(Dirt) Road Trip – Day 2

On April 26, 2015

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.

(Dirt) Road Trip

By josh

On April 20, 2015

In Chad, Ministry

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.

Pleasing Man or Pleasing God? Thoughts on Galatians 1:10

By kimberly

On March 24, 2015

In Bible, Ministry, Other thoughts

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

In ministry and life, it is easy to muddy our motives. Even the best “works” for the Lord that we do are often tainted with the sin of pride or the desire to please others. This is no less true for the missionary on a foreign field. We give up a lot: family, friends, church, comforts, health, and many things that are familiar. In return, the majority of people back home who support our ministry can put us on a higher pedestal than is deserved. Many forget that we are normal people, struggling with normal sins and problems and temptations that every Christian struggles with. The only difference is we are doing it in a strange culture. Many times the sins and struggles become even more magnified: there is no cushion for hiding our sin problems when we are stripped of all that is familiar.

This verse in Galatians 1 has convicted me recently. At times when I have hard days and complain in my heart about the heat, the work load, the lack of conveniences, the lack of fellowship and deep friendship because of our chosen lifestyle, I am forgetting who I am living for. If my eyes and heart are focused consistently on the Lord, aiming to please Him, I am counted worthy to serving Him and am able to do so joyfully. When I look at my own problems or at my lack of worldly wants and needs, or even at the encouragement we receive from supporters, but forget Who it is I am serving, I quickly lose my joy and desire to serve. According to this verse, I also don’t deserve the privilege of being a servant of Christ. He has promised that following Him means losing much in the present life and gaining much in the life to come. How can I be His servant if my eyes remain on the things of this world? I am not worthy.

As one woman wrote me in a letter a few months ago, “You may be normal people with normal problems but at least you are serving.” This encouraged my heart. It is true for each of us who follows Jesus, no matter which country we are in. We are all normal people with normal sins and normal problems. There are two questions that must be answered. The first is: “Is Jesus enough? Is He worth it?” Is Jesus worth giving up, each day, my desires, my comforts, even those things I think are necessary to my well-being? The next question is, “Are we serving the Lord alone, or still seeking the approval of man?” Am I serving with a pure heart even when no one knows? Am I working wholeheartedly and with joy when no one says thank you? May it always be said of you and me that despite all, we are serving the Lord. He is enough for us.

I write this from my heart partly in attempt to encourage you to remain steadfast, keeping your eyes fixed on the prize which is Jesus, our joy. He is worth living for and dying for. I also write this as a plea for prayer. We need God’s grace daily, each moment, if we are going to thrive in life and ministry for the long term. If I am not seeking the approval of God alone in a place of ministry like Chad, then why am I here?! Your prayers and encouragement to us are important as God continues to sanctify us and prayerfully use us in this place, and we are grateful for you.

Kid’s Corner #3

By josh

On March 18, 2015

In Kid's Corner

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!

Running Water and Living Water

By josh

On February 20, 2015

In Chad, Ministry

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?

Blessings from the sun

By kimberly

On February 20, 2015

In Chad

Home made granola!

We are always thankful for the most noticeable blessing of the sun: it gives light and heat. Since moving to Chad, and especially since moving to our new house 10 days ago, we have many other reasons to be grateful for the sun:

I can cook my yogurt in the sun and make goodies like granola and banana bread in my solar oven.
The sun heats up the water that we use to shower with and wash our hands.
The sun also makes it possible for me to have consistent refrigeration and even a freezer that never has to be turned off. This makes my life so much easier, because for the past four months, I haven’t been able to store food very well for my family – we had a generator to run several hours each morning and three hours in the evening. As hot season is approaching, things like yogurt, leftovers, and milk were turning bad quickly.
In the very near future (read: as soon as Josh has time), we will also be thankful that the sun’s energy gives us constant lighting and even fans to keep us cool. For now, we use a generator during the hot part of the day and for a couple hours in the evening and it is not too bad, but we will be happy to be able to turn on lights and fans whenever we want.

What an amazing part of creation God chose to make!

Our Language Tutor

By kimberly

On January 15, 2015

In language, Ministry

We started language lessons this week, and we are very excited. Our language tutor has helped other westerners learn Chadian Arabic, so he knows what he is doing. He is very knowledgeable of his language. He comes from a family of Arab nomads who travel with their camels throughout Chad. Not only are we sure to learn much about the Arabic language from him, but also the interesting culture of nomads which is almost incomprehensible to us! Pray for our interaction with N, who is a Muslim but has been exposed to the teachings of Scripture to some degree through the English classes he attends and his relationships with other workers who have passed through our town to learn Arabic. We look forward to sharing more about what God will do through this relationship.

Camel Ride

By kimberly

On January 15, 2015

In Chad, Family

Mommy and Isaac riding a camel!

I am a little late at sharing this story, but it is too good not to share with you! Isaac and I had the opportunity to ride a camel after Christmas. We went with a group of short term workers here at the orphanage, and it felt very touristic. If you want to come visit us in Chad, we now can possibly offer you a camel ride (sounds adventurous and exotic, huh?!) and even a climb up one of the mountains outside of town at sunset (romantic, maybe??). Anyways, Judah and Josh walked next to us as our camel took us through the desert. The ride lasted about 30-45 minutes and was comparable to a horse ride, just higher. Oh, and our camel liked to stop and reach up in the tree branches above to get a snack here and there. We had to hold on tight, but really the actual ride was quite relaxing and would have put Isaac to sleep if we had continued much longer. We had a bought of excitement in our group as another camel who was a bit angry threw off a boy and his father. They were ok, and even got back on another camel. The camel herders (I don’t know what they are called) calmed the angry camel and got him to kneel down to the ground, but 10 minutes later we saw him running fast through the desert! It began to feel like a scene from an old western movie when a man on horseback chased the camel down at full speed right in front of us! That was surely an experience we won’t soon forget!

