The answer for Lauren and me is seven. It took seven different electronic devices for us to finally print a picture of our passports that we desperately needed a few weeks ago while applying for our Tanzanian driver’s licenses. I’ll back up a little bit and explain the story.
Lauren and I were recently able to begin the process of importing a vehicle to Dar es Salaam from Japan (which we are extremely thankful for!) when we came to the realization that we were lacking one crucial element, our driver’s licenses. To make a long story short, we intended to rectify this problem by going down to the Tanzanian Revenue Authority office and using our current driver’s licenses in order to get Tanzanian licenses. The only problem is that they did not need copies of our Canadian driver’s licences, they actually needed copies of our passports! Now in theory we could have just gone home and come back another day with copies of our passports, but it is really hot out in the afternoon when we finish our Swahili classes (40°C or warmer with the humidity) and the office we study at is pretty far away, so we were determined to get it all done in one trip! We had a sinking feeling in our stomachs when the lady at the desk told us that she could not process our applications without passport copies, but like I said, we were determined. Our passports were at the language study office so we got a lady at the office to use her scanner (one device) to copy the passports onto her computer (two). She then emailed us the copies. I downloaded the copies onto my phone (three). Lauren took a picture of the copies on her phone (four) and sent a WhatsApp message to a fellow orientee’s phone (five) because neither of our phones would connect to the computer at the print shop. He then connected his phone to the computer at a print shop (six) and sent the copies to the printer (seven!), where they were printed and we were relieved to have solved the problem! As a side note, we actually received our licenses just last week and it was slightly terrifying to know that we are now ‘qualified’ to operate a vehicle in a country that drives on the left side of the road and has many different traffic laws from our own. Anyways, it will probably be a little while before I have the nerve to get in the driver’s side of a vehicle, but we are thankful that everything worked out for us to at least receive our licenses!
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AuthorChristopher and Lauren Merke have joined Wycliffe to help fulfill the goal of seeing the scriptures translated into every language of the world! Christopher and Lauren live and work in Mbeya, Tanzania doing linguistic, language survey and vernacular media work. As a linguist, it will be Lauren’s responsibility to analyze and evaluate the linguistic and cultural data that is collected by language survey workers. Her role is very important because it speeds up the Bible translation process and makes translators for effective, ensuring the Good News of Jesus Christ reaches people as quickly as possible. Christopher will be fulfilling two roles as a language surveyor and as a vernacular media technician. As a language surveyor, Christopher travels to remote villages in order to gather linguistic and cultural data about various people groups and language groups. This is critical information, as it lays the foundation for Bible translation work through seeking answers to critical questions in the first stages of the Bible translation process. As a vernacular media technician, Christopher’s role will be to help translate various materials, such as the Jesus film and Christian radio programs, into other languages in Tanzania to ensure that the Gospel reaches as many people as possible. Christopher and Lauren are thrilled to be able to use the gifts that God has given them and would like for you to prayerfully consider partnering with them in this journey! Archives
September 2016
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