(Photos: Grace with our original host famiy; the crowd of onlookers when we first arrived back; Salima with our landlord's son) We got back last night. And as we have begun to reflect on the trip one of the blessings that stands out is our amazing Grace. Or we should say our amazing Salima (Grace’s middle name). At first we told people that she had two names, Grace and Salima, but when most people didn’t even bother to try to pronounce Grace, she became Salima.
We had seen how our town and neighbors reacted to white babies before, so we knew she would be the center of a lot of attention and curiosity (especially from kids). So we weren’t surprised at the kids crowded into our home just to stare at her or at the extra stares we got walking down the road with her. But the surprising thing was the ownership they took over Salima. Before we finished with even the introductory greeting, Salima was taken from our arms. She was cooed over, she was called their child, a child of our town. They even used the nam
e of our town like her last name, repeating it over and over again to her smiling face.We didn’t know how Grace was going to react. There was the time change, the heat, the flies, all the kids circling her, the dust, and all the unfamiliar faces. Some of the young kids in our town would scream in terror at the sight of white people. (Side note: the same young kids are apparently scared of white babies too, because they would cry at the sight of Grace.) So we were at least hoping Grace wouldn’t be that bad. But Salima amazed us. She gave everyone big smiles and didn’t seem bothered by all the people holding her and passing her around by one arm. She adjusted to the time zone quickly. She had heat rash and was constantly wet with sweat but it didn’t seem to bother her. She got the dirtiest she has ever been but did
n’t notice. Sudden visitors cut short her naps and grabbed her away in the middle of feeds, but she was a trooper and happily rolled with the punches.God knew what He was doing in giving us Grace. She was an encouragement to us when our stay was hard. She cheered us up when we wanted to complain or be down. We are so glad we had her with us. Now the sad thing is that we don’t know when and if we will ever take her back. People told us we had to bring her back so she could learn Arabic and marry one of them. All we could say was God knows if and when we will come back and whether Grace will ever fully know this small town in Chad that has claimed her as their Salima.
It has been a full two weeks. It will take time to unpack it all and share it. So, expect us to be talking about it for a little while.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
God really blessed our trip to Chad. We got to see all of our former team members, in the capital, in our town and in France. We were blessed with health. We got to see and say goodbye to the people we were hoping to see. God gave us the words to explain why we were leaving. We had good interactions and our language came back quickly. It was a busy time but we did all the things we wanted to do.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that the three of us would adjust back to this time zone quickly. Pray that we would have time to reflect and process our trip. Pray that we find ways to remain in contact with our friends and neighbors in Chad. Pray for the situation in Chad- for peace, hope, truth and protection for all those that live there.
