Hello there.
Hope your week is off to a good start. Things are going well here. Had a busy weekend. One of our employee's wife gave birth. Janice and I spent some time at the hospital. In fact, Janice was allowed to do something quite special. She writes,
"Got to name one of our guard's brand new son. I named him Caleb. He asked me to name him(he wanted an american name for him) and I said, do you want a normal or bibical name and he said bibical...He has told me and Steve that he wanted me/us to name him a few days before and when I was thinking about it Caleb came to my mind and then when he asked again Caleb came again so Caleb it was! Cute little sucker too."
Very cool.
See you later.
sf
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Hope this post finds you and your family doing well no matter where you are.
We are fine. Just been taking things day by day and proving that in Chad, there is no such thing as your normal, every day, run-of-the-mill day. And, today was no exception to that.
Morning for the family started at about 7 AM. I slept in the living room with most of the children as Liddy got to spend the night with Janice. Lucky her! Was able to eat the 4 eggs Janice made me (thanks, Honey!) and almost immediately upon finishing them I had 2 people who wanted to see me. One was the electrician. The other was a guest. After a few minutes with each of them I was able to get into the office, check email, and get the solar power going. At about 9:30 AM Janice, Liddy, and I left for town to do some shopping and pick up Gracey and Libby who had spent the last 5 days helping another mission with their kids during their annual retreat.
There's a bunch of dignitaries in town so the main streets downtown were blocked off which forced us, and everyone else, to detour on mostly dirt roads. A typical trip to town takes about 20 minutes. This trip took closer to 45. We eventually made it to where the girls were. We picked them up and then went shopping. We stopped at the cash machine, the post office (where we picked up 3 boxes), and 2 different grocery stores, and finally ended at the vegetable stand. We arrived home at about 1 PM. After unpacking our stuff, and going through the boxes, I started to make some lunch for me and a couple of the kids. (Lunch today was Cream of Wheat.... Thanks Marcia!) I was just about to add the Cream of Wheat to the boiling water when the electrician comes to the door to inform me that he had broken our water pipe to the Welcome Center. (It's a long story!) So I drop what I'm doing and go outside to see what the problem is. Sure enough, the pipe was broken clean in two. So, I called the plumber and proceeded to make a temporary fix with an old inner tube. I then went back inside to prepare my lunch again. Just as I'm ready to mix in the Cream of Wheat again, the plumber shows up. So, I stop the cooking and go outside with him. I show him the pipe and tell him that I'd prefer he fix it today. He says he can (which I doubt since Chadians say they can fix anything) and then I tell him "OK, I'm gonna go eat my lunch now. If you need me I'll be in my house." So, I go back inside and actually do complete making my lunch. As an added bonus I was able to eat it without interruption. After eating I went back outside and bounced b/t the plumber and the electrician.
As I type this I can report that the electrician is done with his work and the plumber is done with his work and everything works! We have power and we have water.
It has been a good day but I'm tired, have a headache, and haven't been able to spend as much time with Janice and the kids as I had wanted. Ah, there's always the rest of the evening and tomorrow. Thankfully, they are all very understanding.
Here's hoping you have a "normal" day.
Until next time.
sf
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We are fine. Just been taking things day by day and proving that in Chad, there is no such thing as your normal, every day, run-of-the-mill day. And, today was no exception to that.
Morning for the family started at about 7 AM. I slept in the living room with most of the children as Liddy got to spend the night with Janice. Lucky her! Was able to eat the 4 eggs Janice made me (thanks, Honey!) and almost immediately upon finishing them I had 2 people who wanted to see me. One was the electrician. The other was a guest. After a few minutes with each of them I was able to get into the office, check email, and get the solar power going. At about 9:30 AM Janice, Liddy, and I left for town to do some shopping and pick up Gracey and Libby who had spent the last 5 days helping another mission with their kids during their annual retreat.
