Prayer Letter

Since my last newsletter, I only had three weeks in Chad and then I left for holiday followed by UK home assignment. The three weeks in Chad were busy and extremely hot! I spent the last two weeks sleeping outside on my back veranda (which has mosi-net screening, so I'm not totally exposed!). Cleopas had the first two weeks of April off which was a much-needed break for him. He spent it helping to build a house though, so I'm not totally sure how much rest he got but I guess a change is as good as a rest! His absence meant I was much busier, not least because Valerie, who I was hoping to do some more on-the-job training with, had to cover a colleague who was unfortunately off sick for a few weeks. So that was a bit disappointing both from a work intensity point of view but also from a training point of view.

Another disappointing thing that happened was the solar kept cutting out and I was diagnosing why. Think we got to the bottom of it but one of the systems (we have two which are linked) is not working optimally. I was able to hand over the solar to one of the other mission workers for while I'm in the UK and Allain our administrator came along for the training session too. I was glad to see him step up and take an interest in the solar as it can go wrong often unfortunately. It's a mixture of many things. The heat (despite all the equipment being in rooms with 24/7 air-conditioning), overloading despite our best efforts, and just the 'Chad factor' which I often use as a reason for why things happen that don't make total sense to me.

Thank you for praying about the visa situation for Americans. Sadly, there is no more news on this despite the ray of hope a few months ago. The prime minister's office is still working on it with the Chadian Evangelical Alliance but more patience is going to be required. There are now no American mission workers with any organisation left in Chad. Some are waiting it out in other African countries, others in the USA and some have already moved on to other assignments in other countries.

I'm now about halfway through my church visits and talks for my home assignment. Thank you to everyone who has already welcomed me to their church, given me a coffee, a meal or a bed for the night. It's been good to update you on the work at G2 and it'll be good to see the rest of the churches who are on my schedule. The photo shows my first talk, done at my home (sending) church in Torquay a few weeks ago. My last church visit is on Sunday 21 June. The following week, there is an all-staff conference for BMS workers in the UK and around the world, being held here in the UK. It'll be good to meet people I've read about, or I've only ever seen on an online video call! The last week of June I'll be on holiday with my immediate family which I am looking forward to. Then it'll be into packing up and heading back to Chad for my last 3 months there.

Praise and prayer points

Praise points:

Holidays and time to rest and recharge

Safe travels to and around the UK and the warm welcome from churches

Sunshine in the UK

Cleopas's break

Prayer points:

The solar will somehow continue to function despite the extreme heat and usage

American's getting Chadian visas

Valerie's on-going training – that we'll get the time to do it and she'll grasp what I'm training her in

Safety as I continue to travel around the UK

For good connections at the all-staff BMS conference

For me as I process leaving Chad and re-entering the UK

Once again thank you for your ongoing support!

Below is my schedule of remaining church visits. Do feel free to come to one that is near you, it would be great to see you and update you in person on the work at G2!

Blessings

Claire

Tuesday 2 June – 7pm – Griffithstown Baptist Church

Wednesday 3 June – 7pm – Moriah Baptist Church, Risca

Sunday 7 June – 10.30am – Caversham Baptist Church

Sunday 7 June – 6.30pm – Union Baptist Church, High Wycombe

Sunday 14 June – 10.45am – Abbey Centre Baptist Church, Northampton

Sunday 21 June – 10.45am – Higham Way Baptist Church, Burbage