October Prayer Letter

“I know the New Testament pretty well, because it has been printed in my language. But I don’t know the Old Testament very well, because it has not been printed yet,” a young Bible school student remarked to me recently. The local Bible school had just begun classes that morning. After just one day of biblical studies, the student was already feeling his own lack because of the absence of a complete translation of the Bible in his mother tongue! May the Lord grant that one day, the entire Bible will indeed be available in his and many other Chadian languages!

Translation Workshops

In August and September, I participated in two translation checking workshops along with a senior consultant visiting from the U.S., Dr Hantz Bernard. We met with the translation team for the Sara Kaba Naa Bible, followed by a workshop with the Sara Kaba Dem team. Lord willing, both teams will come again in December to check more material. Pray that we will make good progress.

Immediately following the workshops with the Sara Kaba Naa and Dem teams, I participated in another workshop with consultant Dr Troy Manning. We met with the Sara Madjingaye team and were able to finish checking the entire book of 2 Kings.

Each workshop involves much preparation beforehand, as well as days of intense work during the workshop itself, so after three consecutive workshops, I was thoroughly exhausted! So in early October, I traveled to the capital city, N’Djamena, and spent some days resting at a missionary guest house there. The capital is a 14-hour trip from Sarh, but it is one of the best places to go for a change of pace and a chance to relax. Praise the Lord for travel safety and for good rest while I was in N’Djamena.

Literacy Ministry

Earlier this month, my coworker’s sister, Claire Hossack, arrived in Chad. She will be here for several months to help with the literacy ministry. This work is essential to the work of Bible translation, since the printed Bible will not benefit people unless they are able to read it. Pray for the Lord’s blessing on her and her ministry during her time in Chad.

Language Study

Thanks for praying about my study of Sara Kaba Dem. I am continuing to study the language with my language helper, Helene, but our sessions have continued to be inconsistent due to sicknesses or various responsibilities. However, the Lord has provided additional help in the study of the language. Among the new Bible school students are two couples from the Sara Kaba Dem language group. Since the students live just a short walk from my house, I’m looking forward to many more opportunities to practice the language.

Please keep praying also for my continued progress in the French language, so that I will be able to better communicate with those around me.


In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

No bottle? No problem!

How do you feed an infant a drink of water if you don't have a bottle?  Chadian mothers are able to do it with no problem!  Mom scoops up water in her fist - palm side down - then uses her thumb like a spout to direct the water into the baby's mouth.  Just the other day, I observed a mother doing this with her baby; it accomplished the purpose quite well, and the baby seemed perfectly content to drink water this way.  Granted, this method gets both the mother and the baby wetter than they would with a bottle.  But after all, in a hot tropical climate, who cares about getting a little water on themselves?

Vacation Time

After several particularly busy and exhausting months, I'm now glad to be enjoying a short vacation!  I traveled by bus all day yesterday to the capital city, N'Djamena, for a nearly two-week break.  It is a long, hot and tiring all-day trip, but there aren't too many other good places to take a break in Chad. Here in N'Djamena, there is a guest house for missionaries available where I can relax completely with no other responsibilities or concerns to worry about.  I will head back to Sarh on the 17th, but until then, it's vacation time!

If only we had the whole Bible in our language...

I was both encouraged and challenged by a comment from one of the new Bible school students recently: "I know the New Testament pretty well, because it has been printed in Sara Kaba Naa [the student's mother tongue]. But I don't know the Old Testament very well because it hasn't been printed yet." This observation was after just one day of Bible doctrine class. It didn't take long for him to discover how much he needs to have the whole Bible in his own language! May God grant that someday before too many more years have passed, the Sara Kaba Naa people will have the entire Bible in their own language.

Update on Outfit and Passage

I was recently asked about the status of my outfit and passage fund.  Probably others of you have wondered too, so here is a quick update.  All of the estimated expenses have now been covered, including the vehicle expense which was the biggest need.  I am not in the market for a vehicle quite yet, but praise the Lord that I should now have enough to purchase one when I do need it!  Thanks for praying!

