Category: Kid’s Corner Page 1 of 2

Isaac: Mom! I know what “shirt” is in Arabic!

Me: Really? How do you know?

Isaac: Well, I asked Abdoulaye “da chunu” (what is this) and he said, “khalag” (shirt).

Me: That’s right!

I am praising God Isaac is taking initiative to speak to people on his own without my prompting. He even wanted me to let him stay and play at a friend’s house by himself recently!

Isaac out on a visit: Mom, I think we should tell these friends about Jesus.

Me: Ok, Isaac, what should we tell them?

Isaac: Tell them that there is only one true God and they should not be praying to a false God. Tell them that Jesus is the most powerful one of all.

Me Thinking: I am sure at 4 1/2 years old, that was not on my mind.

On our drive to Abeche, we had LOTS of luggage piled high on our vehicle. We prayed at the beginning of the trip for God to keep us and our thing safe. Isaac (4 1/2) asked if that meant God was going to come down, put his arms around the things on top of our car, and make sure they don’t fall off. It was such a literal interpretation of what we were praying for, but we are thankful to share with you that despite one scary moment where I (mom) thought we would topple over sideways when pulling off the side of the road, God did keep us and all our belongings safe!

Due to technical difficulties (Africa?!), I am re-posting this entry. The entire story did not get published yesterday. Here’s the entire post; hopefully it will make more sense now. 🙂

If you visit weather.com these days and do a search on N’Djamena, Chad you will notice the temperature has gotten much cooler – it was only 64 degrees when we woke up this morning.

Isaac and Judah came into our house yesterday morning with much excitement because their friend next door (an American boy who lives on this compound) had an extra hoodie jacket to share with Isaac. You would have thought it was Christmas! Isaac started to take off his long sleeved shirt until I asked him why. He said he wanted to put the jacket on, so I explained that the jacket goes over his shirt to keep him warm. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “So,” he said thinking about it, “I put my shirt on, and then I can put the jacket on over and I will stay warm!” We just laughed – my ‘third culture kids’ don’t really remember what a jacket is since we only need one about 6 weeks out of the entire year!

Why is it cooler now? It’s typically a little cooler during the morning and evening hours this time of year, but weather.com explains that we are also experiencing a “widespread dust covering” – also known as a “harmattan”- a cold-dry and dusty trade wind, blowing over the West African subcontinent. This northeasterly wind blows from the Sahara Desert into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of the November and the middle of March (winter).

Prayer point: This story made me remember the many beggar boys who are sent off to faraway towns, away from all family, to learn the Quran for a few years. They often are found sleeping in the markets at night and begging for money and food during the day. Many don’t have shoes or warm clothes to wear, something that makes for an even more uncomfortable night’s sleep this time of year. Pray for the thousands of boys throughout Chad who are needy both physically and spiritually. Pray for us to know how to best minister to the beggar boys in our neighborhood when we return home soon.

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!