February Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Supporters,

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Ps. 12:6) Why take such meticulous care in translating the Bible? Because it is God’s Word, a treasure far greater than any amount of earthly silver!

Translation Update

How do you go about running spelling checks on the entire Bible, with no automatic spell-checker, and no dictionary? This is the challenge we face when we need to check spelling on our Bible translations! The word processing software on your computer has an internal dictionary that the software developers built into the program, but regular software programs have no internal dictionary for languages such as Sara Madjingay, which have very little written material available. So how do we check spelling, especially in a book as large as the Bible?

The software tools we use to check spelling are somewhat similar to the spell checker on your computer, but it is a much more manual process. We first have to “tell” the dictionary which spellings are correct or incorrect, by going through a list of all the words in the entire translation and marking each word “valid” or “invalid”. As we do this, we can make global changes to correct the wrong spellings. Our software has other powerful tools that allow us to run additional checks, such as comparing several words with similar spellings. It’s very tedious work! Each of the three translation projects I am working with has undergone rigorous spelling checks within the last several months. I am thankful for the translators’ faithfulness in working cheerfully through these difficult tasks!

Short Furlough Plans

Plans for my short furlough to Australia are moving ahead well. I have plane tickets! I will arrive in Australia on 1 July and return to Chad on 31 August. I am scheduled to visit four churches while I’m there. I also hope to see some of my old friends again, so if you are in the Melbourne area during that time and would like to get together, I’d love to arrange something with you.

Shepherd's Bag Ministry

After many months of searching, praying, and preparation, we have finally begun building the bookstore building! Please pray that this bookstore will be a blessing to many people, helping to provide Chadians with resources to better study God’s Word.

Update on the Unrest

Thankfully, the unrest from last October has since calmed down, though the situation is not truly resolved and there is still some tension. But things are quiet for now.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

October 2022 Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Supporters,

I always need your prayers, but there are times when I need a bit of extra prayer. So while it hasn’t been that long since my last letter, so much has been going on recently that I felt the need to write to you again.

Short Furlough Plans

In order to reduce the stress on the ministry in Chad, I have prayerfully decided to move to a schedule of shorter, more frequent furloughs, visiting a portion of my supporters each time. Next on my furlough schedule are the churches and individuals in Australia who have faithfully supported me for many years! Lord willing, I plan to visit in July and August 2023. If you are in Australia and you have been praying about my ministry, and you would like to hear an in-person report on what God has been doing in Chad, please let me know so we can find a time for me to visit you and/or your church. Lodging and transportation will be more challenging this time, since my parents are no longer living in Australia, so let me know if you are able to help with these needs. Wherever you are, pray for me as I make plans for this short furlough.

Shepherd's Bag Ministry

In August when I was away on vacation, several boxes of books arrived for the Shepherd’s Bag ministry, and were stacked on the floor in my house. Unfortunately, the boxes were not well placed, and termites got in and ate through the cardboard of two large boxes of books. But God protected them, and although the cardboard boxes were in such bad shape that they immediately fell to pieces when I opened them, only two small books were ruined; dozens of other books sustained little to no damage. Praise the Lord for His protection of these books.

If you would like to contribute to the Shepherd’s Bag book ministry, please send your gift to Baptist Mid-Missions marked for Chad Shepherd’s Bag.

Hebrew Class

The theological school of Balimba started a new school year at the beginning of October. I am once again teaching elementary and advanced Hebrew, with 14 students between the two classes. I reorganized the earlier lessons since last year, and it seems to have helped the students to learn the material better. It is a joy to watch them learning!

Unrest

On October 20, widespread protests broke out against the military junta that has been ruling the country for the past 18 months. The military reacted with violent force, and the official report says that 50 were killed and over 300 injured (though many people are saying that the actual death toll was much higher than this). Whatever the real figures, it was the most violent internal unrest that Chad has experienced for many years. The situation has settled down again at present, but much anger still simmers under the surface. So please pray for peace in Chad.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell

September 2022 Prayer Letter

 Dear Prayer Supporters,

The last several months have been exciting, with guests in June and July, a delightful vacation in August, and encouraging developments in the Shepherd’s Bag Ministry in September!

New Guests

In June and July, we welcomed ten guests from Bibles International: several to conduct translation workshops, literacy workshops, or training for the Chadian office staff, along with four college interns! We don’t often get interns in Chad, as the language barrier makes it challenging for most American young people to participate in many of the ministries here. But this time, three of the four interns knew at least some French, so they were not only able to participate in various ministries, they even interpreted for some of the guests who didn’t speak any French. We were so glad to introduce Daniel, Bethany, Grace, and Adrianna to the ministry in Chad. Pray that the Lord will call some of them (or all of them!) back to Chad to serve in this needy country!

A Great Vacation

At the end of July, I headed to N’Djamena for over a month of vacation. Chad is not a very touristy country, so there are not many places to go for activities or sightseeing. For this reason, I usually spend most of my vacation time lounging in one of the missionary guesthouses in the capital! This vacation was different. We now have three young recent graduates of our theological school who are all serving as associate pastors in churches in N’Djamena.  So while I did sleep at night at a guesthouse, I spent nearly all day with one of the pastors and his family. It was a great blessing to be able to spend time with these fine young families and enjoy great fellowship and mutual encouragement – and it was more spiritually refreshing than my typical vacations. Please pray for pastors Ato, Christian, and Patrice: ministry in N’Djamena is quite complicated at present. Pray they will maintain wisdom, integrity, and faithfulness in their new ministries.

Shepherd’s Bag Ministry

In a previous letter, I asked prayer for a solution to ship books to Chad more reliably. In July and August, I twice ordered books to be sent via FedEx. Both packages arrived in a timely manner and were undamaged. It is more expensive to send the books this way and more of a hassle to receive them, but at least they are arriving! Pray that this method continues to be more reliable, so that pastors can continue to receive the books they need.

After a long search, my Chadian coworker finally found a suitable property to purchase for the bookstore, and just this week we have completed the purchase of the property. It is in a good location and was within our budget. There are already buildings on the property, but the buildings will need some renovation to be suitable for the bookstore’s needs. We hope to have full possession of the property by Christmas, once the current renters move out.

If you feel the Lord is leading you to help with the Shepherd's Bag ministry, please send your gifts to Baptist Mid-Missions marked for Chad Shepherd's Bag.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell