Yesterday my house helper came excitedly to my house telling me of a 3 month old baby that everyone in town wanted to see. The baby supposedly had the word “Mohammed” written somewhere on her body, like a birthmark, and now she miraculously spoke three messages in Arabic related to praying and this current Ramadan season. I listened as my house helper told me how beautiful the baby was to look at and how my friend’s clothes were ripped because so many people were pushing their way into the compound to get a look at this baby “prophet” as they were calling her. People even said the president of Chad, Idriss Deby would come today to see the baby.
Today, I asked my helper if Deby came to town to see the baby. She told me that last night a respected Muslim leader in the town spoke on the local radio station to debunk any of the stories that had been rampant around town yesterday. He told the people he went there and saw the baby and none of the stories are true. The baby’s father and mother either made it all up or it was a demonic presence that they saw. Either way, they now have a stash of money from people who came to see the baby and thankfully this leader told the people on the radio to not believe what they heard.
Our believing friend had many people ask him yesterday what he thought (everyone knows he follows Jesus, is not currently fasting, and sees life differently because he follows the teachings of Jesus). He told them it was not true and today we were rejoicing in a small way that his steadfastness to Truth will today hopefully give him credibility amongst his non-believing friends. We pray that this sparks more conversations and opportunities for people to take a second thought at the things our friend has said about the gospel.
Regardless of whether the story of this “prophet” baby is a lie or something demonic, we are stricken with the grave reality that the vast majority of people living around us are so willing to believe anything but the Truth. They are in the middle of their month of obligatory fasting, hoping to add good points to their lives so God will accept them into paradise and they are even expectant they they may hear from Allah this month. When they do hear something that seems ridiculous to us, they believe quickly and with excitement. Our prayer is that the eyes of many would be opened to the Truth and that they would quickly and excitedly believe the best news of all – that hope is offered to them because Jesus died for their sins!
Author: josh Page 7 of 9
A month or more ago, I did a post on things I have learned since arriving in Chad. I was thinking recently of things that my children are also learning here. These are lessons we would want them to learn anywhere, however, some things they are learning quicker or more acutely because of living in Chad.
- We can’t be wasteful. If you break something, I cannot easily replace it. If you lose something, I cannot go buy another. We do not have Wal-Mart, Target, Hobby Lobby, etc. anywhere in our country, so I cannot replace toys, art supplies, etc as quickly. We are learning take good care of our possessions. We also are learning not to waste things like water because it is a precious resource. Even my kids know to pour their bath water onto the trees and to not leave the faucet running when washing hands.
- We must be grateful. For water to drink, even if it isn’t cold. Many people have dirty water that makes them sick. For food to eat even if it isn’t our favorite. Many boys are on the streets outside of our home begging for any morsel of food they can get, so we will eat our food with thankfulness and also be thankful for our family who loves us.
- God loves us because He is loving, not because we are deserving. The people around us are fasting and praying to earn God’s favor. We know that the only way we attain God’s acceptance is to believe that He has provided one Way for us to have peace and reconciliation with Him, and that is through His Son!
We recently went on a family vacation to southern Spain. Getting there was quite the experience. We took our guard’s family in our vehicle to their village and carried Josh’s Arab language helper all the way to N’Djamena. It was a two day driving trip plus a day by air to get to our final destination. Along the way, we had a few first experiences I thought some of you would enjoy hearing about!
We had to drop our guard’s family off in a village, and of course that involved bathroom breaks. When I asked where I could use the bathroom, they handed me a shovel and told me to go behind their (mud brick) house, use the bathroom, and then shovel it over the grass fence. Typically, you find Chadian style (hole-in-the-ground) toilets in villages and in towns here. I assume this is a new village and they just hadn’t gotten around to digging a hole!
The family we visited offered us drinking water that looked like it came straight from a lake. There was no way I could touch it, but it broke my heart, knowing they were giving us their best and this is the best they had to offer.
