Author: josh Page 1 of 9

Eye Clinics 2023

On February 26, 2023

We have just finished the 3rd round of eye clinics out in the village and we appreciate all the prayers that were lifted up on our behalf. Dr. Brian and the team arrived February 17th after an unplanned night in Paris due to dust storms in N’Djamena. The week of their arrival, the government office that issues travel permits decided to go on strike, so our entire plan was thrown into uncertainty. We prayerfully moved forward with the plan, trusting that God would make a way for them to come out (and putting together Plan B in case he chose not to). We had planned to have them taken care of by the staff of a guest house in N’Djamena and then Josh would meet them in Abeche when they arrived by plane, but due to the uncertainty of travel permits Josh and the boys took a last minute trip to N’Djamena to welcome them and see what could be done to push the permits along. Our last chance to fly out east (and thus actually have a chance to do the clinics before they had to return to the US) was Friday, February 19th. Thursday afternoon came and went and still not permits. We decided to go anyway, and our church partners wrote us a letter explaining what we were doing and that we travelled with their blessing.

So Friday morning we set out, not flying to Abeche but to another town near the Sudanese border that was closer to the village where we would do the clinics. We rearranged our plans at the last minute, deciding to go directly to the village before passing through Abeche on our way out to provide some eye care to Chadian pastors and missionaries who had gathered there for a conference. We arrived Friday afternoon at the dirt airstrip, and after doing one flyover to check the airstrip for obstacles and a second last-minute aborted landing due to a couple of military guys who decided it was a good time to fly down the airstrip towards us on their motorcycle for no apparent reason, we landed without incident. Abdoulaye was there with our car waiting for us, having travelled from Abeche that morning. We hopped in the car and made the 1.5 hour drive to the village.

The clinics were a great success, and we were able to see about 300 people. Kimberly, Josh and one of our teammates translated for the doctor. The hot sun, wind and dust of the Sahel is a recipe for eye trouble, and as always there was plenty of work for Dr. Brian. Cataracts (we referred people to a clinic in Abeche where they do surgery), glaucoma (we had eye drops that if taken regularly can slow its progress), trauma (how many people did we see who had been poked with a thorn in the eye, or hit with a piece of wood, rock, etc.), severely dry eyes and regular old eyeglass prescriptions were just some of the problems we saw.

We are thankful for these clinics, both because they are a chance to relieve a bit of suffering for those who come, but also because they are a door into their lives, families and villages. Everywhere I go in the east I meet people who have been to, or at least heard about the clinics. “When is the doctor coming again?” is a regular question I hear at the local markets I visit.

Would you join us in thanking God for these clinics, and praying that they may be a door for the gospel to enter into this dark place?

Outings and Kids Experiences

By josh

On March 4, 2022

In Chad, Family

This post is from our trip to the village in December…

Saturday, we traveled 40 minutes to a nearby town, HH, and got to visit with two other American ladies as well as visit the weekly market to see what foods are available there. We also brought a carful of village women who brought hugs sacks of peanuts from their fields to get ground into oil they can then use for cooking at home. Market day is an all-day affair. We left around 9 and got back right at sunset that day.

Lynzee, the kids, and I got to visit the close-by wadi (dry river bed) a few times to try to catch fish, look out for monkeys, and collect guavas from the trees. We also took a short walk out of “town” to see the recently completed schoolhouse made of dried millet stalks. The village men recently made a plan to start a French school for boys and girls that would require almost nothing from the village parents. The men have collected money, hired a teacher from N’Djamena, and built a building. They plan to start classes very soon.

We also took a 15-minute drive to a neighboring village on it’s weekly market day. I loved seeing the donkeys and horse carts arriving to market. The kids stayed at the shady wadi for a nature walk amongst the mango trees with Lynzee while I ventured into “town” with two of my local friends to get an idea of what things were available. I was pleasantly surprised to find bananas and watermelon amongst other dried goods.

I spent one afternoon in a different neighboring village with my Abeche house helper visiting many of her relatives. It was a good time to catch up after being gone for “two rainy seasons” as they informed me, and to further the relationships there. Maybe it could be a place for future teammates to live or for future work to be done? If you ask the kids what their favorite parts of their village time were, they’ll give a variety of responses: making friends, fishing, visiting the wadi, going on visits in the village, playing with a little puppy, riding a donkey, sleeping in a hut or grass shelter, amongst other things. They did well at embracing a completely Chadian life from eating only Chadian food (millet paste and sauce, mostly) all week to using a Chadian bathroom to remembering to kneel while greeting visitors in the local language who came all throughout the day. I was very encouraged by their contentment even when things were so different and often less convenient or comfortable.

