Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Cool Weather Behind Us






Cool Weather Behind Us - February 7, 2012





Bonne annee! Happy New Year! The new year came and went, not much celebration. The nights were cool in December and January and we unpacked a sleeping bag to use as a duvet cover almost every night. However, the days warm up very quickly, so that by 9:30 am one is usually drinking lots of water to hydrate. By 3 pm the days have reached the hottest temps and it is hard to work under those conditions. Kel has resorted to wetting his shirt to return to the jobsite after lunch.


We have had several “harmitons” (high-level dust/sand in the air) which makes the days a bit cooler due to less radiation from the sun, but the solar panels do not produce the normal amount of electricity on such days.



Since we last wrote, our team is conducting several weekly Bible studies in the area. We two are in charge of one location to the west of Bere. There is a core group of 6 or 7 adults, but up to 40 children, so on Sabbath afternoons we tell a Bible story that is translated into Nangjere by our local translator. On Tuesday afternoons, Kel has a Bible study based on some questions the adults have raised, with the same local translator. God is blessing and it may become a place to erect another one-day church.


Last Sunday we treated ourselves to a picnic at the big river near Lai, 18 km east of our village. The gals contributed picnic lunch items and we borrowed a vehicle from the hospital. We were all amazed to see the size of the river, at least the width. This river, as well as the one near Bere, flows north toward Lake Chad. Kel estimates the concrete bridge was at least a kilometer long across the river. Several trucks rolled up and crews loaded building sand – free for the taking under the bridge. We swam in the river and we two walked downstream along the riverbank to a grassy peninsula where we noticed several deep hippo footprints in the mud. Looked like a couple of hippos walked side by side. We ate lunch under a shade tree - veggie burgers and coleslaw. We returned for an afternoon swim, then drove back to Bere.

Bird life in Chad is abundant. We saw maribou storks, black storks, African jacana, cattle egrets, snowy egrets, herons, sandpipers, pied crows, pied kingfishers, and several raptors. Last Sabbath, instead of walking to church, we two took a moto rode several kms into the bush to watch birds. We saw the European roller, and a pair Chad's equivalent of the crimson-breasted shrike, and white-headed barbets, and we think we saw a pair of hoepoe, but they were too far away to identify properly. There were Namaqua doves and crowned plovers running around on the ground.

It seems that our malaria-prevention meds are working hard and we are mostly well this time around. We are so thankful for the prevention and are still careful to be inside during dawn and dusk and the dark hours and we always sleep under the mosquito net.

We had a very large 8-legged visitor who was not welcome inside the hut show itself on Sunday morning. Josie attempted to move it out of the hut when it crawled toward her hands. Needless to say she screamed, dropped the item, and the spider (Kel named Samson) ran for its life under the bed. Well, for a couple of nights we tucked the mosquito net a bit tighter around the mattress. This morning Josie reached for an item in a basket and there the spider was, so she carried the basket out the door and unceremoniously dumped it on the porch. The 8-legged creature ran and Josie jumped in the air – fortunately Kel was inside and nabbed it with the broom, but it crawled under the screen door to the outside. Ah hah! One strike with a trusty flipflop and spider curled up. Then the compound dog promptly ate it!

Thanks so much for praying for us and we appreciate so much your love and support.


You can always drop us an e-mail at kelvin.burgoyne@gmail.com



Lots of love & hugs,


Josie & Kel

No comments:

Post a Comment