Our Last Sunday.....

I woke up on Sunday realizing how quickly our time in Ch*d was coming to an end.  I recall feeling home sick for the first time that morning.  I missed being able to share things with Scott anytime I wanted to.  I also realized that I still needed to put together my presentation for Monday morning with Rhode.  G*d had already put the ideas in my heart, but I needed time to write it out so Kay could begin to prepare to translate it.  But first, we were off to w*rship in Belaba.


This is the church that Dadje built near his home.  That morning it was cool by Ch*dian standards... I suppose maybe in the upper 70's low 80's and raining.  The church has a metal roof, so when it was raining it was difficult to hear anyone singing or speaking. 

Sean  was asked to pr*ach that morning.  He spoke on J*hn 15 and J*hn 3:16

Sean pr*ached in English, Kirk translated into French, and Sampson translated from French to Gumbai (sp?) which is the local dialect.

Sean even got his name put up on the black board.

After the service we had the opportunity to have tea with Christine and visit with her children and grandchildren. 

That afternoon, I had the chance to sit down with my thoughts and my notes from my meeting with Rhode, now more than a week ago.  She had asked me to talk about training women to care for their baby while it was still in the womb and tie it to scr=pture, to discuss child spacing, being aware of dangerous medication and herbs, about nutrition and knowing serious warning signs.  I knew from experience that the need to translate into two languages was time consuming, so I had to keep my part to about 20-30 minutes.

That evening we watched the movie "The End of the Spear".  The story about Nate Saint who was a missionary to Ecuador.   If you've never seen the movie or read the book, I encourage you to do so. 

By evening I was still very homesick, yet at the same time coming to the realization that it was going to be hard to leave. 
In my journal that night, before I fell asleep I wrote, "Part of me is so ready to go home that if I could leave now I would.  The other part dreads leaving.  There is so much work to be done here.  the people here are in such need of better health care and teaching about health.  The words of the Chief in Gadjibian, asking me to stay and help the mothers and babies in their town healthier, keep running through my head.   But even greater is their need for J*sus.  Their tribal beliefs influence so much of their lives, even those who profess to be Chr+stians.  My heart breaks at the thought of leaving when the job here in Ch*d is not done.  G^d has a great team in Moundou.  I see G^d using all of them in a mighty way.  I'm grateful I've had a chance to be part of it."