They tried to give us a duck as a gift for bringing the family to their village (they were so happy because they hadn’t seen the family in four years). We had to turn it down because we were going to the big city and had no way to cook it (not that we would have known anyways!).
Last but not least, we also tried camel’s milk later that night. Our Arab nomad friend stayed in the guest house halfway to N’Djamena and shared dinner with us. He was very excited to have found the camel’s milk in town and couldn’t wait for us to try it. My kids wouldn’t touch it, but I had a small drip on my tongue just to be polite. It was disgusting! I think it was a few days old, because it was very sour. Josh tried it once before and said it wasn’t quite so strong.
Got my panels cleaned today, and remembered that I never did post a picture of the setup, so if you’re interested here it is. The metal frames were constructed by one of the MBBs here in town who is a welder. Same guy who built our water tower. Six panels, 185W each.
After a very fitful night’s sleep, I was up with the rooster’s crow the next morning. Having come from Abeche, where we were sweating both day and night, I didn’t think to pack a blanket, or even a sheet. So when the temperature dropped overnight I realized my mistake. Looking around for something to cover up with I found only my other clothes, so I positioned them over my body and tried not to move.
Packed and ready around 6AM, we headed out towards our next destination. It’s a town next to a refugee camp holding more than 30,000 refugees, mostly from the Darfur region of Sudan. The church has had a presence there since just before the refugees started pouring over the Chad-Sudan border, and they are in a good position to reach out to these refugees. For over a decade now the camp has been growing steadily, with no end in sight. The initial hope of returning quickly home has been squashed by the harsh realities of the conflict. They’re not going home any time soon. The initial surge of international concern has faded with the day to day difficulties of caring for so many displaced people. Many NGOs have long since gone home. Some remain to do the thankless work of providing food, sanitation, education, etc. to these seemingly God-forsaken people. May the God who heard the cries of the Israelite slaves in Egypt also hear the heart cry of these people and redeem them for His glory!
We arrived at our first destination around 8 AM, welcomed once again with a huge breakfast meal. Esh, or boule, a paste made of millet and formed into a large ball, was on the menu at each stop. This time it was complimented by a chicken sauce. Also a favorite for breakfast in Chad is a fried donut called “fongasso”. This is good for dipping in coffee or tea, or just eating as-is.
An example of “esh”, pictured here with a green sauce made from the leaves of the hibiscus plant.
Eating quickly and adding the missionary and his wife to our crew, we set out for a small town, village really, on the border with Sudan. The missionary, his family, and a few others are the only Christians in town. They have had some problems buying land there due to being Christians and Southerners. The missionary’s wife has been very sick, and they have struggled under the weight of discouragement. They haven’t received a visit from the church leadership in the entire 9 years that they’ve been there due to the lack of transportation. I imagine that I would have packed up long ago and headed back to familiar territory. They’ve persevered, and were refreshed by the visit from their brothers and sister. We gathered under a shelter made of sticks and straw and they discussed the situation there and how we could help. We drank tea (of course), prayed, sang and just chatted.
Spending time together talking, praying, and singing.
We went as a group to greet the government leadership in the town, to pay our respects and also to try and gain a hearing regarding the land issues. The local leader was friendly enough and and assured us that Christians and Muslims, we’re together and that he would see that the land issues are resolved fairly. This is a familiar refrain from local leaders in Chad, even if it doesn’t quite work like that in practice. Chad is officially secular in government, providing Christianity and Islam equal status under the law. But for Christians encroaching into Muslim areas, they often find fierce opposition in their attempts to buy land and build churches. Often they are relegated to the outskirts of town. But they can find encouragement in remembering that the one who sent them with His Great Commission also provided the Great Assurance, that he has been given authority over all things in Heaven and on Earth and that He will be with them always. We can’t fail, in the grand scheme of things, if by failure we mean that God’s will is thwarted. Hallelujah!
