Transfer Chaos, Tender Mercies and a Real Miracle!!



We said good-by to 3 awesome Elders and welcomed 11 new missionaries on the 5th and 9th of November 2022.

One of our fearless AP's ( Elder Kakaire) left for home one day before the others (8 Nov 2022). His flight took him to Johannesburg where he had about a twelve hour layover. Arrangements had been made for him to sleep at a place in the airport, but he couldn't find it. He called us at about 10:30 PM. I called the South African Travel Agent and she was adamant that he was NOT to leave the airport even though he had been told that the place on his ticket indicated otherwise. Long story short, his place to stay had been booked incorrectly; the place IN the airport was closed; he didn't have any money to buy food (our mistake); it was cold and so we were sure he had a very uncomfortable night!!
However, there was an angel there in the airport and allowed him to use their phone (that is how he called us) and Hal was able to send that person some money via Airtel money and he gave it to Elder Kakaire so at least he could get something to eat. What a way to conclude your mission!! But he is tough and I'm sure he survived.


                Sister Kapema (Zambia)   Elder Lusuko (Zambia)   Elder Katandula (Zambia)

Three Zambian's were reassigned to conclude their missions locally. All missionaries were evacuated this week from Uganda due to an Ebola outbreak! They will be a great asset to the mission! Sister Kapema is fun, vivacious and ready to go to work! Elder Lusuko is simply sweet! Elder Katandula even plays the piano!

                 

     Panganayi (Zimbabwe)                   Muusha (Zimbabwe)                    Phiri (Zambabwe)

                 

       Twairimana (Rwanda)                    Sekirangi (Uganda)                   Mubaiwa (Zimbabwa)

                  

           Graviet (Boise, ID)                   Mayisela (Eswatini)                       Kasema (Zambia)

These nine all arrived on 9 November 2022. It is fun to meet the new missionaries! Some you can tell are apprehensive and others are simply all-in and ready to get to work!!


                                        

When the missionaries arrive I make digital copies of all of their documents and submit the ones needed to begin the Immigration process. It is complicated...the Immigration process...and causes me a lot of grief and frustration!!! I deal with 30 day permits, Temporary permits (good for one year), Employment permits (for missionaries over 21 and good for 2 years, Notices to Appear before an Immigration Officer (these expire every 30 days and the missionaries have to go to Immigration to have it renewed, Approval Letters (collect these in person in Lusaka) multiplied by 104 currently serving missionaries who all arrived at different time, not to mention when they serve in Malawi and then return to Zambia. Some efficient secretary maybe could figure out how to keep track of it all, but I have not mastered the process even after six months!!

                                                 

The two missionaries on the right began the long journey back home to Idaho. Elder Fransen (middle) lives on  Kimball Road in Wapello and Elder Dyorich is from Rigby area. Both fantastic missionaries! Elder Fransen had malaria 3 times while here but nothing seems to phase him; he just kept going once he got out of the hospital!

                                                 

Friday morning, Sister Moyo wanted to serve the new missionaries breakfast prior to beginning their orientation. Elder Djanie volunteered his services to be the master cook! He whipped up some pancake batter and had 6 large pancakes cooked when the POWER WENT OUT!!! The generator, here at the office was being repaired and not working either!! 

Well, leave it to missionaries to be resourceful. Earlier we had closed one of the flats and the stuff from that flat was being stored at the mission office until it was needed somewhere else. That stuff included a Propane stove and gas cylinder! After moving it and hooking it up, cooking continued after a small delay and everyone, hopefully got their fill!

                      Chefs at work!!! Sister Moyo, Elder Djanie, and Sister Kapema!

 

                                                                  Satisfied...and happy missionaries!

 v

These fellas and gals are just waiting around for the time they move out. It gets a little loud but they sure are fun to be around!


And these poor missionaries had too much weight in their luggage! They were scrambling, trying to take only what they needed in Malawi, before catching their next flight. The remaining items will follow next week when someone travels by truck.


Now for the real miracle of the day!!! Power Tools bus company is the preferred mode of transporting missionaries between Copperbelt area (Ndola) and Lusaka (about 6-7 hour ride). A group had started early this morning either because they were being transferred or because they were coming to go to Immigration to collect their permits.  About one hour into the drive they passed a police check point. For whatever reason the missionaries were targeted and ordered off the bus. They were detained while the officer complained about them not being compliant even though I re-sent (via WhatsApp) photos of all of their passports, permit cards and everything else they asked for. After about two hours the missionaries were told they had to go back to Ndola and could not continue to Lusaka. 

In the meantime, fortunately, the missionaries luggage had been taken off the bus and the bus left.

 Unfortunately, one of the Elders had accidently left a bag on the bus which contained a laptop computer. Theft is real here so this was a huge concern!! The AP's went to where the bus was supposed to stop when it got to Lusaka. (The bus area is a jumble of a gazillion people and all kinds of buses)!!!! The AP's couldn't find the bus, thinking it had not arrived. After a while they just started walking around and eventually found the correct bus. The passengers had already left and a couple of people were cleaning the bus. Not being too hopeful they got up into the bus anyway and there in plain sight the bag could be seen as soon as they entered. All contents had remained untouched!! We are all quite confident that somehow that bag was invisible to everyone on the bus!!  Truly a miracle!!

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