Invitations

When we Minnesotans decide to travel to Tanzania, we have a long list of things to do to prepare.  Often our first step is to apply for a passport if we don't have one already, and closer to our travel dates, we have to obtain visas from the Tanzanian embassy.  It's a fairly simple process of filling out the paperwork, paying the fee, mailing in our passports and waiting for them to come back with the appropriate stamp.

The process is not quite so simple for our friends in Iringa who plan to visit us here in Minnesota.  Not many Tanzanians have a passport, and some even need to obtain an official birth certificate before they can begin that process.  Then there's a lengthy online application form, a fee that must be paid by credit card (90% of Tanzanians have never even had a bank account), and an interview at the US Embassy.

A pretty daunting process.

But we started the process this week for our three friends who plan to visit Shepherd of the Valley next fall.

 

It all begins with the letters of invitation.

 

 

Our friend and former Shepherd of the Valley pastor, Rev. Bonnie Wilcox, traveled to Tanzania this week carrying letters of invitation for Rev. John Mhekwa (pictured above with Mollie and Lyn MacLean), Rev. Paulo Masinga, and Mfaume Kisakanike.

 

 

For each of our invited guests, there is a letter from Shepherd of the Valley to Bishop Owdenburg Mdegella, asking him to allow and endorse the visit by members of his diocese. He will then provide our guests with a letter of release, indicating to our US Embassy that the Diocese endorses the visit. There is a letter to the US Embassy from Shepherd of the Valley, indicating that we have invited these men as part of our congregational partnership and that we will provide for all expenses incurred for the visit.  There is yet another letter for the Embassy from our St Paul Area Synod Bishop Rogness, affirming that the guests are part of both the congregational partnership and the partnership between the synod and the Iringa Diocese.  One of the underlying messages for the Embassy in these letters is the assurance that these men will return to their homes in Tanzania, sharing what they have learned and experienced here, and further strengthening our mutual ministry.

 

While I've never heard of any of our American travelers being denied a visa to enter Tanzania, the visa approval is not a sure thing for our Tanzanian guests.  In fact, it's so uncertain that we do not purchase the plane tickets for our friends until they let us know that the visas have been approved.  Sometimes that's a scant couple weeks before the planned departure date.

 

Our friends were pretty excited to receive these letters of invitation.  Now they can begin the process of obtaining passports and eventually visas.

 

May all go smoothly and be accomplished in a timely manner.