Fun Facts of Life in Chad

One of my coworkers once made a list of "rules" about life in Chad.  Together, they give a pretty good picture of how different life is over here.  Some of the "rules" will surprise you.  Some will amuse you.  Some might even shock you.  But I think that you will, at least, find them interesting. 

In my experience in the Republic of Chad, there are a million different small things that we take for granted in the States. But life in Chad is vastly different from America. Here are some things, “rules” if you will, you should be aware of, should you ever have the chance to travel to Chad.

Rules of the Road:

• Always watch where you're walking, a cow might have gone by before you.
• Never leave home without a flashlight, TP, your passport, water, insect repellent, and a blanket. Snack food and a change of clothes would also be a good idea. You just never know.
• Never hit a pig or a cow. Sheep, goats, and chickens are ok because they squish better.
• If you do hit an animal, don't stop if you can help it. Legally they're not supposed to be on the road and you don't want to end up in the middle of a testy crowd.
• Use your horn liberally while driving.
• You will see all kinds of things - including goats strapped on the backs of bikes, chickens hanging from handlebars, and even the occasional cow in the back end of a pickup truck.
• Never hit mud puddles fast. You never know how deep they will be.
• Proceed carefully when passing another vehicle. You never know what the dust might be obscuring.
• Not all public transportation has good brakes. Sometimes they just shift into first gear and have somebody jump out of the back of the truck and put a block of wood in front of a rear tire.
• Always tell people you want to leave at least an hour before the time you really have to take off.
• Cows on the bridge always have the right of way.
• The longer you ride, the hazier the world gets - at least until you clean your glasses.
• Roadside vegetation is always dirty.
• Never hitch a ride on a beer truck. They stop in every village to make deliveries.
• Always wear a hat (guys) or a headscarf (gals). It keeps your hair cleaner and less tangled.
• If you see fresh, live branches piled on the edge of the road, a truck is broken down ahead.
• When they're wet, mud and sand can be every bit as slippery as ice.
• If you want to find the easiest pace to walk in the sand, follow the bicycle tracks.
• If you sit in the back row of the minivan, expect to be covered (and I mean covered) with dust by the time you reach your destination.

Rules of the Table:

• Always watch for pebbles in your rice. If you don't, you may break a tooth.
• Freeze flour to kill the bugs.
• Remember - the intestines of the chicken are the delicacy. (They really don't taste bad, it's just the idea.)
• Slurp your tea loudly and always add at least 6 cubes of sugar.
• Don't wear rings on your right hand while eating.
• When eating in a house with a dirt floor, it's acceptable to dump the last of your water there.
• It's acceptable to feed your chicken bones to the animals.
• If you plan to eat mangoes, don't forget your dental floss.
• If you plan to eat, don't forget your dental floss.
• The preferred soft drinks are Fanta Orange and Coca-Cola. Sprite is a distant third.
• The most honored person at the table is the first one to eat the meat in the sauce. If it's you, they'll tell you after a while.
• Once you've washed your hands before eating, don't touch anything with your right hand - and it's drip dry.

General Rules:

