(He Will Make A Way Part II)

October 29, 2025

As I meditated on why God hadn’t prompted the vice chancellor of the university in Tanzania to respond to our emails, I had these thoughts: The only reason we were going to stay in Arusha (where the university is located) for two weeks was for our missionary friend’s sake—that’s where she wanted to be so that she could spend time with her friends.

Maybe the better plan would be to ask our travel agent if we could fly directly into Dar as Salaam where the visit with our sponsored children would be. We already had hotel reservations there for three days—we were going to fly from Arusha to Dar es Salaam and then back to Arusha, but it would be wonderful if we didn’t have to do that. Also, perhaps we could fly into Dar a week later and only be in Tanzania for a week instead of two weeks.

I had no idea if it was possible to change our flights but we could ask. Our travel agent (a Christian company) was wonderful and surely he’d be willing to try. So I sent a carefully worded email to try to explain what we wanted to do and why. The response wasn’t encouraging—our agent had tried to do what we were asking but the results weren’t good. Long lay-overs and the plan he quoted wouldn’t get us into Dar es Salaam in time for the morning of our visit—the reason we were going!

Besides all this, after finishing physical therapy for my sore arm, my arm was hurting again—so much that I couldn’t sleep. I got up and went to my recliner which was a little more comfortable, but I still couldn’t sleep. I was so frustrated about all the time and money we’d spent on this trip and all the roadblocks. I said, Lord, I’m ready to give up. I don’t care if all the money we’ve spent would be wasted, at least we’d be done with this whole thing! I read some devotional books I’d brought out but nothing spoke to me.

Finally, I went to sleep and wakened the next morning to have my quiet time. I wrote in my journal, So discouraged about Tanzania. I want to give up!

The verse in my World Challenger’s promise calendar was Psalm 42:11. Why my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

The title of my devotional in The Upper Room was Trusting God based on Psalm 121:1-8. The key verse was, I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Verse one of Psalm 121 was, I will lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

All of this devotional spoke to me but one part especially, Whatever our situation, God loves us. God supports us, and God will help us see a way forward.

Okay, Lord, I’m listening!

Next was my In Touch devotional titled, When Facing Life’s Mountains, Zec. 4:1-9. Verse six said, Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty.

Part of the devotional said, When God calls us to a task, He assumes the responsibility for removing any hindrances. When we’re tempted to give up, it’s time to look up and see the obstacle through His eyes. Is the Lord asking you to do something that seems impossible? Ask Him to supply the hope and strength to persevere.

And then from Jesus Listens by Sarah Young… When I decide on a course of action that conforms to your will, nothing can stop me. So I won’t give up, even if I encounter multiple obstacles as I move toward my goal. I know there will be many ups and downs as I journey with you, but with your help, I can overcome any obstacle. I’m encouraged by the glorious truth that you, my ever-present Help, are omnipotent!

Wow! All of that combined to make it difficult for me to misunderstand what God was saying! Later, I told Donn about my struggle in the night and desperately wanting to give up and not go to Tanzania. Then I read him everything I’d written in my journal and said, “So I felt like God was saying, ‘What part of this do you not understand?’” He laughed and agreed.

So with renewed determination, I wrote to our travel agent. It’s a very good thing God had made it clear that giving up wasn’t an option because my first response was an automated message saying he would be out of the country until November 17 but would be checking his emails from time to time! Okay God, you do know we can’t finish our Visa applications until we know where we’ll be staying, don’t you?

Later, in the day we got a real email, from our agent saying that one of the other agents in his company could help us. He sent cc’s to each of them. At first I thought, “Oh no, we’ll have to try to explain all this to them,” but I called and left a message with one of the agents. In a short time, she sent us a new flight plan that took us directly to Dar a week later so that we’ll only need to be there for a week! She had gone back and read through all the emails and was completely up to date on what we needed, praise God. She is also the president of the company! 

So we needed to cancel our in-country flights and are still trying to extend our stay at the hotel we are already booked at for three days. Finally, we were able to contact the hotel by phone with a woman who spoke English, and she said the reason we hadn’t gotten emails from booking.com is because the election was October 29 and they’ve had no Internet in Tanzania because of problems related to the election! So please continue to keep us in your prayers as we persevere in carrying out God’s plan!

November 4, 2025

We still haven’t gotten an answer to our emails to Booking.com asking if we can extend our stay in the Hotel where we have reservations for three days, so we have still not been able to complete our visas. As I read information on the Internet, I see that the election has generated a lot of violence in many places including Dar es Salaam, where we have reservations and will have our visit, and that the Internet has still not been completely restored—apparently this isn’t unusual.

How thankful we are that Compassion wisely wouldn’t allow us to visit in October!! Please pray with us that the violence in the nation of Tanzania would end, that the Internet would be restored so that we would receive confirmation from Booking.com that our stay can be extended and we can complete our visas. We had received quick responses from them prior to the current situation.

November 6, 2025

Praise God that we got an email yesterday confirming that our stay at our Hotel has been extended, and we finished our visas today!

Heavenly Father, Thank you that nothing we encounter takes you by surprise and that your Word tells us that NOTHING is too difficult for you! Amen.