Some praise and worship time just before sending us off.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we had to leave again after just a few hours with these brothers and sisters. We packed up and retraced our route back the way we came, stopping for the night in the town near the refugee camp. After several hours of intense driving, constantly trying to choose the best path (meaning least likely to get us bogged down in sand), I was exhausted. After a quick bucket bath and a bit to eat, I crashed on the cot I had brought along. Having borrowed an extra blanket from the missions director, I slept soundly all night long. I would need to be well rested for our drive the following day, which would bring lots more rocky terrain and deep sand and we headed back west to our next destination.
Many people have been praying for my trip around the region, so I thought I’d post a recap of the trip for those who are interested. I initially suggested the trip while meeting with the Director of Missions/Evangelism for the church denomination with which we partner – Les Assemblées Chrétiennes au Tchad.This is a French-speaking church made up mostly of southerners, and it’s the second largest denomination in Chad.
Much of the first couple of months in Chad for me was spent writing and negotiating a partnership agreement with this denomination so that they would sponsor our visas. This was necessary because we entered the country on 3 month tourist visas, and we were planning to switch to one-year missionary visas. So this partnership was critical to our long-term strategy.
Thankfully, the Lord provided open doors and toward the end of January we signed an agreement – basically that we would work together in whatever ways possible to further the Gospel in Chad. One of the ways I found that I could serve them is to provide a vehicle to allow them to visit some missionaries in far flung places that they have difficulty reaching. Most church members and leaders do not own vehicles, so travel is restricted to public transportation, and traveling outside of the major cities is extremely difficult and unpredictable.
So a couple of weeks ago the Director of Missions caught a bus to our town, and then we set off together with a few other people. The pastor of the local ACT church went along, and I brought a friend who works with me often and was interested in visiting the places on our itinerary.
Day 1
We set off around 7AM driving south from our town. The paved road ended before we even got out of town, and we wouldn’t see pavement again for 3 days. The road varied from hard packed dirt and rocks to several feet of sand. I had decided to drive because I wanted to gain experience driving in the bush. And no one else volunteered…
We drove for several hours over teeth-rattling terrain until we made it to our first stop. We stopped in a small town to meet up with the leader of all the missionaries in eastern Chad. In addition to keeping track of the missionaries in the East, he also pastors the ACT church in town along with several other elders. I immediately liked him.
We got a tour of the church compound where he lives along with another elder and their families. Part church campus, part residence, part farm, and part school, it serves as a gathering place for the Christians in town. Since this part of the country is predominately Muslim, most towns have very small Christian populations – often just government workers and members of the military stationed there.
School building being built. It will serve not just the children of Christians but many others in the community.
Meeting place for Sunday School and worship times.
Missionary residences.
After some time of fellowship, a meal of wild boar and sauce, and a little rest we continued on to the next town, where we would spend the night. The missionary and another of the elders joined us, bringing our total to 6. We drove for another few hours, now navigating much more sand and the road becoming less and less obvious. We finally arrived at our destination in the late afternoon. This is a larger town, and a missionary from the ACT has just been stationed there. We arrived just in time for prayer meeting, so we joined the local brothers and sisters for prayer in the compound of one of the elders. We sang some songs – some in French and some in southern Chadian languages, had a brief time of introduction for us, and then prayed. At every stop there was great hospitality – hot tea, cokes, and lots of food. It was a great cultural experience to spend time with these new friends, and also lots of fun.
The newly constructed missionary residence.
Prayer meeting in the home of one of the elders.
After eating we prepared our beds, all of us sleeping outside in the courtyard of this compound. Coming from Abeche, where the days were reaching 118 degrees and the nights still warm, I didn’t bring anything to cover up with. So I was very surprised when I woke up in the middle of the night freezing! I was so cold I pulled my arms in my shirt and curled up in a ball. It was a miserable nights sleep. Lesson learned the hard way…
I will continue with Day 2 in a separate post.
