Hello friends, 

Blessings and joy to you in 2024!

We started the new year with Grandpa Don Hartley having colon cancer surgery on January 3rd and we are thrilled to report that he is now cancer free and growing stronger every day.  There were a few challenges as he is getting used to a shorter digestive tract, but overall, we are thrilled he is doing so well and are thankful the surgery was a success. Your continued prayers for complete and accelerated healing for him are welcome.  

On January 20th, we woke up to great news.  Our agent in South Africa received a text with a picture attached to it of Dan’s completed Permanent Residency document.  We are thrilled and so, so thankful!  Now, we are February 10th, and our agent still hasn’t received permission to pick up  the document.  It exists, but we still need to pray it into her hands so she can send it to us and we can begin the process of applying for the “relative accompanying visas” for myself and the kids in Los Angeles.

We have begun compiling all the documents for those applications in faith that someday Dan’s PR will get to us, but have had a fair bit of challenge with getting all those things sorted in the states too.  Trying to find a primary care physician who will sign the form is challenging since it has such unique things to sign off on.  No clinic around here can test us for leprosy!!  At least this time the radiology reports to prove we don’t have tuberculosis are not necessary.  

I (Janell) got fingerprinted at the police station this week and sent all the needed papers via courier to Johannesburg so that our agent can deliver them to the South African police station for a needed “police clearance” form to add to our application here.  The police’s website stated that ‘sometimes in an emergency you can get your results in 7 days, but they have been inundated with requests and you may not hear back for 7 months’.  As we say in South Africa, “Eish man!”  I am not sure that really, really missing Africa counts as an emergency.  Our agent and her team are handling both Dan’s Permanent Residency that is currently still being held at Dept of Home Affairs and the cover letter stating the urgency of getting my police clearance back in a timely matter, so we have determined not to lose a wink of sleep over it.  God has proven that His timing is best and we can rest in that.  

So – to answer your question “When are you heading back to Africa?”  We will have to say, “Well, it’s complicated.”  It could be within two months if all the paperwork gets returned in a timely manner, or could be quite a bit longer.  At this point, we are choosing to be grateful that Dan’s name is on a PR document – it exists – it’s there, and that at just the right time all these things will come together.

While we wait, we are still visiting churches, connect groups, ladies meetings, men’s retreats, and drinking coffee and eating meals with some really lovely people!  It is a joy to reconnect with so many of you. We are currently in Portland from Feb 10-18 visiting friends, donors, and future donors!  If you’d like to see us, send Janell an email or text.  We will be back down in March again as well, but don’t know those dates yet. 

We are still needing to increase our financial support base before we return so please consider this a personal invitation to you to join our giving team.  If you become a monthly giver or if you can give a one time gift to help us with visa expenses – either would be a massive blessing. Also, if you would like to introduce us to your church or a group you are connected to, let us know.  Also, your prayers for us as we inching closer to returning to Africa are so, so welcome. 

Prayer Points:

•Continued healing for Grandpa Don

•To get Dan’s PR document from Home Affairs into the hands of our agent

•A timely return of Janell’s police clearance by the SA police dept.

•Increased financial support for Magezi Ministries

Please let us know if we can pray for you for anything. 

Fun news:
Miesha is now driving!  She just finished her Drivers Ed course and is getting her hours in so that she can get her license.  Also, I drove quickly to Portland last weekend to join my sister Julie’s birthday celebration.  We got some family pictures with my parents and some sister pictures which was amazing.  We are guessing its been 8+ years since we were all together.  

With joy in the journey, 

Dan and Janell