My journey with Daraja has been incredible to say the least. When we found out in May about the prospect of tour being canceled this year, I would have never guessed five months later I would be okay with that outcome. Since my last posting on September 14th, the travel situation for the Kenyan kids became a roller coaster ride. I hesitated posting frequent updates because things were constantly changing and felt it would be best to wait until a final decision was made. So, to the best of my abilities, I will explain what happened since that last posting.
The day after we got the letter of approval from the PS (Permanent Secretary) of Education, we were then required by the Embassy to have the letter signed by the PS of Children’s Court. We had no reason to be concerned about obtaining this signature because we had been in communication with this PS, and he had previously agreed to sign the letter once it was written and signed by the PS of Education. So, as you can probably guess, without any explanation, the PS of Children’s Court refused to sign the letter. We proceeded to take the letter to his superior who then granted us permission (Very strange, I know). Now all that remained was to schedule an appointment with the U.S. Embassy and have them issue the Visas for the kids (NOTE: In the five years of Daraja choir tours our visa request had never been denied by the embassy). On September 27th we were told by the embassy that they could not schedule the appointment until October 12th…yet another delay. This delay meant the 410 Bridge would have to cancel all the worship services scheduled between the 27th of September and October 12th. After a day of discernment and prayer the 410 staff decided to move forward with the tour and prepared for the kids to now arrive here on October 18th. On October 12th we were told by the embassy that they would not be issuing visas for the kids.
There are certain speculations as to why the embassy made this decision, but I was encouraged by the fact that God made it clear that the tour was not to happen this year. The obvious question most of us had was why the Lord chose not to make it clear on the 27th of September (or back in May for that matter) that this was not His will. I can tell you that after going through these last five months, I am confident in my answer to that question. From a personal standpoint, I have grown so much in my faith over these last five months, and as a Daraja body, we have been given so many opportunities to glorify His Kingdom during this time of waiting.
In closing, I want to thank you again for all the support you have given me during this season with Daraja. I’m not sure where the Lord has me next, but I am confident/excited because I know He is good and He has a plan for me! Sorry for the length, but thanks for taking the time to read through it. Hope to see you soon.
-Dan Young
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