Arf

Rhodah and I have been trying to arrange to meet so we can satisfy the State Department’s requirement that married individuals have an opportunity to do you know what before applying for green cards. It’s touching that our government is so interested in promoting romance, but it’s also annoying, because the whole thing is a sort of legal fiction, and it subjects people to a lot of expense and aggravation. They’re not going to have cameras in our hotel room, so for all they know, we might get together for a week and play Monopoly.

From the outset, coronavirus and the low marketability of Zambian passports have caused problems for us. Strongholds have surrounded us. Countries rejected us for spurious reasons. Countries that would have accepted Rhodah shut their doors before we could apply. Countries that are willing to accept Rhodah, including the United States and Switzerland, put up barriers that made it too hard to get to their representatives so she could apply.

I saw these problems for what they were: Satanic strongholds. I saw the people who kept telling us we couldn’t get together for what they were: barking dogs.

A long time ago, God told me, “There is usually a barking dog outside a stronghold.”

A real stronghold doesn’t need a barking dog. The purpose of a barking dog is to scare people away from a stronghold that can’t withstand attack. A barking dog’s purpose is to convince you a weak stronghold is bigger than you and God are.

Remember how Saddam Hussein barked before we attacked Iraq? We were in for “the mother of all battles.” When the allies went in, Iraq’s stronghold collapsed in a few days. America has the most powerful military on earth. We don’t run around telling other countries their cities will be vaporized, because we don’t have to.

Actually, Donald Trump was known to bark, but that’s because he’s from New York.

Oddly, dishonest people are the ones who are most likely to mount a ridiculous intimidation offensive, and honest people are most likely to believe it. Honest people project their honesty onto other people. Dishonest people tend to assume everything they’re being told is lies. In this respect, dishonest people have a more accurate worldview.

We learned that Turkey was supposed to be an easy country to visit, but when we tried to get a visa, we were met with considerable barking. The Turkish government said some things that were not true, perhaps because of translation problems, the local embassy in Zambia said things that were not true, and a friend of Rhodah’s who is in Turkey also said things that were not true.

I persisted in digging and pushing. I applied for an e-visa on the Turkish government site, and the visa came through. The language on the site said we couldn’t do it without betting thousands of dollars on tickets first, but when the visa itself was emailed to us, I saw that this was not correct. We could get the tickets later. We still had conflicting information from the local embassy. I persevered, and today they admitted the e-visa was sufficient.

Here’s another stronghold: the ticket prices were exaggerated.

Rhodah pretty much has to use Turkish Airlines in order to satisfy Turkish entry requirements. They wanted $2600 or more for a round-trip ticket. On a lark, I checked one-way prices. We should be able to get her there and back for something like $1300. I don’t know why it works like that, but it does. A round-trip ticket should save money, but it costs much more.

Things are looking good. We have a nice hotel booked, and I have a house sitter who is a very good shot, so my property should be okay.

While Rhodah and I were working on finding a solution, we cursed the strongholds and bound the spirits working against us, and we called on God for help. I reminded him of his promise. He had told me his name was above every stronghold. It’s good that I persevered in the natural, but our supernatural resistance is what shattered the stronghold. God did the work.

Ordinarily, I would not tell blog readers if I traveled, but this time my house will be well guarded, so we may post photos during the trip.

Never forget the real source of all victory. After all, Moses didn’t part the Red Sea; God did.