Greetings family & friends,
We just wanted to thank you for your prayers and say how much we appreciated being with many of you over the last year. We wanted to touch base and give a short up date of what is happening with us here in Chad.
We arrived safely only to discover once we were here, that just two hours after passing through the airport in Turkey there was a bombing there. This was quit sobering for us and reminded us of God’s sustaining hand and also affirmed to us that God still has work for us to do.
A few weeks before leaving my knee developed a “bakers cyst” which put me on crutches almost till our departure and I was hoping to make the trip with only the need of a cane. Unfortunately my knee had a bit of a set back going through the airport in Toronto which made the use of a wheel chair much appreciated. After five weeks here it is still not completely back to having full mobility but most days show small improvements. PLT
Our first 10 days were spent in Ndjamena while Paul worked on some things in the new office building. Once arriving at Koutou we had many unexpected surprises. Our fridge was not working, our inverter that provides electricity to our house was also not working and our internet modem was having issues too. Thankfully Paul was able to repair all of these. He has also had many things on the station to repair including a co workers vehicle, the folder at the print shop, many electrical and plumbing issues and diagnosis on two guest house refrigerates which now await parts. He has also been busy doing grounds maintenance which had become quite overgrown in our absence. Paul has been struggling with tropical boils the last couple of weeks, which thankfully we have not had trouble with since our first term out here. Pray for quick healing.
I, Kathryn, have been busy unpacking and setting up our house and my classroom which is not quit ready to teach in yet. I also continue to work on my M.Ed. studies which are taking a lot more time than I had hoped especially with the many interruptions that come my way each day. I finished revising my teacher’s training workshop documents and am currently working on preparing English lessons for a beginner class and for an upper intermediate English Bible study. Both of these will begin in September. I have also been working on preparing materials for my monthly teachers training that I call teachers club. I am hoping to look at some Bible passages and discuss the implications they have for educators. I am really seeking God’s guidance on what this should look like. This too will being in September. I am meeting twice a week with an English student to read portions of the Bible and work on comprehension and pronunciation. This seems to be productive so far. I have met with several of my past English students and some of the teachers whom I have done training with and each warm greeting and smiling face reminds us why we are here – relationships. It is through each of these relationships that God places us in that we can plant and water seeds of discipleship which we pray will grow into lives lived out in worship and service to Him.
Thanks again for your prayers. Keep them coming. It is your prayers that strengthen and sustain us in what we do here. May God guide and direct and bless each of you as you continue in service for Him.
With warm thoughts,
Paul and Kathryn Weber