TASKS IN TCHAD

Greetings from Saskatchewan. Before sharing what I will be doing in Chad here is an update on my present circumstances. In the last 18 days I have only worked 5 days. I will be off work for the next two days because of Canada day and possibly not get back to work until July 3rd or later. If work does not pick up I will be coming home before mid-August as originally planned.

I am visiting my son Ben and Ashley and Vance in Nipawin Saskatchewan. Yesterday we were at the trailer at the lake and Ben and I went out to get sand for the sandbox and I buried my truck in the sand to the axle and had to get pulled out. It was fun and Vance is having fun in his sandboat.

Papa and Vance building sandcastles

Tchad. That is not a spelling mistake. Tchad with a "T" is the French spelling and also the Arabic transliteration spelling. So far it looks like I will be leaving around September 1st. Besides the two days for the flight, it takes a day by bus to travel to Abéché from the capital city of N`Djamena.

I will spend the first few weeks getting to know the team and getting orientated to the country. The Chad team annual conference will be held the first week of October. After that I will be teaching English. A regular English class runs twice a week for 10 weeks. If there is enough suitable students a superior level class - which is all Bible based, in effect a chronological presentation of the Gospel over the two 10 week periods - will be held. These classes give opportunity to befriend students most of which are Muslim. On Saturdays there is an English club where guys who have learned English and want to practice it come together to talk about an issue. These classes are possibilities and nothing is certain until classes and teachers are gathered together in October. There is also the possibility of practicing English with an MMB Pastor in Abéché.

Another possible area of activity is running the Hope program. The Hope is a chronological Gospel presentation which also comes in an English learning version. Learners come to our IT room and book time on a computer to work on the Hope material. Someone needs to be there to facilitate and interact with them as they have need.

As you can see this will be a relational ministry, making friends and having personal discussions in English and French and maybe some Arabic according to what I am able to learn and retain. I have already begun with some basic Arabic.

This week I was able to get some of my vaccines - Tetanus, Typhoid, Meningitis, and Hepatitis B. I still need two more Hep B shots, a Yellow Fever vaccine for which I have to travel to Edmonton, and I begin my Malaria regime just before I leave. In mid-July I will begin my Chad visa application. So preparations are falling into place. Next week I plan to share about finances.

Thank you to those who have already requested to be included in my prayer email. If you would like to receive, beginning in July, a private weekly email of prayer requests for this mission to Chad please email me at <rtulip231@gmail.com> and I will add you to the list. If you no longer want to receive this blog, email me and I will take you off the list. If you know anyone who would like to be included in this blog have them email me.

The city of Abeche

An Oasis is the desert in Chad

May God connect your heart and actions to the people of Chad as your prayers provide hope in Jesus Christ as an oasis in the desert. Talk to you next week. ron

CHAD AND THE OUADDAI PEOPLE

Greetings! I have not worked for five days due to rain and slowdown in work so please pray that work will increase for my remaining month and a half here in Alberta.

In this blog I want to introduce you to Chad in general and then to the people WEC is working with around the city of Abéché. The population of Chad is about 12.5 million with a mix of over 150 people groups. It has one of the lowest literacy levels in the world at 53% and 80% live below the poverty line. Chad rates 175th of 182 countries in the Human Development Index Ranking. 46% of the population is under 15 years of age and life expectancy is under 49 years. Average yearly income per person is $863 US dollars (Operation World, 2010).

Chad is a secular state with freedom of religion. Chad has the rare distinction of being a place where a Christian can work with Muslims and Arabs on a missionary visa. Considering the lack of religious freedom and Islamic radicalization of the countries that surround Chad, the religious freedom in Chad is a responsibility we need to take seriously. No one knows how long this opportunity will last. You may not be able or willing to go to Chad but you can make a difference in the physical and eternal destiny of some of the people in Chad by letting me represent you there. In July I will begin a private weekly prayer email for those who request to be on that list for specific prayer for people and personal needs so if you want to be part of that mailing send me a request at <rtulip231@gmail.com>.

I will be working out of the city of Abéché (center of green circle above) which is Chad's fourth largest city and has a population of between 76,000 to 97,000. You will also be glad to know that Abéché is the hottest major city in Chad with an average temperature of 36 C (97 F) : )  WEC has a Learning Center in Abéché and on my next blog I will share about what I will be doing at the Learning Center.

Abéché is the capital of the Ouaddai Region. This is an area of harsh living conditions, lack of roads, and one of the least evangelized areas of Africa (Operation World, 2010). WEC has pioneered this area working among the Maba, Massalit and Arabs.

