I just re-read the last actual update I sent out several weeks ago. Other than finding some typos (sorry about that), I realized that I have a lot to catch you all up on. So, here we go…
Finals week went well - except for the fact that about a third of the students had not yet arrived by the time they were over. When that week was over, we were still waiting for any positive word on our residency permits. As a result, the principal of the school recommended we go and deal with the immigrations department personally until it all was worked out. To that point, we had been depending on a third-party agent to work on our behalf. Finally, it was to the point where we could not legally be teaching without that documentation.
On Monday, January 15th, Ben and I headed for Arusha. We had also received several new leads on potential vehicles so were excited about making progress on several fronts. We spent the next week in Arusha withdrawing money to be able to buy a car, researching vehicles and accessories, and hoping we would be able to work with the Arusha branch of the Immigrations
department. We were also able to meet with people in the area we had met on previous trips.
One group we spent a lot of time with was a short-term team from Cincinnati whose leaders I had just happened to meet at an internet café after climbing Kilimanjaro. The actual team was only here for one week (last week) and had as their primary objective finding a project/s to recommend to their church for future partnership. Upon arrival, they had virtually no local contacts, no firm itinerary, and a lot of misconceptions. Other than having the opportunity to interact with some fellow-Americans, we enjoyed the opportunity to share with them some of the things we have learned here, some of our perspectives on missions, and were even able to recommend some good and trustworthy ministries and individuals with whom they could partner.
By the time Saturday came around (January 20th), it was becoming clear that we needed to come here to Dar to be able to personally visit the head immigrations office. We arrived on Sunday and checked into a very affordable guest house operated by a non-profit organization based in Italy. First thing on Monday, we visited the immigrations officials along with our
agent who is based here. The whole experience helped us realize why there has been so much delay to this point. Even as we stood there with them face-to-face, they appeared totally ignorant of our current status and were requesting documentation we had already provided.
Despite all this, by the end of that day we really felt we had made some progress because we were able to speak as the actual applicants and confront directly some of their excuses and misconceptions. We returned again the next day and they said everything had finally been submitted to the one in charge of residency permits and we would receive some sort of news the next day.
Well, we stayed in close contact with the immigrations people for the next several days and provided anything they requested. We also spent some time looking at vehicles, continued dealing with some banking issues, and trying not to melt from the humid heat.
Finally, tonight (Friday, January 26) at 5:30pm, we received our official residency documents for the next 2 years!! It was so exciting even though (and probably because) it was so over-due. It ended up that Ben had to pay an additional $400 “special pass fee” on top of the regular $120 fee. I was able to avoid the extra fee because I the immigrations people at the border re-issued me a tourist visa when they apparently weren’t supposed to on my return from Uganda.
Most of our day today was actually spent going from place to place looking at trucks with our mechanic. It was not a fun day. We only saw two vehicles that we even considered possibilities but they were very over-priced and needed work. Later in the day we visited with some people
from Mission Aviation Fellowship who said they have had much good success buying good used cars from Japan. Apparently, they end up being less-expensive even after paying for shipping. We have asked them to see what they can do for us and we will be content to continue waiting.
Now, it is time to get back to work at Waama. In all honesty, I think our normal work is less stressful than what we have been through this past week. We will take the bus back to Arusha tomorrow and then continue on to Mbulu on Sunday.
We can’t thank you all enough for your prayers on our behalf during this time. Despite the frustrations and disappointments we are grateful to have residency issues resolved and even feel content with where things are at with regards to a vehicle. An extra blessing today was that we were able to make contact with some people who work with the Jesus film here in Tanzania
who will be able to help supply us with copies of the Jesus film in the local languages we need.
We are so thankful for God’s many blessings. Please continue to keep us in prayer, especially as we get back into the swing of teaching. Most importantly, however, pray that we would keep our focus where it needs to be – on Jesus, who He is, and our relationship with Him. It is so easy to become self-dependant and forget where the source of our effectiveness lies. I look forward to sending my next update from Mbulu.
May God richly bless each one of you.
In Him,
Jesse
