Aug. 4th
Just wanted to let you know why you haven't heard from Andy and Cari in a
little while. I came away to Ndjamena on Monday 26th July for various
meetings and bringing the volunteers up. The theory was that I would have a
new tank put on my vehicle and return Saturday. BUT!! the car was not ready
and is still not ready. I fell sick on Sunday and am still not very mobile.
But I am in sms touch with them. They seem to be doing okay although
obviously sms does not give any room for detail. Don't know if she said but
Cari was to start teaching English at the church "summer school" on the
Monday I left. She was to be teaching various levels and when I spoke to her
once, she said it went well. I know she was glad to get out doing something.
Andy is kept busy with children at the hospital, some very sick. His
interpreter seems to be working out well, thankfully.
Think that is all for now. Hope to get back there in a few days.
Best wishes
Ann
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thanks for Prayers!
Pam is doing MUCH better! She still is resting after doing something..
but is able to do some things. Now the balance of not doing too much
will come into play. Her daughter is still here up from BaIlli five
hours south. Pam's mom is also flying in here next week for a stay.
The Drs are pleased with her progress. and We are all thankful!!
Thank you for praying!
but is able to do some things. Now the balance of not doing too much
will come into play. Her daughter is still here up from BaIlli five
hours south. Pam's mom is also flying in here next week for a stay.
The Drs are pleased with her progress. and We are all thankful!!
Thank you for praying!
Through our friend, Debbie, an update
Andy has sent a few messages.. and would like praises for Cari's
teaching. It is going well. Hi to everyone! They have no email this
week as Ann is here dropping the two British volunteers off for their
flights to UK on Friday. Pray for her time here to get lots of things
done while in town. Pray for Tom and Phil who have just finished 3 1/2
months in Bebalem and head to UK for university this fall. Pray for the
family as they are there without a computer for the week. (so far so
good! :) They are looking forward to her return. :)
The big prayer for everyone here is for Pam Propst. She had three days
with lots of negative symptoms that seem to be due to the seizure meds
she was on at first. They have switched meds and she is improving.
They are so happy about that as they were talking medical evacuation to
Europe. Please pray that the new medicine would work better. We are
waiting for blood work to come back this afternoon. Pray that the
bruise on her brain would continue to heal. Pray that the team
supporting her would be able to discover the emergency office details
that must be attended to .. and attend to them. Pam has big shoes to
fill. Pray also for Pam's family and team here as they love her dearly
and want her to heal quickly.
Thank you so much for getting folks to pray! I know that Pam, and Andy
and family, appreciate it! God hears our prayers!
Bless you all!
teaching. It is going well. Hi to everyone! They have no email this
week as Ann is here dropping the two British volunteers off for their
flights to UK on Friday. Pray for her time here to get lots of things
done while in town. Pray for Tom and Phil who have just finished 3 1/2
months in Bebalem and head to UK for university this fall. Pray for the
family as they are there without a computer for the week. (so far so
good! :) They are looking forward to her return. :)
The big prayer for everyone here is for Pam Propst. She had three days
with lots of negative symptoms that seem to be due to the seizure meds
she was on at first. They have switched meds and she is improving.
They are so happy about that as they were talking medical evacuation to
Europe. Please pray that the new medicine would work better. We are
waiting for blood work to come back this afternoon. Pray that the
bruise on her brain would continue to heal. Pray that the team
supporting her would be able to discover the emergency office details
that must be attended to .. and attend to them. Pam has big shoes to
fill. Pray also for Pam's family and team here as they love her dearly
and want her to heal quickly.
Thank you so much for getting folks to pray! I know that Pam, and Andy
and family, appreciate it! God hears our prayers!
Bless you all!
