Thursday, June 18, 2009

Today has been a very interesting, and very frustrating day. I had to go to Lusaka to extend my visa for another 30 days. I found out that instead of giving me a 30 day visa, they had only given me a 15 day visa. The fine is 1million 80 kwacha or $300 and possibly needing to leave the country. The lady we were talking to, threatened to not give me my passport back.
Henry spoke to Davis (he has been instrumental in working with other American's with Gospelink) about the issue. We called one of the main guys of the immigration department (who is from Chongwe) and we went to another building. He said that he would extend my Visa with no penalty for another 21 days.
We got to the other building and the guy we needed to speak with was already gone for the day. We talked to another lady who said we would need to write a letter and pay and come back on Friday. We will see what happens tomorrow. Please pray that my visa will be extended with minimal payment and I don't have to leave the country.
The plan is to go to Malawi to get out of the country for a couple of nights (if I have to). I would be able to hook up with some pastors there. Also, Kelly and I were talking of doing a girls weekend to Victoria Falls with a stopover in Zimbabwe (for everyone who thinks I'm going there anyway....). We also talked about a quick trip to Botswana to a Game Park/Safari Lodge. Hmmm...the options sound interesting.