Going to Chad again!

I'm excited to be able to announce that I have plane tickets in hand for another trip to Chad this year! This time it will not be primarily a survey trip (though I am looking forward to seeing the country again and learning more about the culture); I'll be going to attend a translator training workshop.

Our national translators in various countries and language groups have one of the toughest jobs around: translating the Bible clearly and accurately into their own language. As a translation consultant, one of my tasks will be to help give translators the specialized training they need in order to do their job effectively. This trip will give me my first opportunity to observe this aspect of a consultant's work firsthand, so that I can someday do the training myself. In this case, the translators who attend will be from language groups that have already been working on translating for some years, so they will receive advanced translator training.

The trip takes place right after Bibles International's annual retreat and consultant seminar in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's neat how the Lord has worked it out so I will be able to attend the retreat and seminar as well as going to Chad for two weeks. Thanks to all the trips I've made in the past year or two, I've collected enough frequent flyer miles to fly from Pennsylvania to Michigan for free! After the consultant seminar, I'll fly to Chad for the training workshop, then in September I'll fly back to Pennsylvania to continue deputation. Please pray for safety as I fly out and that the training time will be profitable for all who attend.

Below are my flight itineraries for August and September. All times listed are according to local zones. As you can see, I'm taking a different route this time - I'll be flying to Chad on Ethiopian Airlines instead of Air France. It should make for an interesting trip!

August 15:

• Depart Harrisburg 9:38am. Fly 1 hour, 52 minutes. Arrive Chicago 10:30am.
• Depart Chicago 2:08pm. Fly 47 minutes. Arrive Grand Rapids 3:55pm.
• BI's retreat is Aug 16-18 and the consultant seminar is Aug 19-26.
  

August 28-30:

• Depart Grand Rapids 7:44am, Aug 28. Fly 58 minutes. Arrive Chicago 7:42am.
  
• Depart Chicago 8:50am. Fly 1 hour, 45 minutes. Arrive Washington DC 11:35am.
  
• Stay overnight in a hotel (Aussies, that's a motel!) near the airport.
  
• Depart Washington DC 11:45am, Aug 29. Fly 13 hours. Arrive Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) 7:45am, Aug 30.
  
• Depart Addis Ababa 10:30am. Fly 4 hours, 5 minutes. Arrive N'djamena (Chad) 12:35pm.
  
• Probably take an MAF plane to and from Sarh in southern Chad.

September 13-14:

• Depart N'djamena 2:30pm, Sep 13. Fly 3 hours, 45 minutes. Arrive Addis Ababa 8:15pm.
  
• Depart Addis Ababa 10:15 pm. Fly 17 hours, 25 minutes, with one stop in Rome. Arrive Washington DC 8:40am, Sep 14.
  
• Depart Washington DC 12:20pm. Fly 45 minutes. Arrive Harrisburg 1:05pm.

Total flight time: 44 hours and 15 minutes, plus 37 total hours of layovers.