Settling in
21 July, Wednesday
Bebalem, Chad
We thank God every time we remember you and pray you continue to grow in Hislove and mercy. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow isn’t yet, how will we worship,honor, and serve Him today? The last two days have been extremes here in Chad. Yesterday was mybirthday. The day started similar to Monday, rounding on Pediatrics. Thiswas my second day in a row so I was actually starting to feel a little bitcomfortable with the routine (watch out when that happens!). The pediatricward consists of three sections, separated by partial walls, 12-13 beds persection. Usually there is one patient per bed (or one bed per patient) butsince we’ve had more than 40 hospitalized peds patients I actually saw twokids on bed 11 and three kids on bed 12 (and for whatever reason, there areno beds 18 and 25, and there is a bed 21b). I saw 29 patients before lunchand then another 8 or so after lunch. Numerous kids are severelymalnourished, but some parents don’t want to stay for the prolonged refeedingprogram because they don’t have money. Lots of malaria, diarrhea,dysentery, rashes, and coughing. Several kids with severe mouth ulcers.One kid with heart failure. Bed 14 took a swing at me, the scary white guy,(now we call him “le boxeur”) which made everyone laugh. It was quite nice,actually, because it meant he had some strength and vigor, which many of thekids had long since lost. It seemed like a fairly ordinary work day. Ofcourse, being so busy meant I haven’t had time to visit the other wards(OB/maternity, men, women, private, surgical). Dr. Ann sees the patients inour “ICU” (more about that below) and then has been doing administrativework, so I’m kind of on my own, but at least today things went ok. I got home around 4pm.
Cari had invited our small missions team over fordinner (Dr. Ann and the two lads, Phil and Thom – Dr. Elizabeth fromSwitzerland couldn’t make it). She spent the day making shepherd’s pie andbrownies. Drew, Tony and I walked down to the local store for coca-cola.We had a regular party! It was good fun. Topped off with a game of Ark ofthe Covenant which Thom won (guess English lads don’t believe in letting thebirthday boy win J). Even more impressive considering there weren’ttemperature settings on the oven and the baking pan didn’t fit in itproperly. Oh, and our battery blew a fuse so we only had lights from 7 to8pm. I got to open presents which included some amazing cards, personalizedplacemats, and even a treasure hunt. Considering where we are, it was one ofmy most memorable birthdays. Thanks to a great family.
Today was about as different as possible. Dr. Ann interrupted morningrounds (we had moved backwards from bed 39, and were about half way done)with some additional tasks. Now that I’m here, Dr. Ann suggested to theclinic nurses that see all the outpatients, that they could send the moredifficult cases down to the ward to see me. Dr. Ann thought there were twowaiting but that quickly multiplied into five. While we were trying to seethese patients, we got called to a private room where a child was starting todevelop respiratory distress from measles pneumonia. We transferred to the“ICU” but that was full. As lunchtime came and went, Dr. Ann asked me to seea couple of ICU patients with her. One 12 year old seemed to have a septicarthritis of the left hip, spreading now to include abdominal pain anddifficulty breathing. When she asked what I thought, I mentioned wanting toget an xray, ultrasound of the hip, surgical consult, lab tests, and startIV antibiotics. Of course, the only thing available to us here were the IVantibiotics, and even these are too expensive for many families. We did take a short lunch break around 2:30, and when we returned there wasa new baby in the next bed over. This baby had fever and difficultybreathing and probably had severe malaria, but as we were getting herinitial weight and discussing what to do, she got worse and died. Right infront of us. It was so sad and discouraging to be so helpless, probably themost discouraging thing I’ve ever experienced. I brought resuscitation bagswith us, but there isn’t any oxygen in the “ICU”. And no quick way to startIVs (we have to write a script, including what size IV needle to use, thenthe family goes and purchases the supplies, then the staff starts the IV, ifthey are good or lucky with the one IV needle). There wasn’t anything wecould do to stop it. And there was only one nursing assistant staffing the“ICU” at the time (13 beds), pretty typical I guess, because of the limitedresources. There are often nursing students around, but their classes areover in August. SO different from even Togo, where four nurses would’vejumped to the bedside, started IVs, gotten an xray, started antibiotics andmalaria meds, all before we even turned to the family to talk about historyor cost. Over 7 kids have died since I’ve been here, and we think the 12year old will die in the next day or two. It’s a little overwhelming. Carireminded me there’s a reason Chad is in the top ten for infant mortality(and Togo isn’t). And that’s part of the reason we felt called here this summer and not there. Hmm………
We’ve had two special prayer times, one with Dr. Ann and three localpastors/hospital chaplains, and one with the AIM team (Dr. Ann, Thom, andPhil). The missionary community here is definitely small, but times ofprayer are uplifting, and it was also nice to be encouraged by the kind wordsand support of the Chadian pastors. Our appliance breakdowns have all been fixed rather quickly. Daily soccer games on the all purpose court (soccer,basketball, tennis even) with local kids have been helping Drew adjust. Cari is figuring out the cooking despite the different kitchen circumstances.