There really should be more of these posts, but I probably take for granted the super cute things my two kiddos say daily. Every once in a while, something is said that I immediately know will be shared on the blog. Here’s two for you:
As we turned left, off of our dirt road filled with potholes, onto the paved road in Abeche, Isaac said, “Now we’re on the clean road, Mom. That road we live on is really dirty…it’s covered in dirt.” Why, yes, in fact, it is!
Another day, recently, I was not paying attention as we drove in the car in the busy capital city, N’Djamena. Isaac was sitting by the window and pointed out the men who lined the streets doing the 5 o’clock Muslim prayers. Without missing a beat he said, “Those men are praying to a false god, Mommy.” Reading the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal with Isaac, as well as other stories about the Israelites turning to false gods has become real to my almost 4 year old as he sees many people in Chad doing something similar. It’s been a great opportunity to remind him exactly why we are here – to tell them about Jesus!
Water in the desert is never a simple thing to find. We are in the very small minority of people here who actually have “running” water in our house. For this blessing, we are grateful, although we once took it for granted! In order to have water readily available at the kitchen sink or toilet, we needed to have a place to store large amounts high off of the ground, where we could take advantage of the law of gravity to provide some pressure to make the water “run”. So, we hired a welder and other workers to construct a tower capable of holding a large (550 gallon, nearly 5000 lbs. when full) tank.. The base of the tank is nearly 12 feet off the ground, and the tank itself is about 6 feet tall.
Every day, we pay for multiple “pousse-pousse” deliveries. A “pousse-pousse” (pousser is the French verb for “to push, or roll”) is a push cart with 10 jerry cans of water. This is how water is delivered to homes in Abeche. Young men fill their carts with water from a well, paying a small fee, and then push the cart around town to deliver the water. The cost for a single pousse is $1.50 – $2.00. When they arrive, they pour the water into a small holding tank at the base of the water tower, and we turn on a pump that’s connected to our solar power system. The water is pumped from the holding tank up nearly 18 ft. to the top of the large tank. The large tank has a pipe feeding our house and voila, we have running water!
There have been a few learning curves for our family, however, when it comes to our running water. Because it is such hard work and costs money to get it to our house, we are trying to teach our boys (and ourselves) to be very conscious of every bit of water we use. We still allow them to play with a small bucket or two in the sand each day. However, their bath water gets dumped from the big basins onto the trees next to where they bathe. We turn the water off each time we don’t need to use it while brushing teeth or during a shower. Instead of flushing our toilet (which is possible), we are trying to get into the habit of flushing manually by pouring water down. Otherwise, an excess of water is used to fill the tank each time it is flushed.
Are there ways you try to conserve water in your home? Is there a place in your home next to a water source where you could put a reminder to pray for those unengaged groups of eastern Chad who not only have no running water but also don’t yet know or love the Source of Living Water?
We are approaching the end of our whirlwind trip to the States and we have less than two weeks before we will be moving to Chad. We’ve spent hours packing and repacking (and sometimes repacking). We’ve driven over 3,000 miles to visit family, friends and supporters. We’ve spent hours in doctors offices getting checkups, shots, prescription refills, and Judah even had a cavity filled (I know, already!?). We’ve seen God’s faithfulness demonstrated over and over again, and we finish our time here with heavy hearts but also high hopes. Emotions are all over the map as we say goodbyes, make final preparations, and collapse at the end of the day in prayer that God would help our children adjust well and that our marriage would thrive despite the immense pressures of daily life in Chad.
I am overwhelmed by an acute sense of my weaknesses and limitations. I’m not competent to complete this task. I like to sleep in a house cooled to about 68-70 degrees, not lay there sweating under a mosquito net hoping for a drop into the 80s. I love Mexican food. I prefer thick green grass to rocks and dirt. I’m not even that good at sharing my faith. Sometimes I struggle for the right words; sometimes I am too self-absorbed to even notice the needs and opportunities around me. I sweat. A lot. Am I crazy?