• Nothing EVER happens quickly in Chad.
• Torn money is worthless (except with lots of hassle).
• To get bugs out of your ears, shine a flashlight in. This will draw the bug out.
• While shopping, keep your hands and your money in your pocket.
• Never pay the first price you're asked.
• Always shake everyone's hand upon entering the store.
• Study the 1001 uses for a 'pagne" (the piece of cloth that Chadian women use as skirts).
• Don't look people in the eyes when you talk to them - especially those in authority. It's disrespectful.
• If a lizard runs toward you, look for a snake behind it.
• Use both hands to give and receive.
• 70 degrees is freezing cold.
• It's possible to entertain kids just by sitting there.
• It's also possible to frighten kids just by sitting there.
• Chadians don't shoo flies away from their faces.
• Always stand or sit in the shade, never in the sun.
• If you hear coughing or clapping, it means there's someone at your front door.
• When you enter a church service or a Bible study, always bow your head and pray first.
• Women and girls - always wear a head covering to church meetings.
• People can carry tremendous weights on their heads.
• Always give gifts in a plastic bag.
• You can tell who has come to your house by the footprints in the sand.
• It is rude to ask someone what his or her name is.
• A gasp is a sign of assent.
• The most honored people get the best chairs.
• You can make your Chadian friends happy by wearing Chadian clothes.
• If you have long hair, don't let your Chadian friends see you with it hanging down in front of your face. (They will think you're a demon.)
• Always offer your guests water.
• Chadians like seeing pictures of your family.
• Scorpion horses (a type of spider) will run right toward you.
• If a friend comes to visit you, walk them part of the way home.
• Don't take pictures of Muslims.
• Don't pat a Chadian on the shoulder.
• The teacher always leaves the room before the students.
• If you lose weight, your Chadian friends will be concerned. It's seen as a sign of illness.
• When you're leaving on a trip, Chadians will never let you carry your bag.
• If a woman paints her nails, she will paint her toenails and the nails on her left hand only. It's considered dirty to eat with nail polish on your right hand.

July Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Supporters,

For many Chadians, this is an important time of the year, for our rainy season is now in full swing and many people are starting to grow crops. Agriculture in Chad is quite different from other countries where I have lived. Here, people do not have tractors or other large machinery. Gardens are typically plowed with a hand-held plow pulled by a pair of oxen, then they are planted and weeded and harvested by hand. It is hard work, but in the end, the gardens will provide both food and income for the families who own them. These gardens are a frequent reminder of how God uses His Word to plant spiritual seeds in people’s lives, which in time will produce spiritual fruit, which will in turn benefit many others. Thank you for your continued prayers that God will use His Word to produce much fruit in the lives of the Chadian people!

Bible Translation Workshops
In May, my colleague, Susan Hossack, met with the translators of the Sara Madjingaye (pronounced sah-rah mah-jing-guy) Old Testament. Together they checked and edited the book of Ezra and nearly half of the book of Proverbs. Sara is an important local language spoken by around two million Chadians, either as a first or second language, so this Bible translation can potentially reach many people.

This month, another colleague, Joshua Hedges, has come to Chad for an editing session with the translators of the Day (pronounced like die) Old Testament. They are checking the book of Job.

In late August and early September, two more consultants will visit Chad the translations of the Old Testament in the languages of Sara Kaba Dem, Sara Kaba Naa, and Sara Madjingaye. I will be leading portions of all three workshops with the help of the senior consultants.

Please pray for me and the other consultants as we prepare for these workshops, and pray that good progress will be made in each translation. Pray also that the Lord would encourage and strengthen each of the translators as they sacrifice their time and energy to translate His Word.

Sara Kaba Dem Study
I am continuing to study the Sara Kaba Dem language with Ηélène, the Christian woman who has been helping me to learn the language. While our study sessions together have been good and beneficial, sicknesses and family events have often resulted our sessions being cancelled. Pray that we will be able to meet more regularly so that I can continue to make good progress in the language. Pray also that the Lord will use me to be a spiritual encouragement to Ηélène, and that she will depend on the Lord’s strength every day.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

What do you eat in Chad?

I’ve commented briefly on Chadian food in some previous posts, but thought I’d try to give a more complete description.

Boule

The staple Chadian food is known as “boule” (pronounced bool). It is a sort of mush made of ground grain and water, a little like mashed potatoes but with a stiffer consistency rather like playdough. Many other African countries eat it too, though it comes under different names depending on the local languages. In Chad, it can be made from any of a variety of grains, such as manioc, millet, corn, or rice.

Whatever grain it comes from, boule is pretty bland stuff by itself, so it is always served with some kind of side dish with sauce, made of meat and/or vegetables. My personal favorite is rather like beef stew. Another popular one is fish with a tomato-based sauce. One of the most popular is “gumbo” sauce, made from a green plant. My least favorite is called long sauce, a cold, grayish, stringy mixture of fish or meat and sauce. However, most of the dishes served with boule are pretty good.

