Second Half of My Chad Trip

Some of you may have noticed that my blog disappeared from the internet for a while, and perhaps you've been wondering what's become of me! Well, I am still on the earth, and I haven't deleted my blog. But Blogger apparently decided that writing blog posts from a remote corner of Africa was "unusual activity" and took it upon itself to block my account for a while. I suppose it is rather unusual activity, when you think about it! :-) But thankfully, the problem has been repaired now, so I can share with you a little of what has happened in the last couple weeks.

First, praise the Lord that the team in the Sara Kaba Naa workshop was able to finish checking the entire book of 2 Samuel. Pray that they will be able to make good progress as they continue to translate the Old Testament.

After the workshop was finished, I went with Susan Hossack to her home in Koumra, about 3 hours' drive (in dry season) from Sarh. The road is dirt the whole way, but not for long. Work is being done to pave the road between Sarh and Koumra, and though no blacktop is laid yet, portions of the road are nicely graded.

In Koumra, I had the opportunity to get a tour of the hospital there, where missionary Dr Joy Hart serves. It was my first glimpse of medical missions in Africa, and although I am sure that the Lord has not given me any medical skills, it was very interesting to see this ministry.

After just a few days in Koumra, we had to return to Balimba (the village near Sarh) to prepare for the arrival of a literacy team from BI. Our trip back included another new experience for me. With so few vehicles around, it is very common for missionaries give rides to people who are without their own efficient means of transportation, and this trip was no exception. But one of our passengers was a young woman with an eye tumour, who had gone to the Koumra hospital in hopes of getting treatment. But sadly, the tumour was already much too far advanced to have any hopes of a cure, so she had to make the long and painful trip back to her home and family. She was obviously in great pain, and I felt so sorry for her. I'm sure that she and her family would appreciate your prayers, though we may never know in this life what happened to her after she got home.

A few days later, the literacy team arrived, and our group expanded to five - a fun and lively bunch! Their first task was a literacy training workshop for the Ngamh language group. This was not to teach people to read, but to train national literacy teachers, who will go back to their own villages to teach their own people to read. The Ngamh have a New Testament, literacy primers, and a book of Old Testament stories (but no complete Old Testament yet). The storybook was the focus of the workshop: training the teachers in how to use the storybooks as an aid in teaching reading. I am not a literacy specialist, but I enjoyed observing several days of the workshops, learning firsthand about the literacy side of BI's work.

All too soon, my month in Chad was up, and I had to pack again and say a tearful au revoir to the place that I have already come to love. I'll tell you all about the long journey back to the USA in another post.


The photo above is of one of the attendees of the workshop, using his Ngamh OT storybook. You can view more photos of my trip here, if you have not already done so.