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Ingrid and Roger Hamlet
January 2025
Prayer Letter
Happy New Year! We are writing to you now from a rainy Scotland, where we are spending the New Year with Roger's family. We had a lovely Christmas in Northamptonshire with Ingrid's family, having packed up the flat in Massy just before Christmas and ventured back to the UK on the ferry. We are very grateful that we received our passports back in time to be able to travel as planned and that we were able to make the ferry crossing between Calais and Dover on our day of travel, despite the high winds causing a number of cancellations.
The last couple of months have been a mixture of practical preparation for the move to Chad in January and trying to learn as much French as possible before we left Massy. We finished the term at Les Cedres with the formal aural and written exams and have been pleased to make progress with our French language learning. There is always more to learn though and it will definitely continue once in Chad, both in a practical sense but also with study in one form or another.
The end of term at Les Cedres also came with many goodbyes and a genuine sense of sadness to be leaving. It was a great place to spend the last 8 months, not just for the language learning, but the people we met along the way. We have learnt and experienced a lot about living cross-culturally and thank God for the opportunity to live in France for a time.
As mentioned, we were extremely grateful to receive our passports and Chadian visas in time to travel back to the UK for Christmas, and for the many appointments we had scheduled in the UK the following week. Roger travelled into Paris to pick them up on the last working day before our booked ferry crossing, as we didn't think the post would get them to us in time!
Alongside the end of term we also put a lot of energy into cleaning and packing up our flat, sifting through our belongings again, deciding what makes the cut and what doesn't. It's a process we're getting quite used to with it being the 3rd move in a year.
We have been really impressed with the way the boys have been adapting to all the change, although Mark is definitely sad about leaving France. His French acquisition has been such that he was able to engage in class and make friends. Thankfully, we have been able to confirm places for them at the French school in N'Djamena, so the French learning can continue and hopefully some sense of familiarity for them in Chad. We've been trying to talk to them more about what life will be like and show them photos from our short visit to Chad last year, particularly of the house on the hospital compound where we'll be living. The consistent heat and dust will be a shock to the system coming from winter in the UK, but I think it will be for all of us!
Praise God:
For a great year, both at All Nations Christian College and Les Cedres French language school, giving us the opportunity to properly prepare for our time in Chad and to meet some wonderful people along the way.
For receiving our Chadian visas and passports in time.
For confirmation of school places for the boys in N'Djamena.
For smooth travel back to the UK.
Prayer Requests:
For the final preparations and packing for the move to Chad.
For safe travel to Chad on the 14th January, it'll be the first experience of flying for both boys.
For a smooth transition for the whole family and for the building of relationships with other staff members at Guinebor II hospital.
Wishing you all a good New Year and God's rich blessing for the coming year. We look forward to writing to you next time from Chad!