Attendre (waiting)

Reporter's Notebook: N'djaména, Chad

If you click on the above link, you will see notes from a French reporter currently in the capital of Chad. Her written comments show in a colorful way why our team is currently not seeking entry. It's just not the time right now it seems. Our decision to wait a bit isn't based primarily on the tension in the capital - this is a factor, but tension alone isn't enough to keep us away from people who don't know the Lord. It's a combination of factors. Two main ones are the hesitance that our field leadership feels that God is giving in his prayers about us, and the fact that a new rebel attack has been threatened.

For the time being we are looking at other options for learning Chadian Arabic, the next step in following our calling. We have heard that there is a community of people in Maroua, Cameroon, that speak a dialect of Arabic very similar to that we want to learn. Maybe it's not a direct step into Chad, but it is at least a diagonal step in the right direction. As we wait for God to direct us through this decision process and work out the details for us, please join us in prayer:

1. God, lead the Chad team to a wise to decision about their next move.
2. God, bring the gospel of hope to the people we have been praying for for so long - We aren't ashamed of it, because it is God's power to save those who believe.

Thank you for joining with us

Three Guys in 2008

Some of you know that I am praying this year 2008 for THREE DISCIPLES. That is three guys that I will be able to share with about Jesus, see them come to Him, and help them grow towards him. This goal was scary for me to establish because I have no idea where these disciples will be – Chad, France, the US, another African country as we wait for Chad to open up? Furthermore, I have very few non-Christian friends in my life right now. Most of the ones I had were through our French school. Now that I’ve stopped attending, I only have loose ties to some former students by e-mail.

I’m relying on your prayers to open something up. 2 Thess 1:11 says “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”

Thanks again for your prayers.

Uncertainty

So the team is in maybe more flux than ever. After the McKenzie’s harrowing ordeal being evacuated from N’Djaména, Chad during the rebel attack in early February (read about it at www.majestyinmeekness.org click on 'Dawn Treader'), they are back in Chambéry safe and sound with their children Eleanor, Elijah, Silas, Annelise, and Jocelyn. Because we were in California during most of February, they were able to stay in our apartment. God really worked out the timing on that quite well. Anyway, now we are back in our apartment and they have moved to another apartment nearby. I really feel for their family. Over the past six months, they have lived in nine different places, in three countries, for at least two weeks each.

Margit gave her notice on her apartment long ago, and had her ticket booked for Chad. After the attack on the capital, the ticket was cancelled, and she was left without a place. So she moved in with one-year-old Ben Carter (in the Carter’s apt) for a while. Still on the move, she is currently staying in our office.

As a team, excepting our newest family the Schraders who are currently in Illinois raising support to come overseas, we are in this situation: We came to France to learn French, but this is done now, so we are ready to go to Chad. But Chad may not be ready to take us. The government is trying to get back on its feet now, and things are slowly returning to normal. The opposition says it will try another coup, but the European force finally being established on its peacekeeping mission in the east should discourage any opposition plans.

Another option would be to go to temporarily set-up in a neighboring African country to start on our Chadian Arabic learning there with Chadian expats, just to make a further step toward our goal while waiting to enter Chad.

We wait, watch the news, seek counsel, pray, and hope God will show us when and where to go.