He is Risen...He is Risen indeed!

We woke up to a rainy, foggy, grey Easter morning...welcome to Londontown!! But it didn't seem to dampen the spirits of our friends at South West London Vineyard church. All of our PCCC family will enjoy the fact that we arrived about 20 minutes late for service :) As we approached the school in the cool, damp morning air - the worship service was in full swing and our hearts jumped as we recognized the song - Paul Baloche's - Hosanna, we both got a little teary as we made our way into the auditorium that was packed with people with hands lifted high and swinging back and forth - did I mention it was a Vineyard church?! It was awesome! Both of us - not just me but both of us were teary throughout as we sang familiar songs, and favourite hymns!

And to top it off it was baptism Sunday - they had 8 people enter into the waters of baptism! Each one came up and told their stories - all varied, and powerful, and beautiful! The church family cheered for each one and then one by one they were baptized. And as we do at home, when they came out of the water the place erupted with screams, whistles and cheers! It was a huge party.

Then they did something a little different - after each person came out of the water, they stepped to the side and anyone who knew them was invited to gather around them and pray over them and bless them as they take the next step on their journey with Christ. It was so simply and beautiful and honest and like family! I loved it...more tears! And then we worshiped some more, met a ton of new friends and finished up the service with coffee and tea! It was, as the Brits would say, BRILLIANT!!

As we worshiped together I found my heart longing for my Powers Creek family! I so wish we could have been home to celebrate with you! I know that God has been doing amazing things and I so wish we could have been there to see the worship centre filled with light, and white cloth draped everywhere, and candles lit, and fresh flowers and all the rocks that came in on Good Friday - GONE!!! Because the tomb is empty and that changes everything! Man! I miss our PCCC family! Please know that you have been in our thoughts and prayers today! We are praying that you would all know the presence, power, and peace of the risen Christ today! That you would know his immeasurable love and grace lavished on you! That you would know the delight of your heavenly Father who smiles on you today! May you live in light of the fact that the tomb is empty, the rock is gone, and you are free!!

Ok - enough of the pastoral thing - just know we love you and miss you and we want to wish you an amazing Easter! We have two more days in London and then...finally we are coming home! So, we will see you - literally see you on Wednesday! Woohoo for coming home! In the meantime remember - Lent is over! So, party like it is 1999 my friends! Eat chocolate! Drink wine! Have two helpings at dinner! Take a nap! Hug your kids! Laugh with friends! Drink in the beauty that surrounds you!!! Because Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ is coming again!!!

We love you all! We miss you much!! We will see you on Wednesday! And that my friends is the McKnight Report!!

London-town

We have made it to London safely. All pretty tired. Liam slept OK - Zoe not so much. We spent the day in London trying to stay awake!! Saw "Big Ben" and Westminster Abbey and the London Eye and spent many, many hours on transit! The tube is down for repairs so we spent lots of time on buses-Zoe is quite in awe of mass transit!

We are planning on heading to church for Easter Service in the morning then if the weather is nice Roz has planned a picnic and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. So a fairly mellow day, which I think we all need-we are pretty much spent. Getting on the plane in Jo-Burg was a huge relief-2 years of waiting for our family to be complete and we were leaving Africa as 4!! What an amazing thing!

We are so thankful for a couple days here before we get on another night flight home. Continue to pray for us-especially for transitions with Zoe-she is doing famously here, after a couple hours of being shy she has warmed up and is having fun playing with her cousin Skyla. Pray for the transition to home, pray for sleep for all of us as we change 8 hours on our flight home. Pray for the flight that Zoe would be able to sleep-sleep is her hardest thing!

I know this is disjointed and I am not sure if I have made a complete sentence but this is a very tired McKnight Report...

It's in our hot little hands!

After a fantastic nights sleep for all (praise god! thank you all for praying!) we had a lovely cup of coffee with our new friends Mike and Laura and Khotso (the FIRST family to adopt from Lesotho-they head home this weekend as well!).  Mike took Troy to the High Commission around 11:00am to pick up the visa.  Good to their word it was ready and waiting.  It is real and true we get to come home!  

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a play park with the other canadian families.  This afternoon after a rest we are spending the evening together.  Very low key day-much needed though.  

We are so thankful that all this has come together and we are looking forward to getting on the first leg of our journey home tomorrow night at 8:15pm.  

Please continue to pray for rest for all of us, for myself as I fight a cold and seem to be sharing with Troy-I am so giving aren't I!!  Pray for safe travels and that Zoe would be OK with her first 11 hour journey on a plane.  

To our Powers Creek family we will be thinking of you over this Good Friday and through to Easter Sunday.  We look forward to hearing about all that God has done at home over this lenten and Easter season!

We love you all and miss you much...and that's the McKnight Report!

We serve the God of the one elephant...a.k.a. Praise Jesus we are coming home!

The sun was up and the breeze was cool as I walked the 12 blocks from our apartment to the High Commission early this morning. As of yet, there was not word at all about our medical visa and we were starting to lose hope. To add to the pressure, we found out yesterday that if we miss our Friday flights this week, the next available flight out of Jo-Burg is on April the 23rd!!! 

