Day 1 - France to Chad

With our children in the care of Kirsten's grandparents we began our journey for Chad. We left for the train station at 5:45 am as we made our way for our departing flight in Paris. With excitement in the air we joked about forgetting plane tickets, passports, and proof of immunizations until the laughter stopped and we realized that somebody didn't have proof of their yellow fever vaccination. The problem being that you can not enter Chad without such proof. I won't tell you our proposed solution but in the end God blinded the doctor's eyes to her presence and she entered Chad without any problems.

we finally arrived in Chad at 10:45 pm and the snow we left in France didn't follow us. Our room was over 100 degrees as we tried falling asleep without much success.

Day 2 - N'Djamena

The good news is that you can find shade but the bad news is that this wasn't the hottest day. At its worst the temperature was 127 degrees in the shade. Thankfully, we were in Abéché on that day.

We went to the market to inventory what's available and then we met with a guy working with another organization. He helped us better understand our options for a long-term visa as we explored the possibilities of partnering together. We also talked with some other workers that have lived and worked in the region many years. One currently cares for the guest house and administration of her organization and the other is working on a Bible translation into Chadian Arabic.

This was my (Stephen) bed at the guest house. It would be the most comfortable bed of my 3 weeks but impossible to sleep in because of the heat. The net may make my bed look a little feminine but before the jokes start, they kept the mosquitoes from injecting me with malaria. Of course, later I opted to chance malaria bites for a cooler night sleep.

During the first couple of days we drank 3 - 4 liters of water per person just trying to remain hydrated. Believe it or not I only went to the bathroom once. Even if you have to go to the bathroom you can simply wait a little while and everything seems to evaporate from the inside out.

Day 3 - N'Djamena to Abéché

When you live in the desert you don't have access to ATM machines and you can't use credit with the local traders. Cold hard cash is the only way to buy things but you can't get the cash you need. This is where MAF occasionally comes in the picture and I was the lucky passenger to carry lots of money duct-taped in these bags. This is one of those little things that I love about my life. How else could I carry thousands wrapped in duct tape to people who need this money to survive?

Sometimes I just smile as so many boyhood dreams come to life.

This single engine, 10 passenger plane, was the larger of two. Our things were quickly loaded up as we rushed to leave before the president arrived and the airport was locked down.

Once in the air and feeling slightly bored during the 2.5 hour flight the co-pilot turned and asked, "Do you have a strong stomach?" I don't think the others heard him above the cabin noise but I shook my head yes and the fun began. The pilot denied responsibility as the co-pilot took the controls. He set a pen on the dash board and gave us the rules. He was going to make the pen lift off the dashboard and fall into his hand without touching it. Slowly the plane began to climb altitude before the quick descent rapidly began. Our bodies lifted out of our seats only stopped as my head pressed against the roof of the plane. At the same time the pen lifted off the dashboard and fell in his hand as we leveled off. While normal people on a commercial flight would have screamed, our pilots received a round of applause from everyone on board.

For 2.5 hours this is all we saw passing beneath us. If you look close at this picture you can see the road we will travel during our next trip to Abéché.

There is a process of thought that occurs when you travel at 100 miles an hour for multiple hours and see nothing but desert. The sand and brush passes by with a random village of 20 some huts and nothing else as far as your eye can see. Then the plane begins it descent for landing with nothing appearing beneath. My initial feeling was that Abéché is in the middle of no where and civilization was a thing of the past.

Of course, this was my initial impression. Within a week I came to understand this place as the big city and probably the best city in all of Chad.

This is Abéché as it first came into our view. Right now we are planning to arrive in Chad around mid-October. After spending one month in N'Djamena we will move to Abéché. Once here we will study Chadian Arabic.

Once we landed we registered with the local police and briefly passed through the market. The entire WEC team invited us to lunch. It was a wonderful time of making new friends and hearing what God is doing in the region. We were very encouraged and in just a short time began to feel like Abéché was becoming home.

Day 4 & 5 - Abéché

This was a productive day of gathering information for life in this city. We took an inventory of the local market. Then we met with a NGO that is doing medical work in Guéréda and uses a bank in Abéché, although it offers limited resources compared to our norms.

The home pictured here is where we stayed and may also be the place we live when we arrive in Abéché. It a very nice 2 bedroom home on a very nice location. There was an Australian family living in another house on the same concession that had us over for a BBQ dinner. They have five children that almost match the ages of our children exactly.

Life in general seems to be a little more time consuming versus life in America. You can't drink water directly from the faucet and clean becomes a relative term that only applies to Chad. Laundry is done by hand but it dries quicker in the sun than with a dryer.

Thankfully we have a few luxuries in Abéché that don't exist right now in Guéréda. Luxuries that include; running water, toilets that you can sit on without squatting, and electricity. They even have cellphone service.

To make things even better, the climate is cooler here in the evenings compared to life in N'Djamena.

Day 6 - Good Friday (Travel to Guéréda)

We woke up at 4:30 am for our taxi that was suppose to arrive at 5:00 am so we could get on the road before the mid-day sun. The minutes continued passing by without our taxi until after 6:00 am. Our team expected the back of the pick-up to be empty for our journey but we soon realized that Dawn, another worker in Guéréda, was bringing all her supplies. If that wasn't bad enough, the taxi arrived "fully loaded" in my opinion, including a barrel of fuel. Once the cab was loaded and tied down we climbed on board along with 3 other Chadians with us and 3 people up front. Unfortunately, it was 7:30 am before we pulled out of Abéché and the temperature was starting to rise.

Continue to the next page for more... (Oh, and that's me in the blue)