We could still use your prayers and encouragements. We wouldn’t mind havingthe rechargeable battery back again (a little light after 6pm makes dinner,clean up and bedtime so much smoother). We haven’t figured out how to outsmart the rat yet. Cari has been cooped up with the boys quite a bit and is looking for ways to get out and meet Chadian ladies. The boys are stilladjusting to not having at least a few other white kids around. And Dr. Annwill be leaving for several days next week leaving Andy “in charge” of the“ICU” and pediatric wards (and feeling very alone)(I’m still trying tofigure out when Dr. Ann sleeps, considering all the things she does). We hope everyone is well. We pray you are walking humbly with your savior.Love from the other side of the world.
The Robertsons
Bebalem, Chad
We thank God every time we remember you and pray you continue to grow in Hislove and mercy. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow isn’t yet, how will we worship,honor, and serve Him today? The last two days have been extremes here in Chad. Yesterday was mybirthday. The day started similar to Monday, rounding on Pediatrics. Thiswas my second day in a row so I was actually starting to feel a little bitcomfortable with the routine (watch out when that happens!). The pediatricward consists of three sections, separated by partial walls, 12-13 beds persection. Usually there is one patient per bed (or one bed per patient) butsince we’ve had more than 40 hospitalized peds patients I actually saw twokids on bed 11 and three kids on bed 12 (and for whatever reason, there areno beds 18 and 25, and there is a bed 21b). I saw 29 patients before lunchand then another 8 or so after lunch. Numerous kids are severelymalnourished, but some parents don’t want to stay for the prolonged refeedingprogram because they don’t have money. Lots of malaria, diarrhea,dysentery, rashes, and coughing. Several kids with severe mouth ulcers.One kid with heart failure. Bed 14 took a swing at me, the scary white guy,(now we call him “le boxeur”) which made everyone laugh. It was quite nice,actually, because it meant he had some strength and vigor, which many of thekids had long since lost. It seemed like a fairly ordinary work day. Ofcourse, being so busy meant I haven’t had time to visit the other wards(OB/maternity, men, women, private, surgical). Dr. Ann sees the patients inour “ICU” (more about that below) and then has been doing administrativework, so I’m kind of on my own, but at least today things went ok. I got home around 4pm.
Cari had invited our small missions team over fordinner (Dr. Ann and the two lads, Phil and Thom – Dr. Elizabeth fromSwitzerland couldn’t make it). She spent the day making shepherd’s pie andbrownies. Drew, Tony and I walked down to the local store for coca-cola.We had a regular party! It was good fun. Topped off with a game of Ark ofthe Covenant which Thom won (guess English lads don’t believe in letting thebirthday boy win J). Even more impressive considering there weren’ttemperature settings on the oven and the baking pan didn’t fit in itproperly. Oh, and our battery blew a fuse so we only had lights from 7 to8pm. I got to open presents which included some amazing cards, personalizedplacemats, and even a treasure hunt. Considering where we are, it was one ofmy most memorable birthdays. Thanks to a great family.