Eid al-Adha 2021

By josh

On July 27, 2021

In Culture, Islam

Recently our friends and neighbors celebrated the second of the two big holidays in the Muslim world. The first is Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The second, Eid al-Adha, comes a little more than 2 months later and celebrates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael. As with many of the Islamic versions of the stories of the patriarchs, prophets and even Jesus – the names are the same and even some details are shared but the overarching narrative of redemptive history is hollowed out and only a shell remains.

Eid al-Adha on Wikipedia

Anyway, for us it’s a chance to visit friends and neighbors and learn more about the significance of this holiday in their eyes. We have opportunities to ask questions and better understand the worldview of people here so that we can more clearly present the gospel. And for our kids, it’s a bit like Halloween because they go from house to house and get candy, treats and even coins. They don’t dress up in costumes but they do dress up in new fancy clothes…

Water – An Ever Present Concern

By josh

On July 22, 2021

In Chad

Water in Chad is a concern that is never far from anyone’s mind. In large cities like the capital, N’Djamena, the concern is not as acute, but even there it is present. Outside of the capital, water is a constant concern. Here in Abeche, Chad’s second largest city, most of the city is without the “on-demand” water supply as we’ve grown accustomed to in the developed world. Even the relatively small percentage of the city that is connected to the city water supply only has water every couple of days at the most. When searching for a house to rent, if the landlord says there is water “2 days on, 2 days off” then you know you’ve found a great location! Often the water that comes only comes in the middle of the night, when demand is lower, and it comes in a trickle. Chadians often wake up in the night to fill water barrels and clay jars, otherwise they will be forced to pay a higher price to have young men bring them water by push cart from a more reliable source.

In the village, the situation is even more troublesome. Some villages have deep wells that have been drilled by Western NGOs, but often when the pumps break there is no one around to repair them. Villages without working wells must go to nearby seasonal riverbeds and dig down until they find water. This maybe be several meters, and once they find water they scoop it with bowls into containers or metal barrels to bring back to the village. The makeshift “wells” are often shared with animals, so the water can very easily be contaminated.

Recently a colleague of ours got funding for a project to replace 5 broken foot pumps at existing well sites with automatic solar powered pumps. The solar pumps automatically pump water during daylight hours into a tank that is plumbed with two spigots where people can come and get water. This water is drawn from deep in the well, typically 40-80 meters deep, and is much cleaner and better tasting than the water from the shallow holes in the riverbeds. Two of the foot pumps our friend replaced were in villages where we have relationships, and one of them was the village where we’ve built several huts. So for those two villages I went along to do the installation and helped out however I could. Check out some pictures below of the installations and the final outcome – clean water at the turn of a spigot!

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) founder dies at 98

By josh

On September 16, 2020

In Chad

What an incredible organization MAF is! They have served us so well in the 6 years since we first arrived in Chad and I enjoyed this short account of its equally incredible founder.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/september/died-stuart-king-mission-aviation-fellowship-founder.html

Is He Worthy?

By josh

On August 13, 2020

In Music

This song is several years old now but man, I love it. Came across it again today and remembered the video that goes along with it. Remembered back in 2017 at his Behold the Lamb concert in Huntsville when he taught it to us and we all sung it together. He explained his newfound appreciation for liturgical tradition, and the song is meant to be a liturgy of sorts with questions and answers set to song. anyway, enjoy…

Videos from VBS

By josh

On July 13, 2020

In Chad, Ministry

Back in June we participated in a VBS in East Texas. We had a blast, and part of our participation was creating a few videos about our work in Chad. A big thanks to Covid-19 for exposing my video skills (or lack thereof…). Regardless, we had fun so I thought I’d share them.

Dreams and Visions

By josh

On July 8, 2020

In Ministry

Is God Using dreams and visions to bring Muslims to Christ?

This is a question we’ve heard often, and there are certainly many reports of Muslims having dreams and visions and which cause them to be open to the Gospel or to follow Christ. Many missionaries even pray for God to send dreams and visions to Muslims in order to make them open to the Gospel.