Maybe, but one thing that’s settled in my mind is that there’s nothing else I’d rather do than move to Africa to bring the Great News to those who certainly could use some. Millions in Chad exist among ethnic groups with NO ONE to preach to them the most amazing message in the history of the universe. And with my eternity secure in the hands of the One who spoke the world into existence, what do I have to lose? A little comfort? This illusion we call “safety”? If we believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God, then we must also believe that the American suburbanite is no safer than the missionary in the most dangerous field. What did the Apostle Paul mean by “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” in Colossians 1?
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
It seems to me that Paul is saying that through his own suffering he testifies to the One who suffered for us, proclaiming His greatness by Paul’s willingness to joyfully endure suffering for the sake of the church and those who would be added to it. Oh that we would view danger, risk, and suffering in the same way Paul did!
So here we go – by faith in the one who is made strong in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:8-10).
In the words of John Patton:
Among many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, “The cannibals! you will be eaten by cannibals!” At last I replied, “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms.
soli Deo gloria
A few things we’ve learned in France –
- Don’t judge the cheese by the way it smells. Josh has tried many French cheeses, and while many smelled awful, once the molded rind is cut off, the cheese tastes nothing like it smells.
- How to be sick “well” – we have had numerous stomach viruses, colds, fevers, etc. and see it as great preparation for Africa. How to be joyful and keep a servant’s heart when you are dog sick is not easy, but has been a huge lesson for us this year!
- Enjoy the French bakeries while you have them. Chocolate bread. Fresh, warm baguettes. Fruit tarts. Éclairs. We can’t even pretend we are suffering here!
- Always watch where you are stepping – most people don’t clean up the sidewalks after their dog leaves “gifts.” In fact, Paris spends millions of dollars each year on “motocrottes” – motorcycles that suck up the doggy gifts at the end of each day. You can’t make this stuff up!
- Go ahead and get used to the weird business hours. Doctors take walk-ins from 8:30am till around noon. Then they break for a long afternoon rest and don’t open back up for appointments until 5:30pm. Grocery stores open around 8:30 and some will close for a few hours in the afternoon. The bigger ones are opened all day. A few are open on Sunday, but only in the morning. As you can see, we had a lot to memorize when we first moved here!
- Central heat isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. We enjoyed our first winter of no central heat. We have radiators that are heated by warm water and do a great job of keeping the apartment warm. We realized just how stuffy central heat in the States can feel and how much it dries out our sinuses. It feels a little old fashioned to use radiators, but we truly prefer it!
- Don’t say “bonjour” or even smile to people on the street. Being from the South, we have a hard time with this “rule.” It is ok to look or stare at people when you are passing them, but if you say “bonjour” they mostly just look at you unless they have lived away from France for a while. Even smiling at them seems awkward, because they rarely smile back. We truly cannot imagine how difficult ministry must be here. Going to Africa seems like a piece of cake – everyone greets you and wants to know why you are there. It is an open door to share about Jesus! Here, things are much different!
- Always be dressed as if you will be receiving visitors. We live in community here on campus and many times a day people are knocking on our door asking to borrow milk or sugar or asking Josh if he wants to play soccer, or if our kids can come play with some other kids. This, too, is great preparation for life in Africa – people will be knocking on our door day and night asking for help or just to visit. We might as well get used to it.
- Living in community is wonderful, but not Utopian! We enjoy the almost constant fellowship with other like-minded friends/classmates here. Our children have built-in entertainment at the sandbox every day. Everyone is willing to serve and help when a need arises. We are encouraged and challenged by Jesus-followers who are striving to please God with their lives. But, we also hear kids screaming all hours of the day and night, have to navigate play times outside with different styles of parenting, and we share a washer and dryer with the other families and hope that everyone follows the schedule. We are with the same people every single day – in class, after class, at church, on the weekends. That is just our reality. We will certainly miss our community when we leave!
- Enjoy the flowers! French towns have a grading scale depending on how many flowers they display in their town. We enjoy the different colors that change with the seasons and have never seen so many flowers in one place! Everywhere we go feels like the Botanical Gardens!