given approval for our visa to be processed in South Africa.  We have an appointment with the Embassy in Maseru, Lesotho on the 4th of May to submit the paperwork.  Please keep praying! 
• Please pray for the annual Easter Conference in Lesotho this weekend.  We started last night Thursday) and go through Sunday afternoon.  We really need a special outpouring of God's Spirit!
• Lightning struck some of the electrical wires and transformers in our area on Monday afternoon.  We've been without electricity since then.  The electric company says one or two phases are blown on the transformer and the process with the private contractor to fix it won't start until sometime next week!  Talk about customer service!!!  The joke in Africa goes like this:  Question: How did people light their houses at night before they had candles?  Answer:  They used to use electricity!"  

Thank you so much for your faithful prayer support!

Sincerely,

Glenn, Stephanie, Kaitlyn, Kristell, and Caleb Gault
Hope International Missions