Today was about as different as possible. Dr. Ann interrupted morningrounds (we had moved backwards from bed 39, and were about half way done)with some additional tasks. Now that I’m here, Dr. Ann suggested to theclinic nurses that see all the outpatients, that they could send the moredifficult cases down to the ward to see me. Dr. Ann thought there were twowaiting but that quickly multiplied into five. While we were trying to seethese patients, we got called to a private room where a child was starting todevelop respiratory distress from measles pneumonia. We transferred to the“ICU” but that was full. As lunchtime came and went, Dr. Ann asked me to seea couple of ICU patients with her. One 12 year old seemed to have a septicarthritis of the left hip, spreading now to include abdominal pain anddifficulty breathing. When she asked what I thought, I mentioned wanting toget an xray, ultrasound of the hip, surgical consult, lab tests, and startIV antibiotics. Of course, the only thing available to us here were the IVantibiotics, and even these are too expensive for many families. We did take a short lunch break around 2:30, and when we returned there wasa new baby in the next bed over. This baby had fever and difficultybreathing and probably had severe malaria, but as we were getting herinitial weight and discussing what to do, she got worse and died. Right infront of us. It was so sad and discouraging to be so helpless, probably themost discouraging thing I’ve ever experienced. I brought resuscitation bagswith us, but there isn’t any oxygen in the “ICU”. And no quick way to startIVs (we have to write a script, including what size IV needle to use, thenthe family goes and purchases the supplies, then the staff starts the IV, ifthey are good or lucky with the one IV needle). There wasn’t anything wecould do to stop it. And there was only one nursing assistant staffing the“ICU” at the time (13 beds), pretty typical I guess, because of the limitedresources. There are often nursing students around, but their classes areover in August. SO different from even Togo, where four nurses would’vejumped to the bedside, started IVs, gotten an xray, started antibiotics andmalaria meds, all before we even turned to the family to talk about historyor cost. Over 7 kids have died since I’ve been here, and we think the 12year old will die in the next day or two. It’s a little overwhelming. Carireminded me there’s a reason Chad is in the top ten for infant mortality(and Togo isn’t). And that’s part of the reason we felt called here this summer and not there. Hmm………
We’ve had two special prayer times, one with Dr. Ann and three localpastors/hospital chaplains, and one with the AIM team (Dr. Ann, Thom, andPhil). The missionary community here is definitely small, but times ofprayer are uplifting, and it was also nice to be encouraged by the kind wordsand support of the Chadian pastors. Our appliance breakdowns have all been fixed rather quickly. Daily soccer games on the all purpose court (soccer,basketball, tennis even) with local kids have been helping Drew adjust. Cari is figuring out the cooking despite the different kitchen circumstances.
We could still use your prayers and encouragements. We wouldn’t mind havingthe rechargeable battery back again (a little light after 6pm makes dinner,clean up and bedtime so much smoother). We haven’t figured out how to outsmart the rat yet. Cari has been cooped up with the boys quite a bit and is looking for ways to get out and meet Chadian ladies. The boys are stilladjusting to not having at least a few other white kids around. And Dr. Annwill be leaving for several days next week leaving Andy “in charge” of the“ICU” and pediatric wards (and feeling very alone)(I’m still trying tofigure out when Dr. Ann sleeps, considering all the things she does). We hope everyone is well. We pray you are walking humbly with your savior.Love from the other side of the world.
The Robertsons
Illness and discouragement
16, July, Friday
Hello team! Greetings from around the world in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who heals and forgives and redeems. He came that we may have life and have it abundantly. We pray you are experiencing abundant life this week.
As for the Robertsons, we are praying through Psalms 5 and 6, for it has been a season (well, the last 11 days) of highs and lows, sighing and crying for help, of taking refuge in our just and merciful God, and praying for His protection. Tony got sick a week ago, Cari yesterday, and Drew today. You might say our family prayer has been 6:2-3, for everyone but Andy (not yet) has complained of being in anguish, painful bones and feeling faint, and we’ve all been wondering how long this fever/vomiting/diarrhea illness will go on. Thanks to God that his love is ever unfailing and we know that he hears us.
So we finally got on the road from N’Djamena to Bebalem on Tuesday. Up at 5:45am for the 6:30 bus. We arrived just as it was leaving which ended up to our benefit because we were able to all sit together in the front two rows and all 17 bags and packages came with (on top of) our bus. It ended up being a very smooth ride (Andy tried really hard not to be anxious about it, wasn’t altogether unsuccessful, and we were all very grateful to God that it went so smoothly), with no camels or livestock anywhere close to us. The boys slept nearly the whole trip. Dr. Ann, Pastor Dume, and the two English lads were there to meet us, we somehow got all our stuff inside the Toyota, and after a few errands and a 2 hour off-road trek on an ever-narrowing dirt road/wide walking path, we arrived at our new “home”.
After Andy said hello at morning devotions on Wednesday, the rest of the day was spent mostly unpacking and getting situated. We’ve moved into the other side of Dr. Ann’s duplex, but until the English lads arrived in April it hadn’t been occupied in over 4 years (possibly ten). The maintenance crew has put in a lot of work getting it fixed up (mosquito screens on doors and windows, repairing/replacing appliances, etc.) and the lads were able to take care of the 3 or 4 mice/rats that weren’t used to company (but unfortunately we do still have at least one stubborn non-houseguest that doesn’t even take a second sniff at our mousetraps – Andy has seen him nearly every day, but can’t seem to catch up with him. It’s been grand finally getting to unpack, but still a bit of a struggle since we’re getting by with thrown together housewares (several cups but only 2 bowls, etc.). We are very glad the stove works and we were able to get the door on the fridge fixed by Thursday so we have a place for coldstuffs so things are definitely looking up a bit.
