Well, some time has passed since my last post. Since Masvingo, Andrew and I made our way back to my brother to celebrate my nephews' 2yr birthday. Although, my little nephew only turns two at the end of the month, we celebrated it early so that my mother (his grandmother) and I could share in the celebrations. One of the down falls of living overseas or travelling extensively, means that one misses out on many family occasions. I know this all too well since I have lived out of the country for 9yrs now. I have missed many weddings, birthdays, Christmases, and funerals over the years. Having had no family present for my own wedding, this is an all too often sacrifice that is made. Andrew is quickly learning what it will be like to spend these special occassions apart from family. This past December, Andrew spent his first Chrismas apart from his family, a continent and ocean apart.
After spending the weekend on the ranch with my brother and family, Andrew and I made the long trip back to the capital city to start the next lot of paperwork in process. We renewed Andrew's visiting visa, which was rather simple. Foreigners are allowed to stay in Zimbabwe for 90 days on a visiting visa. However, upon arrival, one is only granted a 30 day visa that one has to renew at the immigration office every 30 days, at no extra fee. I often tease Andrew and tell him how very unfair it is that he only has to pay $30 to enter the country and I have to pay several hundred dollars to pay for a visa to America (although, not anymore with my green card). Technically, a foreigner can stay in Zimbabwe on a visiting visa for 6 months but after the 90 day period you have to pay a $20 fee for every month after that until the 6 month period. Knowing all of this allows us to know the time frame we have to get Andrew's spousal residential permit upon our return to Zimbabwe in January. One of the main purposes of this trip was to figure out work permits, visas's and necessary paperwork for Andrew next year. While at the immigration office, we picked up the necessary paperwork, that we will begin with to start this process. Andrew will not need to apply for a work permit, but rather a spousal residential permit as I stated above.
We were hoping to hand in the paperwork and get the process started before January, but unfortunately there are police clearance forms required from the US before we can start the process. Supposedly, the process takes 6 weeks; however, as we've mentioned before, time works a lot differently in Africa and just because it's suppose to take 6 weeks, does not mean it takes that long. We were speaking to my cousin and his wife, who is South African. She started the process in March and only received her stamp in her passport two days ago. Thankfully though, once the spousal permit is granted (with lots of forms, documents and filled out forms handed in) Andrew will be granted the right to work here.
While in Harare, we also sorted out all other necessary paperwork for our car. We stood in long lines, paid necessary fees and finally got insurance, registration, and change of ownership all sorted out; in the mean time we've been driving on temporary registration plates etc.
We also applied for a UK visa for myself. On our way back to the States, we'll make a stop over in London. On our flight here we had a 12hr layover in London, but I could not leave the airport on my Zimbabwean passport without a visiting visa. So we decided we would apply for a visa and spend a few days with my mother and brother in London. It is a perfect opportunity to stop there, because it does not cost anything extra, since our plane had to travel through there anyway. I'm especially looking forward to spending some time with my younger brother, because a few days ago, his best friend of 7yrs was killed in a head-on car crash. Obviously he is devastated, and we are praying that God will use this tragedy for good. My heart is breaking for my brother's loss and I hope to encourage him while there. Please pray for him as well as the family of his deceased friend.
Our next stop was Shanghani to visit my father. We had been in the country for a month and still had not visited him. This past week, we have stayed with him on the farm. We tried going through all the paperwork we picked up in Harare. Speaking to my counsin's wife about the process has been informative for us also. On Sunday we attended church with the family, and Andrew listened while we worshipped in Afrikaans, and he was grateful that we also sang some English praise songs. Thankfully, the sermon was in English.
Every Tuesday night my family (my father, uncles, aunts, and cousins) gather together for mid-week Bible Study. They take turns to gather in a different home each week, and the host prepares dinner for everyone. This week, they asked me to lead the devotional. We sang a few worship songs, and then I shared on Colossians 3:1-17 and related this to spiritual disciplines. I challenged everyone to add one spiritual discipline to their lives this week. We ended in a time of prayer, and Andrew tried Afrikaans curry for the the first time, for dinner.
The rural Christian Churches/Church of Christ are in the process of building a Secondary school (a middle school and high school) in the area here. We received so many donations before we came this Summer and brought with us school supplies for "back to school" packs. So we plan to make packs today with pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, notebooks etc. We plan to donate them to the school tomorrow on our way out, when we return to the capital.
