104 - Stuck in the States (August, 1986)

   After spending about 6 weeks traveling to Houston, Denver and Seattle, we returned to Louisville with the expectation to fly Zimbabwe via Johannesburg.  The first leg of our return  was booked on El Al for late August.  But, before we could finalize our plans, we needed to hear from our Indian businessman friend who was securing our residence permits with the Minister of Home Affairs.  We should have heard from him by now!

We kept chasing him on the phone, but every week we were told by his secretary that he was on a business trip to Europe and was expected back the “next week”!  The agony of frustration and helplessness stretched out over several more months with us rescheduling our booking with El Al over and over again!  

All we could think about was our return to Zimbabwe.  We had our beautiful Abigail, solid and significant support from America, South Africa and a network of coworkers and supporters on the ground in Zimbabwe.  I would resume my role at the Church Growth Support Centre and we had our friendship with the Deuschles at Rhema, our close relationship with Felix and Spiwe Mukonwengwe, as well as strong connections to Howie and Michelle Silk, Dave and Maxine Broom, the Ron and Dorothy Davies, Dave and Jen Hess as well as the farm churches that we had left under the tutelage of Norman Kalilombe. The only thing standing in our way was our residence permit.

We had a reliable car with air conditioning, my twelve string Yamaha guitar, and even a Cavalier Spaniel puppy awaiting our return.  Our hearts were in Zimbabwe and we were stuck in the USA.

Finally, I was able to speak with our Indian contact’s wife in Harare.  She said that he had been delayed for all of this time due to an illness while in Europe from which he almost died.  Ultimately, I spoke to him while he was finishing up in London.  He said that he had not been able to speak with the Minister of Home Affairs while out of the country.  However, he was confident that he would be be able to obtain our residence visas after we arrived.  So, we would enter Zimbabwe once again on a 30-day visitor’s visa.  But, we saw that as good news—we could finally get unstuck.

We packed up our possessions—now mostly baby things and made ready to return.  I called El Al and finalized the reservations.  We were finally on our way!