Andy got a tour from Dr. Ann late Wednesday and then rounded with her Thursday am. It was pretty discouraging and heart-wrenching. Even fewer resources than Togo -- people have to purchase meds and even IV material before its given (no large benevolence from Western/European churches). Already three children in the “Swan” (intensive care) have died and I’ve only been here 3 days. One was a 18 month old with meningitis, positive spinal tap, but the family didn’t go get the medicine (Rocephin) the first day (Wednesday), we got the results and told them how important it was on Thursday, and by Friday she was dead. I’ve already seen three cases of measles, one in a coma; a heart failure, severe pneumonia, and countless malnutritions. The intensive care ward holds up to 13 patients and pediatrics alone holds 36 or more. It’s no wonder Dr. Ann is so tired. There is no xray capability, and with the people as poor as they are I am really struggling to figure out what my medical role will be here.
The boys spent much of Wednesday and Thursday playing soccer with Chadian kids. But by the time Andy returned from Thursday rounds the bug had started its progression. Cari went straight to bed and for the last day and a half Andy has been caring for three patients only. And first it was Pam Propst (“well, Andy, now you’ve taken care of your first patient in Chad” she joked after she got her first stitches). Simple things get much more difficult when there are so few resources and so many other bugs to consider. When Tony’s fever got up to 104 that night in N’Djamena Cari asked if I would have been so nervous about him if we were back home – and the answer was definitely not, I knew that a good ED was just a short drive away if anything worrisome happened. I didn’t have that same confidence in the middle of Chad the night before a 7 hour bus ride deeper into nowhere.
We are reachable by phone, we’re not sure about email yet (we’re sending this from Dr. Ann’s). But we have a Chadian cell phone – dial +23590576330 (235 is the country code, the phone numbers are 8 digits long, I’m not sure about the “+” sign). If we call it’s rather expensive. The missionaries here suggest having friends and family buy a prepaid phone card in the States that covers the country of Chad because the rates will be much better. Receiving calls here is free. We can also send and receive texts, but apparently only to Cingular, Verizon doesn’t accept them? Mail also comes relatively reliably toN’Djamena in about two weeks, but it sits at the TEAM compound in N’Djamena until someone travels down to Bebalem which sometimes takes a while. Cell service is VERY spotty and we often can’t get through to other missionaries here.
We love you all. Thank you so much for partnering with us. We both think this is our hardest trip so far. Please pray for us. We’re hoping that soon we can stop being a burden to Dr. Ann and start helping out here. We wanted to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the body of believers here (I Cor 14:3, II Thes 2:16-17). We’re still hoping to do that soon. We will also pray for you, that you accept, store up, turn to, apply to, call out for, cry aloud for, look for, and search for as treasure the Lord’s wisdom – because then you will find and understand the knowledge of God.
Grace and peace and love in our Savior.
The Robertsons
Hello team! Greetings from around the world in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who heals and forgives and redeems. He came that we may have life and have it abundantly. We pray you are experiencing abundant life this week.
As for the Robertsons, we are praying through Psalms 5 and 6, for it has been a season (well, the last 11 days) of highs and lows, sighing and crying for help, of taking refuge in our just and merciful God, and praying for His protection. Tony got sick a week ago, Cari yesterday, and Drew today. You might say our family prayer has been 6:2-3, for everyone but Andy (not yet) has complained of being in anguish, painful bones and feeling faint, and we’ve all been wondering how long this fever/vomiting/diarrhea illness will go on. Thanks to God that his love is ever unfailing and we know that he hears us.
So we finally got on the road from N’Djamena to Bebalem on Tuesday. Up at 5:45am for the 6:30 bus. We arrived just as it was leaving which ended up to our benefit because we were able to all sit together in the front two rows and all 17 bags and packages came with (on top of) our bus. It ended up being a very smooth ride (Andy tried really hard not to be anxious about it, wasn’t altogether unsuccessful, and we were all very grateful to God that it went so smoothly), with no camels or livestock anywhere close to us. The boys slept nearly the whole trip. Dr. Ann, Pastor Dume, and the two English lads were there to meet us, we somehow got all our stuff inside the Toyota, and after a few errands and a 2 hour off-road trek on an ever-narrowing dirt road/wide walking path, we arrived at our new “home”.