There's a bunch of dignitaries in town so the main streets downtown were blocked off which forced us, and everyone else, to detour on mostly dirt roads. A typical trip to town takes about 20 minutes. This trip took closer to 45. We eventually made it to where the girls were. We picked them up and then went shopping. We stopped at the cash machine, the post office (where we picked up 3 boxes), and 2 different grocery stores, and finally ended at the vegetable stand. We arrived home at about 1 PM. After unpacking our stuff, and going through the boxes, I started to make some lunch for me and a couple of the kids. (Lunch today was Cream of Wheat.... Thanks Marcia!) I was just about to add the Cream of Wheat to the boiling water when the electrician comes to the door to inform me that he had broken our water pipe to the Welcome Center. (It's a long story!) So I drop what I'm doing and go outside to see what the problem is. Sure enough, the pipe was broken clean in two. So, I called the plumber and proceeded to make a temporary fix with an old inner tube. I then went back inside to prepare my lunch again. Just as I'm ready to mix in the Cream of Wheat again, the plumber shows up. So, I stop the cooking and go outside with him. I show him the pipe and tell him that I'd prefer he fix it today. He says he can (which I doubt since Chadians say they can fix anything) and then I tell him "OK, I'm gonna go eat my lunch now. If you need me I'll be in my house." So, I go back inside and actually do complete making my lunch. As an added bonus I was able to eat it without interruption. After eating I went back outside and bounced b/t the plumber and the electrician.
As I type this I can report that the electrician is done with his work and the plumber is done with his work and everything works! We have power and we have water.
It has been a good day but I'm tired, have a headache, and haven't been able to spend as much time with Janice and the kids as I had wanted. Ah, there's always the rest of the evening and tomorrow. Thankfully, they are all very understanding.
Here's hoping you have a "normal" day.
Until next time.
sf
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Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Crazy day today. Started out by taking Ethan to the dentist. The poor kid has the worst luck with fillings I think I've ever seen. Every one he's every gotten has fallen out. This one was no different. We are lucky to have found a reasonably knowledgeable dentist who doesn't cost us an arm and a leg.
Got home and almost immediately had to deal with various guys here to install and/or fix things. First it was the A/C installer. Then, it was the mechanic who brought several people to fix various things that are broken. Then, an electrician showed up to help the mechanic with our welder/generator. I normally don't find things like that stressful but when all of the discussion takes place in French it makes my head hurt mostly because I don't know the vocabulary.
By the time the day was over not one of the things they came to fix was fixed. In fact, their efforts only resulted in the mission paying more to purchase parts - a motor for the air compressor, a ignition control unit for the welder plus a starter, a custom made stand for a free-standing gas tank for the back-up generator, some hose, and a bunch of fuses for the power inverters/converters.
Unfortunately, the mechanic wasn't even able to get to our car which has developed a nasty habit of pulling to the right as well as having a steering wheel that shakes whenever we hit about 70 KM/Hr. He told me he won't be able to get to it until next week and that he'll need the car for a day or two. Yikes.
On top of everything there's Janice who's not been feeling great: pretty fatigued and has been battling a stomach problem for about 5 or 6 weeks.
None of these things are "bad" per se. They are just opportunities for us to remember that one of our main reasons for being here is to learn how to surrender ourselves (all of ourselves) to Him.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
sf
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Got home and almost immediately had to deal with various guys here to install and/or fix things. First it was the A/C installer. Then, it was the mechanic who brought several people to fix various things that are broken. Then, an electrician showed up to help the mechanic with our welder/generator. I normally don't find things like that stressful but when all of the discussion takes place in French it makes my head hurt mostly because I don't know the vocabulary.
By the time the day was over not one of the things they came to fix was fixed. In fact, their efforts only resulted in the mission paying more to purchase parts - a motor for the air compressor, a ignition control unit for the welder plus a starter, a custom made stand for a free-standing gas tank for the back-up generator, some hose, and a bunch of fuses for the power inverters/converters.