My gut was turning as I scurried through the ever busier sidewalks that run like grey rail road tracks along a long line of embassy after embassy. The Hungarian Embassy is quiet as usual while the Algerian Embassy is bustling with robed dignitaries and black Mercedes Benz going in an out! As the Canadian High Commission looms in the distance I begin to pray...again...asking God to calm my heart, to give me wisdom and to prepare the way for me to be able to meet with the Immigration office in charge so plead my case. 

I show my passport, fill out the log book, chat with my new friend the gate guard [he asks how things are going and I tell him we will see], I clear the metal detector and make my way into the High Commission. There a few people in front of me but within 5 minutes it's my turn. I smile, chat with the lady at the front desk and she remembers me - "Your the one who needs to leave by Friday right?!" I say, "Yes!". I hand in Zoe's passport and ask how things are going with her case. She doesn't have any information for me so I swallow hard and as kindly ask if perhaps the officer in charge would have a moment to speak with me. She smiles...this is new from my Monday experience...and says let me see. A minute later and pretty lady with short cropped hair, black rimmed glasses and a warm smile is standing at the window introducing herself to me. It is Diane the immigration officer in charge! What happens next was the most amazing thing - we had a warm, kind, caring, helpful conversation!

She is a wonderful lady who showed real empathy for our situation! She heard me out, encouraged me along the way and assured me that she was doing everything she could to get us home. Just this morning she and her supervisor had sent urgent requests for our medical from Nairobi! Amazing!! But she wasn't done! She then went on to tell me that she has Zoe's file completed and that we are ready to go as soon as the medical arrives - which means if it comes overnight on Wednesday we will get our visa before they close for the Easter weekend on Thursday at noon. She was done! She had expedited our case and was ready and waiting. 

She talked to me for 20 minutes, answered all my questions, apologized for any difficulties I had experienced on Monday and explained the process clearly to me! I walked out the door with a new friend and a renewed belief in the Canadian government! My High Commission did care, they were working, they were listening and they were doing their best to serve me during this difficult time! I was blown away! 

I met up with the other Canadian couple who arrived a little after me. They were given the same news and then we drove back to the McKnight apartment together! I ran in the door and tried to explain to T what had happened! It was, well, a miracle!! Our hope was renewed and we decided to celebrate with Dutch Bacon Pannekeoks [sp?] - which by the way are delicious. If ever in Pretoria you must go to Harries Pannekeok house and have some! We did a quick shop at Woolworth's and came home to put the kids down for nap. 

T and I began to talk about what would happen if the visa didn't come through? What would our plan be? What are our options...we just didn't know! We were getting ready to write our travel agent about options when all of a sudden the cell phone rang. I looked at the number and didn't recognize it. I picked up and a voice on the other end said, "Hello Troy, it's Diane. I just wanted you to know that we've just heard back from Nairobi. Your medical for Zoe is complete and clear and they will be sending it to us overnight tonight. So, please come by tomorrow at 11 am to pick up Zoe's visa. Troy you are going home!!" Well needless to say I was barely able to speak as I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I made her repeat it three times until it settled in! I asked what I could bring by the High Commission tomorrow as a way of saying thank you to everybody and she said, "No need to bring anything! It is our pleasure to serve you and get you home!!!" This is not what I expected! However, we have been served well and we can't believe that we are coming home...so it does look like we serve the God of the one elephant...who knows, maybe God is still trying to teach me something about trusting him!!

So, let me say - Praise be to God our Father who is faithful and true! He has kept us safe, and sane, and relatively healthy! He has given us the strength we needed, even when we thought we couldn't go on for one more day! To him be all honour and glory and praise!!

And to you - our friends, our family, our Powers Creek family - we couldn't have done this without you! Your prayers, your comments, your emails, your phone calls, your skype calls...you will never know how much it has all meant to us! Thank you for carrying us through!

Finally, a huge thank you to Stockwell Day and his assistant Barbara who responded in such an amazing way to our urgent request. Barbara has been in contact everyday and has been an incredible support. Though they didn't have to launch any further action on our behalf - just to know that they were there and ready to support has meant more then they will ever know! We feel so blessed to have Stockwell and Barbara serving us in the Okanagan! May God continue to bless them as they serve us and all Canadians!!

Well - there you have it!!! Please pray with us that the visa medical will arrive without delay or problems overnight, that the visa will be issued tomorrow morning and that we will be able to make our flights on Friday - if not before! Also, please pray for T who has picked up a stomach flew that she is battling with right now. Not able to eat much and seems to be producing a migraine as well. Lastly, pray for the kids. They have not slept for 4 nights now - both of them up with bad dreams and last night Liam had night terrors through much of the night. Please pray that God will protect us, protect them, give us all rest, health and some sleep over the next two days.

Woohoo!!! We are coming home!! Someone needs to bring a big honkin' rock in on Good Friday night for me! Someone please lay one down at the cross on behalf of the McKnights! We love you all and miss you much! We will write more tomorrow when it all shakes out...and that my friends is the McKnight Report!

