Our trip to Tamale started at 6:30 this morning. This is the month that we have to renew our paperwork with Immigrations. We wanted to get an early start this morning so we would have enough time if we happened to run into any problems.
Renewing our “non-citizens” card requires us to go to CAL Bank to purchase a scratch card (sort of like loading money on a gift card). Then you take the scratch card to the Immigration office to pay for the renewal. It is suppose to help deter corruption. We headed for the Immigration Office. The officer we dealt with was very nice. The officer asked us for the copy of the Social Welfare Certificate. We didn’t have it because it is being processed in Accra. He informed us we would need a letter from the Social Welfare Office to prove our certificate was valid. In all the years we have renewed we haven’t been asked for a copy of our certificate. The Social Welfare Office is just around the corner from the Immigration office. The Social Welfare Officer had just arrived from court so we informed her of our needs. She agreed to write the letter to Immigrations.
After leaving the Social Welfare Office we bought some bibles to replenish our supply. By this time it was noon so we ate lunch. We then went to Japan Motors to buy the clutch parts for the DT125 motorcycle that Timothy Niligrini uses for evangelism.
It took us longer at Japan Motors than we expected. It was 2:30pm when we picked up the letter from Social Welfare. Then it was back to the Immigration office. The paper was approved by the immigration officer when I dropped it off. From the Immigration Office we went to the bank to pick up the money we had asked Jimmy and Mary Stroud to transfer to us. We had decided to stay in Tamale at the hotel tonight which allowed us plenty of time to shop and get some groceries. We will leave early in the morning so we can be back in Yendi for the Child Center.
I’ll close for now. Hope you had a good day!
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