First Sumaya

By kimberly

On January 15, 2015

In Chad, Culture

Earlier this week, I was invited to my first baby naming ceremony by another friend who is here learning Arabic before moving to another town. This friend lives fairly close to me and the new baby’s family lives in between me and my friend. It was very similar to the ceremonies I have attended in Senegal. We arrived around 1pm and greeted the many women scattered throughout the compound who were cooking the large meal or socializing on mats in the shade. Then, we were taken into the mother’s bedroom where she was sitting with her 7 day old baby on the bed underneath a mosquito net. She will stay in her bedroom or the compound for 40 days, if I understand correctly. We greeted her and the few friends and sister who were there with her and gave her our gift (blanket, socks, etc). We had a small snack of cookies, candy, and Chadian tea. We chatted with the family and my friend introduced me as one of their neighbors. This family has four wives and 40, yes forty, children. The compound is huge and each wife has a house of her own with mud brick walls around. The lady we visited this day has seven living children but has lost six children. The husband is in his 70s and I would say this lady was my age or a little older. We visited with her sister also, who was a very friendly woman. She was nursing her baby and when she finished we noticed how thin the baby’s arms were. It looked just like the photos of malnourished children we all have seen. She said her daughter, now 8 months old, had been sick for some time but is now better. That sight was a shock for me and heartbreaking also, but truly, this is a reality here that I am sure we will face over and over again in ministry. We finished our visit with the mom and friends by praying for her and the baby to be healthy and strong and for God to bless her family. Then we were taken to the house of another wife where ladies were sitting on a mat chatting until the food arrived. We had rice, meat, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and a host of other things that were all quite tasty. We sat around a common large plate and there were several small bowls with different dishes for the celebration. I had to leave a bit early unfortunately, because our first language lesson was starting at our house, but my friend was able to stay and help wash dishes with them.

Our Daily Rhythm (this month anyway)

By kimberly

On January 15, 2015

In Chad, Family, Ministry

A few days ago, another worker told us that she feels like every few months she finds herself in a new daily rhythm of life and ministry. I am finding this to be true for us as well. As we meet more people and get more settled into our new life, our routine is changing. Because of this, I think maybe it is a good time to share what our daily life looks like this month. It is very likely to change next month, though! Our day starts when the sun comes up. We are no longer waking up with the 4am call to prayer, but the boys still wake up early, around 5:30. We start cooking breakfast (oatmeal, eggs, occasionally biscuits or Sudanese bread from the market), and we really need to be eating breakfast no later than 7. Josh has kindly started cooking breakfast several days each week just to give me a break from the kitchen…I am very thankful! Because we have a big breakfast early in the morning, I have started setting everything out the night before: counting the eggs so they can be bleached as soon as we walk into the kitchen in the morning; measuring water and oatmeal for cooking, setting out plates, bowls, forks, spoons, etc. Often at breakfast, we try to read 2-3 verses from Psalms or the NT to help the boys get acquainted with the language of Scripture. Also, Abd, the believer who is helping us work on the house, comes over and has breakfast or coffee with us before heading to work on our house with Josh. This has provided opportunities to discuss Scripture with him and it is so interesting to hear things from an African/Muslim background viewpoint. My house helper arrives between 8 – 8:30 to wash dishes and I usually sit down with the boys before she gets here to read books with them. Judah always runs and squeals excitedly when she arrives. They love having people come to our house – everyone here loves children and gives them lots of attention. She goes to the market most days for me around 9, when it opens. Some days I get to go with her – with or without the boys – and other days she goes by herself. When she gets home at 10, we all sit down and have a morning snack of peanuts, bread with peanut butter, yogurt, Chadian tea, coke, or whatever else we have available that day. This is a good opportunity to sit down with A and communicate to her that we value her for more than just the work she is doing for us. We also get to practice our Arabic with her. After that, she either cooks a “lunch” meal for us or washes clothes (by hand) or mops the floors. I am usually doing things like playing with the boys, doing the other household chores that are necessary, going with Josh to see the progress on the house, or making yogurt, etc. The boys usually get bucket baths in the warmest part of the day (before naptime) since it is too cold at night to bathe. They take a rest from around 12-2. We try to rest too, whether reading, dozing off, etc, but that is a little more challenging now because we have (finally!) started language lessons! N, our tutor, comes to our house around 1pm to start lessons with Josh. A little after 3, after our tutor does his ritual prayers and has a small break visiting with us, I begin lessons with him and Josh takes the kids outside to play. (Our lessons are in the front room, which is a screened in porch, so it is appropriate.) At some point between 1-5 we are eating the food that A cooked or some sort of substantial snack. We are still trying to figure out a meal schedule now that we have language in the afternoons. I am thankful for our big sit-down breakfast each morning, since our other meals are less formal. Usually for dinner, we eat grilled cheese, pb and j, fruit, yogurt, etc. We are doing our best to guard our evenings for family time before the kids go to bed. This could change once we get moved into our house, but we will see. So, for now, this is our daily “rythym.”

Towards Reconciliation

our family's adventures in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

(Dirt) Road Trip – Day 2

(Dirt) Road Trip

Day 1

Pleasing Man or Pleasing God? Thoughts on Galatians 1:10

Kid’s Corner #3

Running Water and Living Water

Blessings from the sun

Our Language Tutor

Camel Ride

First Sumaya

Our Daily Rhythm (this month anyway)