The traditional way to eat boule is from a communal dish. You break off a chunk with your fingers, dip it in the sauce, and eat it. Does that sound strange to you – different from the way you eat food at your home? Don’t worry, everyone washes their hands carefully beforehand! By the time you are done though, you will want to wash your hands again. Here in Chad, there are many places without running water, but that is not a problem for hand-washing. Someone will bring you soap and a basin, and will pour water over your hands so you can wash them.

Meat

Meat can also be served without boule. The most common meats in southern Chad are beef, goat, chicken, and fish. Others are mutton and guinea fowl (a poultry bird that looks a bit like an ugly chicken but tastes quite different).

We don’t eat pork or ham, although some people do raise pigs. You see, here in Chad, there is often no refridgeration available, and no meat processing factories, and pig meat is particularly susceptible to certain serious diseases if it is not very carefully handled. So we play it safe and avoid it. I have found this particular detail about Chadian life very interesting. I’d always wondered why the Old Testament Law forbade the Israelites from eating pigs. Probably one reason was simply for good health, since there weren’t fridges or factories back then either!

Other Dishes

Although boule is the most popular food in Chad, it is not the only food eaten here. Rice is also common. So is couscous, which is a kind of grain that is popular in Africa but not as popular in America. Pasta is also readily available, though it is usually reserved for special occasions.

Potatoes are available in Chad but are quite expensive. They are almost a delicacy, actually.

Fruits and Snacks

Fruits are available in Chad when they are in season. Mangoes get ripe at the end of dry season, and there are few things as delicious as a fresh, ripe mango! Bananas are common; the ones we get here are small, barely half the size of the bananas you will usually get in America, but very sweet and good.

Peanuts are popular and are grown right here in Chad and are popular snacks. They will be nicely roasted, and sometimes they will be sugared to make a sweet snack. Before I moved here, I thought I didn’t like peanuts, but I’ve discovered that I really do like Chadian peanuts! They have a richer flavor here, perhaps because they are fresher since they are not imported. Thankfully, since peanuts are popular, peanut butter isn’t hard to come by, though it is different from the factory-made stuff you usually buy in the States. It is home-made, natural peanut butter with no sugar added. We like it. J

Bouille (pronounced bwee) is something between a drink and a food. It is made with white peanut butter (i.e. made from raw peanuts) and rice and sugar … and I forget what other ingredients. It’s usually pretty tasty. Anyway, it is sort of like a rather thin porridge, just thin enough to drink. It is served hot, usually in bowls or large mugs.

Drinks

Hot tea is by far the most popular drink. It isn’t much different from American tea, except that Chadians tend to make theirs stronger and much sweeter than most Americans prefer. Often it is served in small glasses rather than mugs, which works fine except that the hot tea makes the glass hot to hold. My veteran coworkers are used to it, but I’m still training my fingers to tolerate holding hot glass!

Sometimes instead of hot tea, hot milk with sugar might be offered. With the shortage of refridgeration in Chad, fresh milk is not practical, so we use powdered milk. However, it is fortified whole milk and is pretty good stuff.

Soft drinks (soda or pop or whatever you want to call it) are popular. Coke is the top favorite, followed by Fanta and some other fruit-flavored sodas, with Sprite a distant third.

Water is of course essential, especially in this hot climate, and it is good Chadian manners to serve water to any guest that comes by. However, clean drinking water is often not available here, and unpleasant and even serious diseases can lurk in unfiltered water, so my coworkers and I carry our own bottles around wherever we go. Anyway, our friends don’t want us to get sick, so if they do offer us water, it is purchased bottled water that is perfectly safe.

What we eat at home

By now, some people may wonder what I eat at home. We are able to get or make quite a few of our favorite food items or dishes that would be familiar to my American and Australian readers, such as hamburgers, fries, and pizza, though all of those must be made from scratch. We have salad every day if we can, though all the vegetables must be put through a more stringent cleansing process to make it safe to eat. Sometimes we have chicken, but not too often since it is a lot of trouble to make it. You see, in Chad, if you want to buy chicken, you will get a live, clucking, fully feathered bird!