After Andy said hello at morning devotions on Wednesday, the rest of the day was spent mostly unpacking and getting situated. We’ve moved into the other side of Dr. Ann’s duplex, but until the English lads arrived in April it hadn’t been occupied in over 4 years (possibly ten). The maintenance crew has put in a lot of work getting it fixed up (mosquito screens on doors and windows, repairing/replacing appliances, etc.) and the lads were able to take care of the 3 or 4 mice/rats that weren’t used to company (but unfortunately we do still have at least one stubborn non-houseguest that doesn’t even take a second sniff at our mousetraps – Andy has seen him nearly every day, but can’t seem to catch up with him. It’s been grand finally getting to unpack, but still a bit of a struggle since we’re getting by with thrown together housewares (several cups but only 2 bowls, etc.). We are very glad the stove works and we were able to get the door on the fridge fixed by Thursday so we have a place for coldstuffs so things are definitely looking up a bit.
Andy got a tour from Dr. Ann late Wednesday and then rounded with her Thursday am. It was pretty discouraging and heart-wrenching. Even fewer resources than Togo -- people have to purchase meds and even IV material before its given (no large benevolence from Western/European churches). Already three children in the “Swan” (intensive care) have died and I’ve only been here 3 days. One was a 18 month old with meningitis, positive spinal tap, but the family didn’t go get the medicine (Rocephin) the first day (Wednesday), we got the results and told them how important it was on Thursday, and by Friday she was dead. I’ve already seen three cases of measles, one in a coma; a heart failure, severe pneumonia, and countless malnutritions. The intensive care ward holds up to 13 patients and pediatrics alone holds 36 or more. It’s no wonder Dr. Ann is so tired. There is no xray capability, and with the people as poor as they are I am really struggling to figure out what my medical role will be here.
The boys spent much of Wednesday and Thursday playing soccer with Chadian kids. But by the time Andy returned from Thursday rounds the bug had started its progression. Cari went straight to bed and for the last day and a half Andy has been caring for three patients only. And first it was Pam Propst (“well, Andy, now you’ve taken care of your first patient in Chad” she joked after she got her first stitches). Simple things get much more difficult when there are so few resources and so many other bugs to consider. When Tony’s fever got up to 104 that night in N’Djamena Cari asked if I would have been so nervous about him if we were back home – and the answer was definitely not, I knew that a good ED was just a short drive away if anything worrisome happened. I didn’t have that same confidence in the middle of Chad the night before a 7 hour bus ride deeper into nowhere.
We are reachable by phone, we’re not sure about email yet (we’re sending this from Dr. Ann’s). But we have a Chadian cell phone – dial +23590576330 (235 is the country code, the phone numbers are 8 digits long, I’m not sure about the “+” sign). If we call it’s rather expensive. The missionaries here suggest having friends and family buy a prepaid phone card in the States that covers the country of Chad because the rates will be much better. Receiving calls here is free. We can also send and receive texts, but apparently only to Cingular, Verizon doesn’t accept them? Mail also comes relatively reliably toN’Djamena in about two weeks, but it sits at the TEAM compound in N’Djamena until someone travels down to Bebalem which sometimes takes a while. Cell service is VERY spotty and we often can’t get through to other missionaries here.
We love you all. Thank you so much for partnering with us. We both think this is our hardest trip so far. Please pray for us. We’re hoping that soon we can stop being a burden to Dr. Ann and start helping out here. We wanted to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the body of believers here (I Cor 14:3, II Thes 2:16-17). We’re still hoping to do that soon. We will also pray for you, that you accept, store up, turn to, apply to, call out for, cry aloud for, look for, and search for as treasure the Lord’s wisdom – because then you will find and understand the knowledge of God.
Grace and peace and love in our Savior.
The Robertsons
I Hate Camels!
