“By faith he (Abraham) dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:9, 10).

I wonder what Abraham and other nomadic patriarchs would have answered when asked about their citizenship. It seems like it didn’t matter to them what citizenship they held, and back then they didn’t need passports or visas to travel, either!

I’m not a nomad, but after 16 years in Benin and being married to a Beninese, I call two countries my home, and I’m glad to say that I now have citizenship in both of them. After 10 months of going from office to office—from the German embassy to the Ministry of Justice in Cotonou to the Court of Appeals in Parakou to the court of Natitingou—I officially received Beninese citizenship last year. By default, I’ve been Beninese since the day of my wedding, but this needed to be officially confirmed through a long process. When I finally held my certificate of naturalization in my hands, I was able to start the process of getting a Beninese ID card and passport, which meant visiting more offices and more officials. Getting this kind of paperwork always requires a lot of patience, but I met many helpful, friendly people along the way.

I agree with Abraham that this is only a temporary dwelling, and we are all waiting for our eternal home, but it sure makes life easier to have the right papers! I praise God for guiding me through this long process, and I thank Him for making it possible for me to come even closer to the Beninese people.

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