What we don’t eat

In closing, I guess I will also mention some of the things we can’t get here. I don’t like to dwell on that too much because it isn’t worth complaining or worrying about, but perhaps some of you would be interested to know. I’ll just make a list of some things that come to mind. Some of these things can’t be found here in Sarh but can be found in the capital city or the large town of Moundou, some hours’ drive away. Other things can’t be found anywhere in Chad that we know of. Here they are:

• Chocolate bars
• Ice cream
• Breakfast cereal, except for Corn Flakes
• Pre-prepared foods such as frozen vegetables and microwave dinners
• Cheese (except for a kind of canned cheese which is useful for making mac’n’cheese)
• Butter
• Sliced bread (we can get bread but only in long, thin loaves shaped a bit like French bread)
• Yogurt
• Potato chips, except for Pringles
• Turkey

Flyiing Termites and Other Critters

When you think of African animals, perhaps you think of large, exotic animals like lions and hyenas and giraffes. I haven’t seen any of those yet here in Chad, and actually in much of Africa, it would be pretty unusual to see them outside of a game park, where such animals are (more or less) protected from human interference. But we do have our share of smaller critters, especially since we’ve just experienced the first few downpours of the season, and rain tends to encourage them to come out and be active.

Early last week, my coworker Susan and I took a short trip to the town of Koumra, a little over an hour’s drive west of Balimba. The previous evening, we’d had our first major rain, and after the first rains, termites sprout wings, come out of their nests, and fly about. They are very attracted to lights, so that evening there was soon quite a number of them flying about any lights they could find in the house – first little ones, like small flies; then later on in the evening, bigger ones about the size of small wasps. Thankfully both kinds of termites are harmless, but they do tend to fall to the ground after they have flown about for a little while; so you can imagine the results if you try to eat soup under a bright light when the winged termites are out! So as we prepared for our dinner, we just turned off the nearest overhead light and went on with our evening meal as usual (actually, Chadians do eat the bigger termites, but they weren’t on our menu that evening).

After we returned to Balimba, there was another hard rain, and the following evening we were visited again by the local termite population – but this time, far more of them, and all big ones. They found all the holes in our fly screens and soon there were quite a lot of them flying about the overhead lights in the dining room and living room. For a while, I tried to ignore them and went on with what I was doing on the computer. But soon there were too many to ignore, so I decided to retreat to my bedroom to read in peace under my mosquito net.

A little later, Susan and I peeked into the dining room to find every corner of it totally covered with termites; so many that the noise of all their wings sounded like an electric fan running at full speed. We ended up having to turn all the lights in the house off, including flashlights and reading lights, and spent the rest of the evening in the dark. The next morning, the termites were nearly all gone, except for a few crippled ones crawling around. They had finished their nighttime activities, lost their wings, and crawled away, leaving behind their wings scattered all over the floor and furniture, like tiny leaves on a windy autumn day.

There are plenty of other creepy-crawly critters around. There is one creature known as the scorpion horse, or camel spider which comes out in the rainy season (I’ve already seen one or two). It’s neither a scorpion or a horse, and I seem to remember reading somewhere that it technically isn’t a spider either. And I don’t know how it got associated with the camel. But whatever it is, it’s a lot like a large, ugly spider that moves very quickly. There are also genuine spiders: plenty of daddy-long-legs as well as the bigger and scarier varieties of spider.

 But not all the small critters here are ugly. One little critter that has come out with the rainy season is even kind of cute: a creature known as the joli bug (not sure if that is official name but that’s the only name I know for it). It is about the size of a ladybug, and very bright red, in sharp contrast with its typically brown surroundings.

Even cuter is our cat’s latest litter of kittens, which are now about six weeks old and cute as buttons, They are now actively running about the house … and generally getting underfoot.  Hopefully, they will learn to earn their keep as well as their mother does, helping to keep down the population of less charming African critters that find their way in and around our' homes.

