|| Climax of the story is at Visa Scare if you are too bored to read the whole thing. ||
Honesty second: I would like to say that these newsletters are monthly, but it’s just when I have time. I mostly remember when someone posts their newsletter and I go, “Oh! Yeah, I should do that too.”
What a month!
September was an adventure. I had been hyped (and slightly anxious) for September for multiple reasons. First, I could finally play September by Earth, Wind and Fire. Second, I was leaving for Brazil for the first time for my border hop and staying with my friend’s family who I had never met before. Then, when I came back, we would have two new Discipleship Training Schools and School of Biblical Studies, which means about 100 new students. To say the least, I was a bit overwhelmed, but…
God was freaking faithful.
This deserves big text.
Espírito Santo
Before I left for Brazil, I said, “God, I am really excited about this break, but I want it to be with you. I want you to be part of my life while I am here. It’ll be our vacation. Let it start on the plane ride over.” And you can guess what happened.
I had crazy divine encounters on the way to and from Brazil. The funny part is, I didn’t start any conversation with anybody. Other people started it. It just naturally fell into a conversation about Jesus. This was really cool because I grew up kind of doing the street evangelism thing reaching out to a bunch of people at one time. The difference was having an intentional normal conversation.
I even got to talk with someone about filmmaking and the film industry, something that I am extremely passionate about.
At one point, I shared my cringe feelings about a lot of Christian films (still God bless those filmmakers). He ended up encouraging me with different types of films that I had never heard of and inspired me to pursue it. Ironically, he told me, “You just gotta have faith, you know?” Hahaha!
Brazil
Besides all of that, I landed safely in Brazil without too much of a hassle. Kind of forgot that Portuguese was a lot more common than English. Using my one semester of college Spanish (similar, but not) and Google Translate, I was able to make it into the loving arms of my friend’s family who loved the heck out of me all that week.
The break in Brazil was literally such a blessing. I got time to rest, but I also got time to explore the beautiful city of Curitiba. From going to the markets to sharing meals in people’s homes, I experienced a wide variety of the culture. The weather even went from summer to winter in one week. Although I experienced so much, I realize that there is so much more. There is so much diversity in the entire country. It’s beautiful to see what God’s character and nature through that diversity.
I also visited Jocum (aka YWAM) CCL and Jocum Curitiba and boy, my cup runnethed over with so much love. These bases are so passionate for God and making him known in all the nations. I have met a lot of Jocum teams from Brazil from my time in Jordan and South Africa. They always bring so much fire and passion for Jesus. Staying at these bases was so cool because I got to take part in just a little bit of what the Spirit of God is doing.
Visa Scare
After Brazil, I came back to South Africa. When I was landing, I kept praying to God that it would work out and that I would trust him even if it didn’t. I always have a little apprehension when coming because the visa situation here isn’t always reliable. There are plenty of stories where people came to finish or start YWAM, but are only given a week. Thankfully, since last year, I have been blessed with the right visa every single time.
This time was a little rough. I came into customs and the person I went to didn’t seem very happy about me coming in and out of the country.
Although I tried explaining my situation to them, they were not okay with my choices. As I have told you guys, I had already bought a ticket to head home in December. However, it wasn’t enough for the person who took me through customs.
“I could just stamp you for two days,” they said to me.
I have never felt my heart drop harder, but what could I do? They were customs for South Africa and I was just a guest in this country. What they said went and I had to accept that.
So I responded with absolute surrender to God, “Yes, you could.”
After a bit of more details, they warned me I was only going to have until November and I needed to get a visa extension or else I would be flagged. This means that I probably wouldn’t be allowed to enter the country again for a few years if I failed to comply. I agreed and said thank you, being honestly grateful to be allowed for even that long. With that, they stamped my passport and I left customs.
I’ll be a hundred percent real. As soon as I left customs, I went to the bathroom and cried. I think it was a mixture of this person’s disapproval for me and the overwhelming realization that I didn’t get the visa I needed. The whole “God I trust you” was really hard to believe. I think deep down I still held onto it, but on the surface I was just really confused and full of anxiety.
A couple of my blessed loving staff came to pick me up and I explained what happened. One of them asked me how long I had and I told them I didn’t know. I was in such a hurry to get out of there that I didn’t take time to even look at my passport. To be honest, I didn’t even want to.
BUT (PRAISE THE LORD) I opened my passport and found that I had 10 extra days after my ticket to go home. Before, I was crying, but then I was weeping at the goodness of God. Even in my doubt and even in all of that, God made a way when there was literally no way.
Just to make sure, we double checked with two different people who worked at immigration/customs to verify, and sure enough that was the right date.
BRUUUUUUUHHH!!! God is so good.
It was kind of hilarious that for the past five weeks we had been studying how God is faithful even in the most impossible situations and then I even invited God to do this kind of thing in my life, AND YET I still doubted. It just comes to show God’s faithfulness in the midst of our doubts and fears.
So I am here in South Africa, studying the Bible, loving the community I am in, and living to the fullest because you never know how long you are going to be somewhere.
Thank you to everyone who supports me in every way. Gosh! I truly am grateful to be here. It wouldn’t be possible without the help from you guys. Thank you for all the blessings you put into my life.
Blessings,
Catherine H. Fisher
Before I left a couple of the students from the last Discipleship Training School got baptized. I had the privilege and honor to capture the moment.
Also, I’m still dancing. Part of my Deuteronomy assignment was to do a creative project and I chose to do a dance. If you would like to watch it click the link here.
That’s a little bit of what’s been happening around here.