And they are ALL off....well of course there is a story behind it.

The morning started early yesterday. At 1am I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for the day ahead. By 3am Josh and I had arrived at Faith Bible College and were loading all the students, staff, and luggage into the vans. By 3:30 we were headed toward Auckland. After a brief stop at storage and flash light lit search for misplaced travel insurance we were really on our way. By 7:30am all last minute instructions, hugs, and prayers were said. Seventeen staff and students where waiting in the Quantas check in line to depart.

With to go coffee in hand Josh, Raph, and myself headed back to vans to make our rental deadline back in Tauranga. Halfway down the Auckland motorway (highway for the Americans reading this) we recieved a call. Our student Rene was being denied access onto the plane. Apparently the airline officials were determined that he could not board without a particular visa our travel agents told us he did not need for a layover in Australia. As you can imagine drama unfolded from there. Raph contiued on to Tauranga to return the rented van while Josh and I quickly got on the phone.

Our travel agents (who are friends of ours) answered their emergency contact phone number and went to work. About an hour and dead cell phone later, Josh and I returned to the airport to pick up Rene. Our amazing travel agents managed to get him on a later flight, as long as we could get him the visa. Off we went to the Australian Immigration office. The sign on the window said "Transit Visa's processed in 10 working days" - we had two hours. We filled out forms, waited, and eventually saw the immigration officer. He said it could take 10 minutes, 2 hours, or 10 days. Take a seat and see if it comes through in time. It is out of my hands"

Good thing it was out of his hands, and it was in Gods. Twenty minutes later he called us back to the counter stamped Rene's passport and sent us out the door. AMAZING! The visa had been processed accross the Tasman almost immediatly. We rushed back to the airport and saw Rene through to customs. So....yeah after all of that they are ALL on their way to the Phillipines.