April Prayer Letter

 Dear Prayer Supporters,

While some of you who live in the United States may be digging your homes and vehicles out of the remains of a late snowstorm, here in Chad we are in the middle of our “hot season”: the latter part of our dry season, when the heat and humidity increase until the rains arrive in mid-May or so, bringing with them somewhat cooler weather. Currently, daytime high temperatures are consistently around 104°F / 40°C. Although I have lived through hot summers in other countries, the constant heat, both indoors and outside, is something different to adjust to. But in any case, I am learning to be especially thankful for electric fans and cold drinks! Thanks for your continued prayers for me as I continue to adjust to life here in Chad.

March Events

In late March, I attended a translation checking workshop for the Ngamh Bible, this time as an observer. My coworker, Susan Hossack, who led the workshop, has had many years of experience with Bible translation work in Chad and is well acquainted with the local languages, so I learn a lot from working with her. At this checking session, the team edited the book of 2 Samuel in the Ngamh language. Please pray for translators Raphael and Mode (pronounced moh-day) as they continue the work of translating the Bible into Ngamh.

Also in March, my missionary coworker, Dr Joy Hart, left for a nine-month furlough in the US. Please pray for her safety in her travels and that she will have a refreshing and encouraging time with family, friends and supporters in the States.

Sara Kaba Dem

In April, I began studying the Sara Kaba Dem language with the help of Hélène, who is a native Sara Kaba Dem speaker. Learning this language is very different from my French studies last year at the university in Bordeaux. Hélène is skilled at speaking, reading, and writing her own language, but she does not have experience in teaching non-native speakers of the language, so I must write my own lesson plans. No doubt we will both learn a lot from the experience! Thank you for praying for us as we study together.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

Hot Season

We are now into the second week of April, and getting well into that time of year known here in Chad as the "hot season".  In late March, we had quite a bit of rain - much more than is usual for that time of year - which cooled the temperatures down a bit and gave us some relief.  However, things are now more back to normal with rarely any rain, very hot days and usually hot nights as well.  The humidity as well as the temperatures has increased, so often it can be pretty unpleasant.  It's hard to believe that some of my friends in America have just experienced a heavy snowstorm!  Even so, there are things to be thankful for, even at this time of year in Chad:

• We now have hot showers - sun-heated! (Although sometimes on very hot days I wouldn't mind a cool shower, but still it is nicer to have warm water than freezing cold water);
• Mangoes are in season. In my opinion, there are few things in Africa tastier than a fresh, ripe mango! 
• I have electricity in my house which works most of the time, allowing us to use fans to cool us off and make hot nights much more bearable.
• We have a fridge and freezer which make it possible to have cold drinks at any time.

Rainy season with its cooler temperatures doesn't usually start until around mid-May, so the heat will likely continue for a good while yet.  Thanks for praying for me as I continue to adapt to the climate here in Africa.

A quick update

At the end of March, I attended my third workshop since I've moved to Chad.  We edited the book of 2 Samuel in the Ngamh language.  For this workshop, my coworker Susan led the workshop and I attended as an observer.  Since Susan knows the language quite well, she is able to read the Ngamh text without the aid of a French translation of their text.  Of course, since I've been here such a short time, I am not yet able to read Ngamh, but I was able to follow the discussions since French was the language of communication during the workshop.  We're thankful for a good workshop and for the progress that was made.

This afternoon, I'll officially begin studying the Sara Kaba Dem language.  Hélène, a Sara Kaba Dem woman who lives closeby in the city of Sarh, will be helping me to learn the language.  Please pray for me as I study Sara Kaba Dem, not only for the studies themselves but also that new ministry opportunities will open up as a result.

Thank you for praying!

Malaria

I've had another "first-time" experience this past week: my first bout of malaria! Although I take the recommended precautions (anti-malarials, mosquito nets, repellent), they cannot prevent malaria 100% of the time. 

