Mixed Emotions

One month from today, I'll be leaving France to begin a new life in Chad, Africa.  Yes, the long journey toward Africa is nearly over, and new adventures - new journeys - are about to begin. I've visited Africa four times, but this time is different: this time, I don't have a return ticket.  I'll be really living there.  Africa will now be my home, not just a place I've visited.

Most of the time, I'm thrilled! Soon I will be in Chad where I so long to be - seeing new and old friends, getting back into the Bible translation ministry, getting better acquainted with the people and languages that I just had time to be introduced to on my earlier trips.  Besides, I've been waiting for 23 years to make this move - what could be more thrilling than seeing that nearly life-long dream soon to become a reality?

Often I am a bit nervous too.  There will be so many things to get used to: cold showers, no super-high-speed internet access, brushing my teeth with filtered water, hot weather, limited electricity and running water, unpaved roads, mosquito nets.  But far more than that, there will be new customs and a new culture to adjust to, new languages to learn ... and new difficulties to face.  BI's ministry in Chad, while so very much needed, faces many challenges, and I will need to depend on the Lord's grace every day to help me through them. 

Sometimes I am also a little sad.  One year in France has been just enough time to gain sufficient skill in the language to communicate on a reasonable variety of topics and make some good friends.  How thankful I am for my Christian French friends, who have been so gracious with all my stumbling attempts to communicate in French!  And for my American missionary friends, who did so much to help me get settled in and to help me learn my way around!  I can't imagine how I would have managed this year without the support of all of my friends here.  And soon I must say goodbye to them - how can I do that?!  I'm not sure when I will next be able to visit Bordeaux to see them all again.  Yes, goodbyes are sad, even when the "hello" on the other end is very exciting! 

Thrilled ... nervous ... sad ... excited ... sometimes by turns, and sometimes all at once!  I suppose it is normal to have mixed emotions when looking forward to making such a big step.  Wouldn't you feel the same?  Still, mostly it is exciting!  New adventures are ahead.  The Lord will be with me in all of them.  Please pray that I will continually seek to draw close to Him, whatever adventures He has in store for me in the months and years ahead!

Update on the Rito New Testament

Translators Gilbert and Ndjoni, with consultant Susan Hossack, have been working hard at finishing the corrections for the Rito New Testament.  In their last workshop, both Gilbert and Ndjoni were in poor health, but the Lord answered your prayers and gave them strength to continue each day.  They checked the spelling of nearly 2000 words, and made corrections to the book introductions that will be placed at the beginning of each book.  Praise the Lord that they were able to finish all the corrections!

Electricity is limited in Chad, so the translators are not able to have their own computers, but the translation center in Balimba has both computers and electricity, so most of the work is done by hand and then entered into the computer later by the translation office staff.  Therefore the next task for the Rito project is to enter all the corrections into the computer; the finished text will then be sent to the BI headquarters in Grand Rapids for formatting.

Please pray:

• For Susan Hossack and office staff Mamra and Kimiri as they enter the corrections;
• For the staff in Grand Rapids as they format the text once it is received;
• For the remaining funds needed to cover the printing costs (about $6,000 still needed).

Chad Translation Center in Balimba

Visa Update

Shortly after I sent in my visa application a few weeks ago to the Chadian embassy, I received a call that I needed to send in one more document.  I suppose I should be used to this by now: as a friend said, when doing business in France you will always be missing one required document the first time around!  In this case, I had sent everything in, but one document wasn't what they wanted. Eventually, I was able to get the right document and sent it in, but still wondered if even that was what they wanted.  So today, I called to verify that they have it and are satisfied with all my paperwork.

Even after 10 months in France, I get all sorts of butterflies in my stomach about phone calls -- you can't read people's lips or gestures over the phone, and I find it much easier to get derailed if the person talks fast or has an accent that I'm not accustomed to.  In this case, I spoke to two people, one of whom wasn't too hard to understand, the other I kept having to ask to repeat things.  But in spite of that, we did manage to communicate, and praise the Lord, they are now satisfied with all my paperwork, and I should receive my visa next week!  I'm very thankful to be nearly done with this process -- for the moment, anyway.  Visas will be a part of my life as long as the Lord has me in this ministry -- maybe the next 35 years or more - so I'm trying to get used to it.  Thankfully, the Lord is in control even of the decisions of embassies and consulates -- whether they know it or not!

Sara Madjingaye: a trade language in need of the Scriptures

Location of Sara Madjingaye speakers

Sara Madjingaye is an important language of southern Chad, with between 200,000 and 400,000 native speakers. There are also many second-language speakers, since it is used as a local trade language.  This makes it the largest and most predominant Chadian language that we are currently working with, and therefore a translation of the Scriptures into Sara Madjingaye is particularly important for the area.

The Sara Madjingaye translation team

We praise the Lord that the New Testament was published in Sara Madjingaye some years ago; however, the Old Testament is still in the process and has suffered delays for various reasons, including the tragic death of a Chadian translation consultant several years ago.  Since then, an American consultant has begun full-time ministry in Chad, and two more Sara Madjingaye believers have joined the translation team.  This should help the translation to move along more quickly.  Our goal is to complete the Sara Madjingaye Bible by 2016.

Please pray:

Torta at a training workshop

• For translators Noubadoumadji, Madjissem, Nayedi, and Torta, that the Lord will give them wisdom as they translate and unity as a team.
• That the Lord will provide for the personal needs of the translators, so that they will be able to translate without worries and distractions.
• That the translation will be finished by the goal date of 2016.
• For funds to print the translation.

Reading the Sara Majingaye New Testament for the first time