Hippos, Rhinos, Giraffes...Oh My!!

Well - today we took a mental health day! We promised Liam that we would take him to a game park to see elephants and so today we awoke at 5:30 am, rallied the troops, gulped down some Cheerios, introduced ourselves to our driver and guide for the day "Pete", jumped in his mini bus and headed two hours north to Pilanesberg National Park for the day...I know - I've been studying Paul for so long that my sentences are starting to look like his....they just go on and on and on and on :)!

Anywho - It was amazing! We were only metres away from giraffe, rhinos, Zebras, wildabeast, springbok, waterbok, hippos, warthogs, more wildabeast, impala, more wildabeast...let's just say there were tons of wildabeast, and lots of elephant pooh!  Liam loved the pooh! However, there were no elephants...anywhere! We spent from 9 am until 4 pm driving around the 52000 hectare park and no elephants. All Liam wanted to see was an elephant! I began to wonder - seriously God! We are in S.A. in a game park known for it's elephants and all my 4 year old wants - besides be able to go home and see grandma and grandpa - is an elephant! Please God let the boy see an elephant...just one elephant...please God just one elephant! 

But all we saw were...you guessed it Wildabeast!!! Tons and tons of Wildabeast! We were literally within a km of the gate, the gate was actually in sight as we were getting ready to leave the park for the day when all of a sudden T spied something moving on the hillside up to our right. Pete stopped the mini bus, pulled his binoculars and sure enough - it was a honkin' huge Wildabeast disguised as an elephant...kidding...it was a monstrous elephant, lumbering his way along with his huge trunk swinging rhythmically like a scene from Dumbo. He was quite a ways  away but he was an elephant, and Liam saw him, and he was soooo pumped! I was a little teary behind the old sunglasses as I thanked God for just one elephant!

As we made the two hour trip home I was reminded that our God is the God of the one elephant! And so, I turned my thoughts and prayers to our pending visa. He knows the desires of our heart, he loves to give good gifts to his children, and even though it might be at the last minute - in his time, and his way, I believe he will come through! And so, as we blog tonight with still no answers about when our visa will come through, we are comforted that our God is the God of the one elephant!

We spoke to the other Canadian couple who are with us here and they checked in at the High Commission today. Apparently our medical visas have not arrived yet and no medical visa means no permanent resident visa. We also found out from our travel agent that there are no tickets available to fly out of Jo-burg until after the 20th of April!!! Which means if the visa does not come through by Thursday - we will be stuck in S.A. until the end of the month! This is heartbreaking news but we are hanging in there - praying for a miracle and hoping that the High Commission will come through! 

Please pray for me as I go and try to meet with the officer in charge of our case tomorrow morning at 10 am S.A. time. Pray that she would look upon us with favour and would choose to expedite the process so that we can get home. Please also pray for Stockwell Day and his assistant Barbara that God would give them wisdom as they work with us to try and get us home! Thanks again to all those who are walking with us through this incredibly challenging journey! There is no way we could do this without you! You will never know how much your prayers and support mean to us! We love you all and miss you much...and that's the McKnight Report!

Stockwell Day Rocks!!!

Just wanted to let you know what the day looked like.  We contacted Stockwell Day's office and have already received a reply.  We are so grateful that someone in our government is caring for and concerned for us.  He has contacted our agency and we are working together to sort things out.  

Thank you to those of you who contacted him-you are movers and shakers at the Creek!  Now please leave him alone-he he!  He is engaged and helping!

Loves to you all-we are off to bed-enjoy the rest of your day!! That's the McKnight Report (I love that you all can tell the difference in who is writing!)

The papers are in

Just wanted to fill you all in on where we are.  We handed our paperwork in to the High Commission this morning and the only word that comes to mind is DISCOURAGING.  We were basically told that we had no hope of getting out of here before Easter.  We were also informed that our visa medical has not yet arrived from Nairobi.  Our agency has been requesting that that they be expidited but Diane (the officer who gives the permanent resident visa) is the only one who can make that happen and she has been VERY uncooperative. Please pray for us we are very low today.  The exhaustion of the last month is starting to wear on all of us.  We need a miracle for Diane to look kindly upon us and get us our visa by Thurs.  The offices are closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter holiday.  So if it doesn't happen on Thursday we will have to change both our flight to London and our flight from London to home.  

We will be contacting Stockwell Day (our MP) today to request his help in expiditing (sp?)  Zoe Jane's Permanent Resident Visa by Thursday.  Feel free to contact him or your MP if you would like to help us get out of South Africa!  The more phone call, emails, etc. the better chance we have of him helping us.  If you know him personally please contact him on our behalf!

Tomorrow we are taking a mental health day and going on Safari.  We are told the park we are going to has all 5 of the big 5.  Liam is over the moon!!  Hopefully this puts us in better spirits.  Troy is heading back to the High Commission on Wednesday morning to check progress.

KEEP PRAYING!!  This is the McKnight Report...