Hi all,

We drove to Kashan this morning. We stopped in a little village called Natanz. The basic reason this little town exists is that it has a bountiful spring right outside of town. The town is in the middle of a desert area but it is green like an oasis. We followed the flow to try to get to the origin but it was several kilometers away. The stream was maybe three feet wide with a border of grass one foot wide on each side, running through the desert, next to rocky hills. It was a very strange vision. I got many pictures and videos so I will post them when i get to a place where I can plug the laptop in.

I think I heard Becky comparing it to the rock at Horeb, water coming out of nowhere in the middle of a desert. Natanz was a neat experience.

We have a whirlwind tour of Kashan planned for tomorrow and then we move on back to Tehran and the north to the Caspian area. I think we are going to check on the progress toward visas and try one more avenue while in Tehran so keep up the prayer!

Jeff

Hi all,

We haven’t had much chance to get online and when we do it is painfully slow.

We’re in Shiraz now, a city in the southern (hotter) part of Iran. We had a really neat trip up the mountain on our last full day in Tehran. They run a ski-lift up to a hotel/restaurant at about 5000 meters altitude (i think). Look up Tochal online and that should give you the details. I’ll post some pictures and video when we get settled down somewhere in a few weeks.

We had several meetings with the Farsi school in Tehran. The first one was bad news, the school is being hamstrung and can’t get visas for any Americans on its own steam.

The owner of our tour agency sent his brother to help us. He has worked in the government in a pretty high-up position and is apprently a master letter-writer, he really makes things happen. He met with the school director who then met with the Min of Foreign Affairs attache who has an office at the school. The MOFA guy took our information and said he will return with a verdict/decision next Wednesday (9/20?). We will know then whether we go or stay.

Another friend we made here (American) indicated that this method is exactly what took place when he got a visa for the school so fire up the prayer engine!

The same tour agency owner had us over for dinner and had invited several other friends and family, it was a very nice evening. There were 12 or so people and numerous conversations through the night. When we gathered back together prior to departure, it became apparent that spiritual matters had been a large part of what was discussed. God was moving in our discussions in neat ways. He has really placed us on good soil!

While in Tehran, we started a quest for jarred baby food (vegetables) for Tad. We scoured the west side of town and found nothing. A city of 14 million and no baby food. I guess babies eat kebab like the rest of the people.

In Shiraz we continued our quest and found a side street of little shops and four or five had a few jars each. Mostly fruit but a few with vegetables. The jars were the equiv of $2 each so we bought sparingly.

I also found several shirts that fit me, a good thing since my luggage with all of my clothes was lost until the day after we left for Iran. I have been rotating through three shirts and two pairs of pants. My suitcase is safely in Bahrain, waiting for me to go get it.

God has provided in many ways, more than listed in this posting even.

Keep up the prayer for our visas, in four days we’ll find out more and I’ll send something out ASAP.

Jeff