Perhaps if you are like me and read a few too many "jungle adventure" stories as a child, malaria conjures up images of someone lying on a bed deathly sick and burning with fever. In fact, while malaria can be serious if left untreated, it wasn't nearly that dramatic for me. It was more like a stomach flu which just wouldn't go away. But one of my housemates is a medical doctor, and there is a dispensary right down the road from my house. Sure enough, I tested positive for malaria, but after a round of treatments I have now fully recovered and am back to normal activities again.

On another topic, the weather is heating up, as we are now getting close to "hot season" - late dry season, which is the hottest time of the year in Chad.  Daytime temperatures are already often over 40° C / 104° F, and nights are sometimes very warm as well. I am told that April will be even hotter. We don't have air conditioning, but we will do what we can to stay cool. 

In closing, please pray for my coworker, Dr Joy Hart, as she is about to leave on furlough, and will begin her journey back to the USA tomorrow morning.  She will be in the States until November or December. Pray for safe traveling, and a refreshing time with family and friends during her furlough.

February Prayer Letter

Note: I have not been able to get onto my blog for a little while, so this letter is a little old. But here it is for those of you who may not have received it by email.

February 19, 2013
I wrote my last letter with a view through the window of tall apartment buildings and a gray European winter sky. Since then, the scenery has changed a bit! Now when I look out my windows, I see mango, guava, and palm trees, and the bright blue sky and yellowish grass of the African dry season. I have now been in Chad for a little over a month and a half, and though I have so much yet to learn about the life and work here, there is nowhere else in the world that I’d rather be. Thank you all for your prayers and support that have brought me here!

Settling In

Thank you for praying for my journey to Chad! I arrived safely and right on schedule on December 31, along with all my luggage. I am now settling into life in the village of Balimba with my two housemates, missionaries Susan Hossack and Joy Hart. Many things are still new and strange to me, but I am learning to get used to them. Thanks for your continued prayers for me as I adjust. Here are just a few things that I have found different about life here in Balimba:

• Producing our own electricity and running water (thanks to solar panels, a generator, and a water tower);
• Sharing the road with cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, chickens, and other animals, as well as oxcarts, donkey carts, people on horseback, pedestrians of all ages, bicycles and motorcycles … and some trucks and buses and the occasional car;
• Eating Chadian food when at a home or meeting with Chadians: usually “boule”, a kind of mush made of ground grain, with a sauce of vegetables and/or meat, and traditionally eaten with the fingers out of a common bowl;
• Discovering that a temperature around 70°F / 20°C really does feel very cold in this hot climate;
• Using only filtered water for drinking, cooking, and brushing teeth;
• Sleeping under a mosquito net;
• Greeting everyone individually when entering or leaving a meeting or church service.

Two Workshops … and More to Come

In the first half of February, we enjoyed hosting five guests, two of which were translation consultants from Bibles International who came to conduct translation checking workshops, where a portion of the translated text was checked and edited. I participated in two workshops, leading a portion of each one with the guidance of a senior consultant. We checked the book of 2 Samuel in the Sara Kaba Dem language and 2 Kings in the Sara Kaba Naa language. We are thankful for the progress we made during these workshops, but there is still so much to be done before the full Bible can be printed in these languages. Please keep praying that the Lord will give wisdom to the translators and and consultants as they work, and that good progress will be made in each translation.

Pray also that as the Scriptures forth in Chad through Bible translation, preaching, and teaching, that the Lord will use His Word toward the spiritual growth of the Chadian people. Pray that the Chadian believers, especially those in church leadership, will have a desire to glorify the Lord with their lives.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

Prayer Request Update

Thank you for praying for the national Baptist church association meetings. They went better than we had hoped. The two major issues were addressed. It remains to have those decisions communicated to the churches and applied. There could still be problems ahead, but the meeting was a step in the right direction. So, please keep praying for us!

Important Prayer Request

Please pray with all of us serving in Chad for the national church association meetings next week (Jan 16-20).  There are at least two major, potentially divisive issues that need to be addressed. Please pray that the Lord will work in these situations and that wise decisions will be made that will glorify Him.