Unfortunately, the mechanic wasn't even able to get to our car which has developed a nasty habit of pulling to the right as well as having a steering wheel that shakes whenever we hit about 70 KM/Hr. He told me he won't be able to get to it until next week and that he'll need the car for a day or two. Yikes.
On top of everything there's Janice who's not been feeling great: pretty fatigued and has been battling a stomach problem for about 5 or 6 weeks.
None of these things are "bad" per se. They are just opportunities for us to remember that one of our main reasons for being here is to learn how to surrender ourselves (all of ourselves) to Him.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
sf
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Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, 15 March 2010
Bonjour!
Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was rather relaxing if you consider helping friends move as "relaxing". Payton and Gracey helped us on Friday. The twins on Saturday. Good times.
Today the official high (as measured in the shade on our front porch) was 109.8 degrees. That's the hottest so far this year. At that temperature the sand is too hot to stand on without shoes and the air, even when there's a breeze, feels hot.
Janice went to see a friend today. One she's not seen in several months. When she arrived she noticed this woman's little boy (not more than 1 year old) looked like he was dying. When Janice said, "He's gonna die", the woman responded, "Yes, I know". Turns out that he's not eaten much of anything for at least a month and has generally been in failing health.
So, Janice said, "Let's go. I'll take you to the hospital." To which the woman says something like, "No, sit and have some tea." There were other women there who were laughing. Janice heard one of them say something to the effect that "Hey, she just got here and now she's saying 'Let's go'!"
After a few minutes Janice finally persuaded the woman to go with her. They spent the next several hours at the hospital during which time the doctors told the woman that the little fella was really quite sick and that he needed to stay the night AND that she needed to stay with him too. She responded by saying, "No, I've got to get home to make food and care for my other kids." It took Janice and the doctor several minutes to convince her that she had to stay and that the life of her little boy was more important than dinner.
The general lack of respect for life, the view that life is cheap here is so appalling. This woman, who's a Muslim, basically had the attitude of, "It's Allah's will. If he dies, he dies." So sad. Their religion offers no hope, no comfort. There's really nothing personal about their god and that's a shame. They are in many ways so close and yet so far from the Truth.
Here's wishing you all a great week!!!
sf
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Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was rather relaxing if you consider helping friends move as "relaxing". Payton and Gracey helped us on Friday. The twins on Saturday. Good times.
Today the official high (as measured in the shade on our front porch) was 109.8 degrees. That's the hottest so far this year. At that temperature the sand is too hot to stand on without shoes and the air, even when there's a breeze, feels hot.
Janice went to see a friend today. One she's not seen in several months. When she arrived she noticed this woman's little boy (not more than 1 year old) looked like he was dying. When Janice said, "He's gonna die", the woman responded, "Yes, I know". Turns out that he's not eaten much of anything for at least a month and has generally been in failing health.
So, Janice said, "Let's go. I'll take you to the hospital." To which the woman says something like, "No, sit and have some tea." There were other women there who were laughing. Janice heard one of them say something to the effect that "Hey, she just got here and now she's saying 'Let's go'!"
After a few minutes Janice finally persuaded the woman to go with her. They spent the next several hours at the hospital during which time the doctors told the woman that the little fella was really quite sick and that he needed to stay the night AND that she needed to stay with him too. She responded by saying, "No, I've got to get home to make food and care for my other kids." It took Janice and the doctor several minutes to convince her that she had to stay and that the life of her little boy was more important than dinner.
The general lack of respect for life, the view that life is cheap here is so appalling. This woman, who's a Muslim, basically had the attitude of, "It's Allah's will. If he dies, he dies." So sad. Their religion offers no hope, no comfort. There's really nothing personal about their god and that's a shame. They are in many ways so close and yet so far from the Truth.
Here's wishing you all a great week!!!
sf
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Hello Everyone,
Hope you are having a great day.
Heat's been picking up the last few days. Getting steadily warmer. Lows at night are in the 80's.
