Hey Everyone,
Well, we made it here to Chad! We arrived yesterday night at about 10 here in the capital, N'Djamena and were warmly welcomed by Uncle Scott and Aunt Suz. That was a relief after nearly missing our flight from Paris to Chad. The check-in station opened 2 hours before the scheduled take-off, so after checking our bags in we got right in the security line. After waiting in line for an hour and a half, we finally ran (literally) through the gate right as it was closing!
And my oh my, we've had quite an adventure already, and it's only the first day! We had an earlier rise than most of us hoped so we could get to another compound to send off some paperwork for the Chadian gov. After that they showed us around the city and it's quite....interesting. To put this into perspective, the entire city of N'Djamena, the capital, is more rundown than the worst parts of Rochester, it was really shocking to see the overwhelming poverty. To add to the excitement, the roads are roughly paved, when you're on the "main street" of N'Djamena, the rest of the time it's partially paved, or just dirt. The overriding traffic law is, 'get where you need to be without killing anyone', the rest is up to you. They have figured out how to drive down the right side of the road, (most of the time) but that's about it. We went to the market to buy some meat for lunch and pastor Dana got to...witness, an authentic Chadian meat market, I wasn't there so I didn't get the experience, but it was quite a shock for him, you'll have to ask him about later.
So, this afternoon we've been preparing for the conference; making beds, hanging mesquitoe nets, setting up chairs and tables, etc. P.Dana has put together a B reading schedule for us to read while we're on this trip which has been a blessing, and we had our first little team-meeting here this evening and discussed the B reading, as well as the culture shocks we had today while out. Tomorrow we'll be making the final preps for the conference and the other missionaries will be arriving tomorrow evening.
Thank you all again for your prayers and support, it has been a major blessing. One big answer to prayer was regarding the baggage. They were all overweight and we could have been charged at least $1700 in overweight fees, but God was with us and we didn't have to pay any extra!! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Several of the team members have been not feeling so well, because of either a cold or random bug. The heat is really taxing as well, so it's always on our minds to stay well hydrated.
Prayers for sustained health and stamina would be much appreciated.
From your whole Chad Team,
Brent
5 comments:
Thank you so much for the update! We've been checking the blog regularly to see how ya'll are doing. Thank you Brent for the details! We'll continue to lift ya'll up for health, safety and wisdom.
Hey PD -- I have some good tofu recipes I'll pass along to you when you return!! Haha!
Brent, thanks for your descriiptive update. I could almost feel myself running for the plane!! Oour prayers are with you and the whole teem for a wonderful and spirit-led conference and for you to both give and receive many blessings to/from the people of Chad.
Hey Ryckmans! This is so cool to be a long distance part of your adventure! Love the updates. We continue to pray for a blessed trip for you all. Your kitties did absolutely great- no problems at all. They are eating, drinking and happy to be home. The Lord keep you! Julie K
Hi team! Praying for you all constantly! Praying for your travel to SIL tomorrow for c. and for P. Dana if he is asked to speak. How's the kitchen work going Bekah? Is it hot?? This mother's heart would love to see a pic of you in the kitchen or in your wrap! Have you used up the 30 lbs. of cheese yet? haha How's the French interpreting going Jim? Done any car maint. yet? Praying VBS is a blast for the younger ones and lots of energy for you all! Hope your "teen time" with Daniel and Jess is great too. Have a fun time at the hot dog roast and smore making tomorrow night! Do you all really take a siesta? Any news on Steve? Your church family loves and is praying hard for you all! xo xo xo Sherry (mom)
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