our new spot

HOME SWEET HOME

Well….WE ARE IN!!!! The Cermak family has finally settled into their own home. We must apologize for being MIA the past week. After nearly a month of searching, we finally found a place to rent here in South Africa. We absolutely love it and it feels like home to us. We moved in on Monday and soon realized all the work we had ahead of us to make the place livable. Deep cleaning, little korkey things than need fixing, BIG things that need fixing, turning over the soil so we can plant grass before the rainy season passes us by. As you can tell we have been very busy. Just think, it will be spectacular for when you all come and visit.

Not only do we have a place to call our own, but we also got our fist child the same week. Cowboy “Cash” Jr. is 6 weeks old and is a pure-bread Borra Bull. We named him after Johnny Cash and he just loves playing in the yard with Tony while listening to his name -sake. You know what they say (whoever “they” are) first start with a plant, and if it lives then move to a pet, and if it lives you are ready for the real little human.

Since our last posting we have been pretty pre-occupied with setting up our life over here. It is a necessary step for us before we can feel completely free to jump full on into “ministry”. We have connected with folks here and there, but have mostly been building into the Nieu Communities team. Some of them will be gone for a couple of months, so we are spending time with them before they leave. We said goodbye to all the 2008 apprentices last week so it is much quieter around the NC property. Tony and I are taking things one day at a time and we know that our lives are going to be very full before we know it. I (Dayna) have been involved in some staff meetings for next year and both Tony and I hope to begin visiting Sosahnguve (the township near us) on a regular basis soon..

Thank you all for your love and prayers and support. It would not b e possible for us to be here without your love and care. Thank you. We look forward to blogging more, however, our home does not have phone or internet just yet. Right now we have to come to Pangani (the Nieu Community property) to phone or e-mail. Thank you for your patience and your time. We love and miss you all and will be in touch again soon.

Transition to our new home

OK .........so we finally have news to post.  Thanks for all your prayers with all the details with the visa's and airline tickets. Everything worked out and we were so blessed and encouraged. The only thing we did not get to do was spend the final time that we wanted with our loved ones and dearest friends. Although most of you were probably thankful that our dreams of returning to South Africa have come true. So the one thing that we wanted was to get a plain ticket to Washington D.C. where our friends Bret and Mary-Ruth live. They are in voled with intercity work and we wanted to spend time with them. Dayna actually met them in South Africa and remained friends. We were encouraged by what the Lord is doing through them. We feel that our friendship was strengthened and I pray that one day God would bless us to do ministry with them some day. The weather and sights were eye candy to us and our souls felt fresh when we left D.C.

     The flight was 15 hours to Johannesburg. Melissa Stewart picked us up and drove us to our new home in room 2 here at Pangani,( North Pretoria).  Which is about 45 minutes away. We were so warmly welcomed. Our friends have stopped by to say hey and catch up with all the news from the year. Sleep has been a project for us.  Last night was the first night that we have basically slept more then four hours. It sure does feel good to get adjusted to the time change. We are ten hours ahead of you. 

     This first week we have just taken time to settle. We have been invited to a few dinners, so that has helped us because we did not have to cook. We did today make our way to the market to shop. We are excited to try new things. I (Tony) have been getting use to driving on the right hand side of the road. Which is not easy.  Tonight  Dayna and I are going on our first date night. WE have plans making our way out to Soshanguve (a township near by). There we will be connecting with the people we have relationships with. We can't wait to visit and catch up with everyone.

     As Dayna and I were driving down the road today I just thought out loud  ,"I can't believe that we live here." We are so thankful to many of you who have supported us with prayers and financially. We Have been encouraged and blessed. Phil 4 10-20 scream  out what I'm feeling. We also are in prayer that God would show us how to take care of you all back home.  So we will have another update soon and include some pics of the people who we will be working with.    BECAUSE HE LIVES...................The CERMAKS