I came across this article from Costi Hinn the other day that provides a lot of wisdom in navigating this issue. Since it pretty accurately sums up our thoughts, I’ll just post a link without a lot of commentary.

How to View Claims About Dreams and Visions

Eye Clinics in the bush

By josh

On March 7, 2020

In Chad, Ministry

A few weeks ago we hosted a team of 4 from Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover, AL. They visited Abeche and we spent 3 nights in the village doing eye clinics. The team included an optometrist, Brian, an old friend of ours. In fact, he was the one who invited me (Josh) on my first trip to Senegal, where I met Kimberly and initially considered doing mission work full-time. Quite an eventful trip, I am forever indebted to Brian for that invitation!

Josh and Kimberly, February 2008, Casamance Region of Senegal
I “just happened” to sit next to her many times during the trip…

Ok (shakes head and snaps out of daydream), back to 2020.

The team arrived on February 12th, and after a day to recover in the capital we headed out by car for the 900km trip to Abeche. Three of the four team members are old hats, having traveled all over West Africa. Regardless, they were good sports and we had an uneventful trip, which is the best kind here in Chad.

We spent the weekend in Abeche, just resting and preparing for our trip to the village. The kids enjoyed having some new activities to play with Mrs. Nancy and Mr. Wayne. Our friend Fatime took the visitors to the Abeche market. Sunday morning we went out to the hills just outside of town. It was great to spend a couple of days showing them our town.

Monday morning early we loaded up and headed out to the village. We had two vehicles, with 10 adults and 5 children. Another worker friend of ours came along in order to do a test on a well near the village, where he’s doing a project to replace an old broken foot pump with a solar-powered electrical pump.

We arrived in the village around lunchtime on Monday, and took Monday afternoon to set up and plan how the clinic would work. All day Tuesday and Wednesday we did eye clinics, with the doctor seeing around 300 people. Many had cataracts and he could only refer them to one of the larger towns for surgery. Lot’s of eyes had been damaged by trauma, usually thorns. The thorns in Chad are often several inches long and can puncture the sole of your shoe, so you can imagine what it would do to an eyeball. We were able to help some with glasses, and most people went away with a bottle or two of artificial tears at least. The desert sun, winds and sand are really tough on eyes!

After finishing the clinic on Wednesday afternoon we rode down to the wadi (a seasonal riverbed) where we enjoyed the huge mango and guava trees. We came upon a family of monkeys playing high in the branches of one particular mango tree, and as we stood below watching they threw several mangoes at us.

Thursday morning it was back to Abeche after saying goodbye to the village and promising that we would indeed be back, but it will be after our time in the U.S. this year. We enjoyed our last afternoon and evening with the team in Abeche, and Friday morning they flew back to N’Djamena with MAF. That night they started the long journey back to the U.S.

A Week in the Village

By josh

On February 10, 2020

In Chad, Culture, Family, Food

In January, we spent a week in our newly constructed huts in the village. It was a very productive trip, and we were grateful to how warmly we were welcomed into the community. The women were very hospitable, offering us food and peanuts from their fields. We in turn, shared our dates and candy from the big city – a special treat they can’t get in the village.

Josh was able to visit several markets in surrounding towns. These are “traveling” markets that only come once a week. It was helpful to see what food items and household goods are available.

Isaac, Judah, and Calla were all able to make some friends, even though the village children only speak Maba. We are hopeful that this will help them transition well when we spend longer periods of time in the village.

Soccer is something of a universal language

One highlight of the week was hosting women from our village and 3 other neighboring villages to make grass mats for a privacy fence for our home. They each donated one or two bundles of millet stalks, walking or coming on donkey, and then spent the day making the grass mats for us. We thanked them publicly and also provided a goat and a sheep as a thank you gift for the women to share a nice meal together.

We attended a village baby naming ceremony that was actually not in a village, but in the middle of a field! We used our car to carry a laboring mother to a nearby hospital and back again, only to learn that her baby suffered trauma during delivery and is paralyzed. I had two women from different villages walk by foot to come greet me and bring me food. We saw camels almost every day outside our front door. We saw amazing amounts of stars in the night sky, and walked far away to use the bathroom since the wall around our actual bathroom was not yet complete! We have so many more stories to share; we look forward to sharing more with many of you when we come to the States this Spring.