Yesterday's bizarre news: While out with Payton and Ethan I received a phone call from Janice. She said that one of our workers, who was hired to dig a trench for a new power line we're installing, was taking a break from work to wash his clothes. You see, most Chadians was their clothes in big round tubs and he'd taken the time to grab two of ours, fill them with water, grab some soap and started to wash. All this in plain view of our front door.
Janice called to tell me what was going on. After a few seconds of discussion, she decided to go outside and tell him to stop. She did so and when I got home I asked what he said. He said, "Oh!".
Only in Chad will a worker think it is ok to stop working to wash his clothes. The funny thing is that if he had just asked to wash them after he got done with work we would have said, "sure". It's just a little bit of water and some soap. Heavy sigh.
See you later.
sf
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Hope you are having a great day.
Heat's been picking up the last few days. Getting steadily warmer. Lows at night are in the 80's.
Yesterday's bizarre news: While out with Payton and Ethan I received a phone call from Janice. She said that one of our workers, who was hired to dig a trench for a new power line we're installing, was taking a break from work to wash his clothes. You see, most Chadians was their clothes in big round tubs and he'd taken the time to grab two of ours, fill them with water, grab some soap and started to wash. All this in plain view of our front door.
Janice called to tell me what was going on. After a few seconds of discussion, she decided to go outside and tell him to stop. She did so and when I got home I asked what he said. He said, "Oh!".
Only in Chad will a worker think it is ok to stop working to wash his clothes. The funny thing is that if he had just asked to wash them after he got done with work we would have said, "sure". It's just a little bit of water and some soap. Heavy sigh.
See you later.
sf
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Good Tuesday Everyone...
Please excuse the several days that have gone by since my last post. I came down with a particularly nasty case of Malaria last week and am just now able to post this after catching back up - to an extent - with work.
The latter part of last week is nothing more than a fever riddled blur. But, yesterday was one to remember. We went to one of the local hotels for a day of swimming and fun. We went with another family and were able to convince the receptionist to give us a price break. (Note: By 'price break' I mean she was able to reduce the cost of the swimming from more than $100 to less than $100 for all of us - there were 18 altogether.)
We arrived by 10 AM and left just before 5 PM. One of the great things about this pool is that there is quite a large shallow end that is shallow enough to allow the little kids - Esther, Tawnee, and Ethan - to be able to touch the bottom. They loved it!
H. is fearless. If you're not careful, he'll just jump into the pool. Turn your head for just a fraction of a second and in he goes! He did it a time or two. Going under didn't seem to bother him too much as he generally want to stay in the water when he did.
For lunch we were able to order from the pool-side menu. No kid ever complains of a lunch consisting of French Fries and sandwiches. We lugged in our own water so we were able to stay away from the $4 bottles of soda. How many of those bad boys do you think Payton could've managed to force down during the day? The over-under was 8.
Hope you have a great week.
sf
Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.
Please excuse the several days that have gone by since my last post. I came down with a particularly nasty case of Malaria last week and am just now able to post this after catching back up - to an extent - with work.
The latter part of last week is nothing more than a fever riddled blur. But, yesterday was one to remember. We went to one of the local hotels for a day of swimming and fun. We went with another family and were able to convince the receptionist to give us a price break. (Note: By 'price break' I mean she was able to reduce the cost of the swimming from more than $100 to less than $100 for all of us - there were 18 altogether.)
We arrived by 10 AM and left just before 5 PM. One of the great things about this pool is that there is quite a large shallow end that is shallow enough to allow the little kids - Esther, Tawnee, and Ethan - to be able to touch the bottom. They loved it!
H. is fearless. If you're not careful, he'll just jump into the pool. Turn your head for just a fraction of a second and in he goes! He did it a time or two. Going under didn't seem to bother him too much as he generally want to stay in the water when he did.
For lunch we were able to order from the pool-side menu. No kid ever complains of a lunch consisting of French Fries and sandwiches. We lugged in our own water so we were able to stay away from the $4 bottles of soda. How many of those bad boys do you think Payton could've managed to force down during the day? The over-under was 8.
Hope you have a great week.
sf
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