Prayer Letter

The hospital solar continues to have me scratching my head but since my last newsletter, we have been able to use a fund we put money into every month for solar equipment, to buy two new lithium batteries (25kWh each for those who know about/are interested in this stuff!) for the hospital. This is helping and we are also waiting for new inverters to arrive to replace the existing ones that aren't functioning optimally. As I wrote last time, patience is key, and I pray that the solar will continue to function and the generator used as back-up will also continue to function well!

We just had some more visitors at the hospital, so the hospitality team has been working hard to make sure they're comfortable and able to do what they came here for. Most of the recent visitors are people new to Chad who wanted to see the hospital for the first time and gain an understanding of how it works. One person is a member of the hospital's board, and another person is a newly qualified nurse on a vision trip for potential long-term work. Finally, I've been glad to welcome back a previous BMS worker who has come to see everyone for a week and collect some of her family's belongings that were left here.

Cleopas (head of pharmacy) had two weeks off at the beginning of September, so that made for a busy time for me, as Valerie (deputy head) was covering someone else's leave and so I didn't have her for support in the running of the department. All went well I'm glad to say! At the start of August, we had a new member of staff start in pharmacy. The aim of her joining the team is to free up Valerie to be able to work alongside Cleopas more regularly in the management of the pharmacy, so that he has her support more often. It takes around six months for a new member of pharmacy staff to be able to work independently, but she's doing well so far and seems to be on track to be able to go solo in early 2026.

At the start of August, I had a phone call at 4.30pm saying two pick-ups packed with mosquito nets had arrived! Of course, no-one really knew they were coming apart from the nurse who is our representative with the national malaria programme, and he didn't know exactly when they'd turn up. His working day ends at 3pm (those who work 'office hours' at G2 work from 7am until 3pm) so he'd already gone home. As it's the pharmacy who manages the distribution of the nets, and I live on site, I got called to sign for the delivery of 4,600 mosquito nets! The photo shows one of the pick-ups loaded with half of the 92 'bales' of mosquito nets. Ever since, we've been able to give them out for free to the target groups: pregnant women and young children, which is great news.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter some months ago, I am soon going to be on annual leave for 4 weeks (most of October). I am looking forward to being in the UK during that time, seeing my family and friends and getting some rest. It's going to be strange not having to do any church visits during this visit, but I am really looking forward to switching off from all things 'G2' for a few weeks and I'm grateful I am able to do this.

Thank you so much for your prayers about my visa renewal. There were a few hiccups, but it did get renewed eventually (for a year) and I'm very grateful for that.

The situation about visas for Americans entering Chad (and vice-versa) still hasn't been resolved and it is now having a direct impact on many mission organisations and institutions, G2 included. We have lost an American family whose visas expired mid-September. They are now in France doing work among refugees for the school year, while they wait and see if Chad will start issuing visas to Americans. We are also in the process of losing an American couple too, whose visas expire mid-October and who will return to the USA to wait it out. Losing part of our community in this unplanned way is hard – mainly for them but also for us left behind!

Praise and prayer points

Praise points:

Continued improved solar power situation.

Visitors who are interested in the work at G2 and ask pertinent questions.

New staff member in pharmacy.

The mosquito nets we're able to give out for free to pregnant ladies and young children.

My trip to the UK.

My successful visa renewal.

Prayer points:

Safety on the roads. The final part of the road to G2 still hasn't been tarred but is still being graded fairly regularly which is helping a lot.

We could get the solar working even better and that the generator back-up would continue to function well.

That the new pharmacy staff member would learn our processes (and computer system) well.

Protection against malaria for staff and patients.

Safe travel to the UK at the start of October.

For the US and Chad to find a way to resolve the visa issue and for workers in Chad who are having to leave the country.

Once again, thank you for your faithful support in so many ways!

Grace and peace

Claire