July 11th
Hello everyone! bonjour! If you are wondering about the subject line, it is what Tony uttered as we waited on the side of the road to Bebalem (still 5 hours away) next to our vehicle which was now under a very LARGE camel. We, as a family, were all fine (a little covered in glass) and driver was fine, but Pam Propst was on her way to a clinic with Andy in a red cross truck (sent from God?) so that she could get stitches where she had been cut on her scalp and ear. She is doing okay now -still in a lot of pain (please pray for her!) and we are back in N'djamena at the TEAM guest house. As you can imagine, it was a pretty incredible trip - it is very hard to avoid a large camel that comes suddenly onto a highway where you are driving 120 Km an hour. And it will take awhile before the boys are excited about seeing camels again. But we are SO grateful to God for His protection. It really is a miracle that Pam is not dead seeing what the camel did to the front of the car.
Yes, we have a new plan. We leave for Bebalem on Tuesday (today is Sunday), so we are enjoying the TEAM hospitality here in the capital for a few extra days. We have been very amazed at how well the missionary groups here all work together. In fact, there are 7 different mission agencies (including AIM) who specifically work with the EET (Eglise Evengelistique du Tchad) and they are not all American agencies. Chad is a secular state, so missionaries can say they are here as missionaries. But knowing that the makeup of the country does involve non-Christian groups, it is still important to be sensitive. As we read the handbook here, we found out that our prayer letters and emails from our time here should not be placed on church websites or blogs. Thank you for helping us with that! This morning we went to a church service done in English and attended by missionaries from the city and for those just passing through. It was a nice service and gave us a chance to meet others who are here doing ministry, including several other doctors serving in various locations of Chad. Right next door at the TEAM guest house is another family with 5 kids. They are TEAM missionaries in the East and are here for a short while. It has been a real blessing for us as their kids have been tons of fun for our boys (Andy has even picked one out as a future bride for Drew!) and they have been a wealth of knowledge (even though they claim to be new at this still since they are only in their 5th year!).
So, thank you for your prayers for our travels. God has watched over us and continues to teach us that original plans may not work, but God is still always in control. Very reassuring as we look to heading south again soon, this time in a Chadian bus.
Food has been fine...it is very hot here, but everyone is getting sleep...electricity is on and off, but mostly on...we got a gas powered fridge for our house in Bebalem...all are healthy.
It may be a few days before we get to email again, but know how much we appreciate all of you!
Au bientot,
Cari
Hello everyone! bonjour! If you are wondering about the subject line, it is what Tony uttered as we waited on the side of the road to Bebalem (still 5 hours away) next to our vehicle which was now under a very LARGE camel. We, as a family, were all fine (a little covered in glass) and driver was fine, but Pam Propst was on her way to a clinic with Andy in a red cross truck (sent from God?) so that she could get stitches where she had been cut on her scalp and ear. She is doing okay now -still in a lot of pain (please pray for her!) and we are back in N'djamena at the TEAM guest house. As you can imagine, it was a pretty incredible trip - it is very hard to avoid a large camel that comes suddenly onto a highway where you are driving 120 Km an hour. And it will take awhile before the boys are excited about seeing camels again. But we are SO grateful to God for His protection. It really is a miracle that Pam is not dead seeing what the camel did to the front of the car.
Yes, we have a new plan. We leave for Bebalem on Tuesday (today is Sunday), so we are enjoying the TEAM hospitality here in the capital for a few extra days. We have been very amazed at how well the missionary groups here all work together. In fact, there are 7 different mission agencies (including AIM) who specifically work with the EET (Eglise Evengelistique du Tchad) and they are not all American agencies. Chad is a secular state, so missionaries can say they are here as missionaries. But knowing that the makeup of the country does involve non-Christian groups, it is still important to be sensitive. As we read the handbook here, we found out that our prayer letters and emails from our time here should not be placed on church websites or blogs. Thank you for helping us with that! This morning we went to a church service done in English and attended by missionaries from the city and for those just passing through. It was a nice service and gave us a chance to meet others who are here doing ministry, including several other doctors serving in various locations of Chad. Right next door at the TEAM guest house is another family with 5 kids. They are TEAM missionaries in the East and are here for a short while. It has been a real blessing for us as their kids have been tons of fun for our boys (Andy has even picked one out as a future bride for Drew!) and they have been a wealth of knowledge (even though they claim to be new at this still since they are only in their 5th year!).
