We had only just arrived when we started saying goodbye. The question was almost immediate. First we would be asked, “When did you arrive?” Then it would be followed by the question, “How long will you stay?” We would explain we were only here for a short time and that soon we would return to America. And then came the fateful question, “When will you come back?”We would explain, we are going away for a long time, that we would not return soon, and that Allah yarfa “God knows” when we will return. We saw many faces fall when we said this. It was the sort of reaction you see when they learn someone is very sick. Things usually became quiet at this point as we all thought about what it meant to not see one another again for a very long time. Sometimes a response would come: Ma halu “That’s not sweet.” Or Da gassi “That is very difficult.”
After being quiet for a time the even harder question would come—we didn’t know if they would understand our answer to this one. The question only took one word to ask: Mala “Why?” We had struggled with how to explain the “why” in a way they could understand. Our answer was that our Patron (i.e. our organization) had said that Chad is dangerous and that we should not stay there. We didn’t expect them to understand this. Chad has experienced coups for 40 years. In the last coup attempt, although we were close to the action in N’djamena, our town saw only a little bit of fighting. We expected them to say, “What? Chad isn’t dangerous. Look, our town is the same. You are safe here.” But that is not what we heard. This was the most disheartening part. When we said Chad was dangerous, they agreed. (Megan with her good friend Fatime)
“Chad is very dangerous,” they said. “There is too much war, too many problems.” They understood completely. We’re not sure if this was because of what happened before or because of what they think may be coming. The rebels have sworn to try again and even as we were leaving there was some fighting in the East. Of course, the rebels always swear they will not give up, so it is hard to know for sure what will happen. What is sure is that Chad needs our prayers—prayers for peace and stability, for justice and mercy, and for the truth and hope of God to come into the hearts and lives of a lost and hurting people.PRAYERS ANSWERED
We have all adjusted back to the time zone without too much trouble (Grace included) and are trying to get back into a regular schedule for our life here in the Boston Area. We have been blessed by an acquaintance who offered her house for us to stay in for a couple of weeks while she is away on vacation. This has been really good for us to have a place to get away and process these past few weeks.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
As we close one chapter in our life, we must begin to look to the next chapter ahead. Our minds and hearts have been back in Chad and that is a good thing, but we also need to start thinking ahead to the new life we will be beginning on the island. So far we have been diligent in working through Rosetta Stone French and our TESOL course. Pray that we would be able to keep up with that. Finally, there are still many people we want to see, but our time is limited. We are asking the Lord to guide us in our scheduling that we might spend our time well. Grace has a cold, pray that she gets better quickly.