There are over 600 Maba villages around Abéché. To read an expanded profile on the Maba people click here.The Massalit live in both Sudan and Chad to the south of Abéché. The read an expanded profile on the Massalit people click here. Both the Maba and Massalit are non-Arab people. WEC also works with the Arab nomads who wander with their herds to find pasture in the dry climate before and after the rainy season. To read more extensively on the Arab people click here.

I am praying that God will give you a burden for Chad, and the Maba, Massalit and Arab nomads. I pray the names of these Chadian people will become familiar language among you, a regular part of your prayers, and that God will give you a desire to act in sharing the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ with these people. Sharing the Gospel with these people who have been under another religious system for hundreds of years is not an easy process and impossible without prayer, the patient love of God's people, sacrifice and plain hard work. I pray you will be part of the WEC team to this great end.

CHAD

I have looked forward to writing today's blog entry for a long time. I have dreamed about it, imagined it, and worked toward it for over a year. This blog entry begins to fulfill the original purpose for which this blog was started - to present the needs of the third world church, to ask prayer for the believers and the lost, to seek support toward projects that will advance God's kingdom work there, and to share experiences and personal stories and insights along the way. This blog entry begins to turn the content of this blog from West to the East, and from work experiences to application of mission.

Lord willing, I will be going to Chad at the end of August until the end of December with WEC (World Evangelization for Christ). WEC orientation begins August 18th in Hamilton and I hope to leave for Chad around the 26th. There is much to do before orientation begins. Above all else I covet your prayers for Gloria and I, my family, all the details that need to be worked out, and the finances needed for this trip. Specific prayers over the next month are for the many vaccinations I need to get. I will need to get this done in Alberta as I am working here until the beginning of August so pray for all the details of this to be worked out. Next will be a visa and booking flights. There are also a number of smaller details that need to be worked out before I can leave with peace that all is in place.

I remember when Gloria encouraged me to decide to make my first trip to Honduras. When I decided to go ahead someone immediately came forward with a donation toward the trip as a seed toward the remaining amount needed. Since then I have made 5 trips to Honduras and God has provided. A little less than a year ago a couple gave Gloria and I some money which we put aside as seed toward this trip to Chad (although we did not know at the time where and when but sensed the need to go East). So I am encouraged from past experience to make plans for this trip and to watch God provide.

I will be working in Abeche, Chad in the green shaded area among Muslim people. This is about a days travel from the capital, N'Djamena in the Ouaddai region (click to open link) and just next door to the Darfur region in Sudan. I will share more detail over the next few entries about the three people groups the WEC team is working with in the Ouaddai region as well as the work I will be doing there. For now please begin to pray about this new direction and all that has to be worked out to make this mission a reality.

Chad is surrounded by 6 countries, Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. Which country in Africa has the most countries surrounding it. Get your map out look for Chad and use your map to remind you to pray for the people of Chad. Then familiarize yourself with the rest of Africa. Happy counting.

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KEPT BY THE WORDS OF JESUS

This morning I am home for the second day in a row due to rain yesterday and the work sites needing to dry up today. Hopefully tomorrow I can get back to work.

I am writing to share a verse of Scripture with you which I read in my devotions this morning. In the ESV, John 16.1 says, "I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away". The NASB says, "that you may be kept from stumbling", while the KJV reads, "that you should not be offended", and NIV "that you will not fall away". The Greek verb is scandalizo from which we get our English word scandalized. It means to cause a person to fall away. In the New Testament the meaning ranges from a temporary falling away like Peter's denial of Christ (Matthew 26.33) to complete turning away from Christ (Matthew 13.21).

What struck me as I first read this verse and up to verse 4, was that Jesus keeps the disciples from falling away by the teaching he gives them and the promise of the coming Holy Spirit who will dwell in them and will testify to all that Jesus has said to them. What came to mind was the promise of John 10.28-30, how the good Shepherd will keep his sheep and no one can take them out of his hand and the Father's hand. I had considered God's keeping process as the work of His sovereign grace but had not much considered that means of His keeping until reading and meditating on this verse this morning. The process of God keeping us faithful to the end as He has promised to do involves not only His external keeping power but also the keeping power of His words mediated to us through the Holy Spirit. How vital it is for us to keep God's Word constantly before us and in our minds, especially as all the world around us seeks to scandalize us, to cause us to fall away from God's fullness in Christ.

May God enrich your day with the growing knowledge of all that He has given you in Christ. I know my day shall be full as I continue to savor the truths in these verses today.