So, thank you for your prayers for our travels. God has watched over us and continues to teach us that original plans may not work, but God is still always in control. Very reassuring as we look to heading south again soon, this time in a Chadian bus.
Food has been fine...it is very hot here, but everyone is getting sleep...electricity is on and off, but mostly on...we got a gas powered fridge for our house in Bebalem...all are healthy.
It may be a few days before we get to email again, but know how much we appreciate all of you!
Au bientot,
Cari
FIrst entry for summer trip to Chad
July 7th 2010
Greetings in the name of the Lord! We have arrived safely. Thanks to God. Believe it or not, the hardest part of our trip was getting out of North Carolina. Our flight from Greensboro was delayed 3 hours so we would’ve missed the Atlanta-London flight. We were shuttled to Greensboro but missed the connection by 10 minutes. Our desk agent spent over 30 minutes on the phone (can you believe it? even gate agents get put on LONG holds), but was able to transfer us to another airline, we made London on time, were able to collect and recheck our bags, then Afriqiyah Airways delivered us uneventfully to Tripoli and then Ndjamena. The hardest part (other than the anxiety about getting to London) was the 5 hours in Tripoli with two tired boys (and two tired parents). We got through customs well, all our bags were there, including the oxygen concentrator, and the Propsts were there to meet us. They drove us to the guest house and we quickly fell asleep (3am local time, about 10pm home time).
This evening (still today) the Propsts had us and several other missionaries over to their house for dinner. We met Justin and Krista Clermont (Krista is one of the Propst’s daughters), Debbie and Laurie (teachers for the new missionary school), Naomi Duff (Northern Ireland missionary ministering to vulnerable women, mostly prostitutes), and some friends of the Clermonts visiting from the States. The boys played with the Clermont’s three boys. It was a wonderful dinner with great fellowship.
It was a busy day but we’re glad to be here and in God’s hands. Our initial impressions:
It’s hot. When the electricity works the fans help (THANK YOU for the battery fans!)
It’s quite a bit like Togo – the buildings, the heat, the French.
We heard our first call to prayer tonight.
Many head scarves and burkas.
The cheese and chocolate were well received.
I quoted Phillipians 4:16 in our last email before leaving and Cari reminded me about “not being anxious” several times during the trip (especially in the shuttle on I-85 trying to get to Charlotte). Let’s all give thanks to our God who has us in the palm of his hand!
Thanks to all for your support. We leave for Bebalem on Friday.
Greetings in the name of the Lord! We have arrived safely. Thanks to God. Believe it or not, the hardest part of our trip was getting out of North Carolina. Our flight from Greensboro was delayed 3 hours so we would’ve missed the Atlanta-London flight. We were shuttled to Greensboro but missed the connection by 10 minutes. Our desk agent spent over 30 minutes on the phone (can you believe it? even gate agents get put on LONG holds), but was able to transfer us to another airline, we made London on time, were able to collect and recheck our bags, then Afriqiyah Airways delivered us uneventfully to Tripoli and then Ndjamena. The hardest part (other than the anxiety about getting to London) was the 5 hours in Tripoli with two tired boys (and two tired parents). We got through customs well, all our bags were there, including the oxygen concentrator, and the Propsts were there to meet us. They drove us to the guest house and we quickly fell asleep (3am local time, about 10pm home time).
This evening (still today) the Propsts had us and several other missionaries over to their house for dinner. We met Justin and Krista Clermont (Krista is one of the Propst’s daughters), Debbie and Laurie (teachers for the new missionary school), Naomi Duff (Northern Ireland missionary ministering to vulnerable women, mostly prostitutes), and some friends of the Clermonts visiting from the States. The boys played with the Clermont’s three boys. It was a wonderful dinner with great fellowship.
It was a busy day but we’re glad to be here and in God’s hands. Our initial impressions:
It’s hot. When the electricity works the fans help (THANK YOU for the battery fans!)
It’s quite a bit like Togo – the buildings, the heat, the French.
We heard our first call to prayer tonight.
Many head scarves and burkas.
The cheese and chocolate were well received.
I quoted Phillipians 4:16 in our last email before leaving and Cari reminded me about “not being anxious” several times during the trip (especially in the shuttle on I-85 trying to get to Charlotte). Let’s all give thanks to our God who has us in the palm of his hand!
Thanks to all for your support. We leave for Bebalem on Friday.
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