Please pray for:
- travelling mercies
- that my UK visa returns in time before we leave
- for a meeting we plan to have tomorrow night concerning Andrew's work permit, etc
- the upcoming presidential election on July 31
- our safety while in Chinhoyi
- a meeting for Andrew with a school in Chinhoyi
Thank you for your prayers in advance.
After spending the weekend on the ranch with my brother and family, Andrew and I made the long trip back to the capital city to start the next lot of paperwork in process. We renewed Andrew's visiting visa, which was rather simple. Foreigners are allowed to stay in Zimbabwe for 90 days on a visiting visa. However, upon arrival, one is only granted a 30 day visa that one has to renew at the immigration office every 30 days, at no extra fee. I often tease Andrew and tell him how very unfair it is that he only has to pay $30 to enter the country and I have to pay several hundred dollars to pay for a visa to America (although, not anymore with my green card). Technically, a foreigner can stay in Zimbabwe on a visiting visa for 6 months but after the 90 day period you have to pay a $20 fee for every month after that until the 6 month period. Knowing all of this allows us to know the time frame we have to get Andrew's spousal residential permit upon our return to Zimbabwe in January. One of the main purposes of this trip was to figure out work permits, visas's and necessary paperwork for Andrew next year. While at the immigration office, we picked up the necessary paperwork, that we will begin with to start this process. Andrew will not need to apply for a work permit, but rather a spousal residential permit as I stated above.
We were hoping to hand in the paperwork and get the process started before January, but unfortunately there are police clearance forms required from the US before we can start the process. Supposedly, the process takes 6 weeks; however, as we've mentioned before, time works a lot differently in Africa and just because it's suppose to take 6 weeks, does not mean it takes that long. We were speaking to my cousin and his wife, who is South African. She started the process in March and only received her stamp in her passport two days ago. Thankfully though, once the spousal permit is granted (with lots of forms, documents and filled out forms handed in) Andrew will be granted the right to work here.
While in Harare, we also sorted out all other necessary paperwork for our car. We stood in long lines, paid necessary fees and finally got insurance, registration, and change of ownership all sorted out; in the mean time we've been driving on temporary registration plates etc.
We also applied for a UK visa for myself. On our way back to the States, we'll make a stop over in London. On our flight here we had a 12hr layover in London, but I could not leave the airport on my Zimbabwean passport without a visiting visa. So we decided we would apply for a visa and spend a few days with my mother and brother in London. It is a perfect opportunity to stop there, because it does not cost anything extra, since our plane had to travel through there anyway. I'm especially looking forward to spending some time with my younger brother, because a few days ago, his best friend of 7yrs was killed in a head-on car crash. Obviously he is devastated, and we are praying that God will use this tragedy for good. My heart is breaking for my brother's loss and I hope to encourage him while there. Please pray for him as well as the family of his deceased friend.
Our next stop was Shanghani to visit my father. We had been in the country for a month and still had not visited him. This past week, we have stayed with him on the farm. We tried going through all the paperwork we picked up in Harare. Speaking to my counsin's wife about the process has been informative for us also. On Sunday we attended church with the family, and Andrew listened while we worshipped in Afrikaans, and he was grateful that we also sang some English praise songs. Thankfully, the sermon was in English.
Every Tuesday night my family (my father, uncles, aunts, and cousins) gather together for mid-week Bible Study. They take turns to gather in a different home each week, and the host prepares dinner for everyone. This week, they asked me to lead the devotional. We sang a few worship songs, and then I shared on Colossians 3:1-17 and related this to spiritual disciplines. I challenged everyone to add one spiritual discipline to their lives this week. We ended in a time of prayer, and Andrew tried Afrikaans curry for the the first time, for dinner.
The rural Christian Churches/Church of Christ are in the process of building a Secondary school (a middle school and high school) in the area here. We received so many donations before we came this Summer and brought with us school supplies for "back to school" packs. So we plan to make packs today with pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, notebooks etc. We plan to donate them to the school tomorrow on our way out, when we return to the capital.
Please pray for:
- travelling mercies
- that my UK visa returns in time before we leave
- for a meeting we plan to have tomorrow night concerning Andrew's work permit, etc
- the upcoming presidential election on July 31
- our safety while in Chinhoyi
- a meeting for Andrew with a school in Chinhoyi
Thank you for your prayers in advance.
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