Thank you for praying!

Some New Sights, Sounds, and Tastes

I've now been in Chad for nearly a week. Right now, it is all rather strange and different – not entirely new, since I’ve been here twice before; and someday, it will all seem normal, and I won’t even think twice about it. But while it still seems new and strange to me, I’ll do my best to describe it for those of you who haven’t yet visited Chad. Maybe the best way to do it is to talk about some of the things I saw and did today, my first Sunday here since arriving almost a week ago.

• First on my list of things to do today was a shower. This isn’t really much different from taking a shower anywhere else, except that the water is cold - we don’t have water heaters here. This was hard to get used to my first time in Chad. It never gets extremely cold in Chad, but in January the mornings are still cool enough that cold water feels really cold. I could heat up some water over the stove and take a bucket shower, but that takes so much extra time and I couldn’t be bothered. Anyway, this time I’ve surprised myself by finding cold showers not nearly so unpleasant as they were the first time I had to do it. In a way, it is rather nice, because a cold shower means a fast shower that doesn’t take much time out of my day. :-)
• Breakfast is next: bread followed by cereal. The cereal is usually a multiple-step process:
  1. Pour the cereal in the bowl;
  2. The only kind we can get in Sarh is unsweetened corn flakes, which are bland by themselves, so I usually add a spoonful or so of sugar (today, however, I have a bag of one of my favorite American breakfast cereals that came in a care package, and it is presweetened, so I skipped this step today);
  3. Spoon some powdered milk over the cereal and sugar;
  4. Pour cold filtered water over the top;
  5. Mix until the powder is all absorbed … and voilà! A tasty bowl of corn flakes and milk, all ready to eat!
  This process might sound strange, but it works just fine. The powdered milk (which is the only kind of milk we can get here) is fortified whole milk and is pretty good stuff. It ends up tasting almost the same as a bowl of corn flakes anywhere else in the world.
• Soon we head off to church in the nearby city of Sarh, stopping on the way to pick up a couple of friends who ride with us. There are French church services in Sarh, but this isn’t one of them; this church’s service is held entirely in the local Sara Madjingaye language, which I don’t speak yet, so my coworker translates for me. 
• During the singing time, I try to follow along as best I can in the songbook. Though the words are all in Sara Madjingaye, I try to sing along too, especially when I realize that one of the ones we are singing is a song I know in my own language (“Nothing But the Blood”). For those of you who are musically inclined, Chadian music uses a 5-note scale, without sharps or flats, so even familiar tunes sound different here, with a distinctly African flavor in the melody that is not at all unpleasant. 
• Offering time is different too; I remember it from my previous trips to Chad. Instead of ushers walking up the aisles and passing a plate around, everyone files out row by row and comes up to the front to drop their money in the plate, walking slowly to the tune of a Chadian hymn. 
• On the way back from church, we stopped by a friend’s home for a chat and a cup of tea. There’s nothing unusual about the tea, but what is different from the USA is that it is served in glasses and not in mugs. I have to hold the glass very carefully near the rim so I don’t burn my fingers, but with a little practice this isn’t too difficult. 
• Before I close this off, I must say a little about driving in Chad. It is always an adventure. Four-wheeled vehicles are kind of a minority in Sarh – not a rarity, just not the primary traffic on the road. Both sides of the street are lined with people walking, riding bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles, and various animals including goats, chickens, dogs, sheep, and cattle, even once this morning a herd of cattle that took up half the road. Chadian cattle are fierce-looking creatures with their long, sharp horns, but thankfully they aren’t aggressive, they just like to think the road belongs to them. :-) Driving here looks at first glance like total chaos, but in fact it is more like a complicated ballet dance, with everyone moving past each other while somehow avoiding running into one another.

There is so much more I could say about life here, but I will leave the rest for another time. My internet connection here does not allow me to upload photos, but hopefully with my description you can imagine a little what things are like here.