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!