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JOURNEY
THE
chad
March 2012: An update from Phil & Merilee Henderson with MAF
DESTINATION:
Population Million
NIG
N
Poverty
ER
Literacy: 33.5%
al
Abéche
Darfur ( SUDAN)
in tot ved road a p f o m 600 k
R NIGE
We are excited to let you know that we have accepted a placement with MAF to serve in N’Djamena, Chad. A fascinating country and yet its troubles have largely gone unnoticed. News headlines around the world seem reserved for Chad’s neighbors while crisis, civil war and famine have ravaged the country and the people. For the most part, Chad is divided into North and South, sandy desert and thick bush; between Chadians of Arab and African descent and between Islam and Christianity. MAF supports the work of the local church in Southern Chad while in the North, we work with frontier and linguistic organizations to reach the vast number of isolated people groups – the most unreached groups of any African country. Working in Chad will have its hardships – average high temperatures are a stifling 40°C in the capital city where power outages are common and a layer of dust covers everything. In Chad you don’t have to watch out for thunder showers – it’s the dust storms that keep us on the ground.
SUDA
11½ 80%
IA
N’Djamena
Christian 38%
Muslim 53%
Other 9%
Sahr
ON ERO
CAM
Moundou
AFRICAN CENTRAL
IC
REPUBL
Languages French, Arabic and 131 additional tribal languages throughout Chad. There are more unreached peoples in Chad than any other African country.
In the 70’s and 80’s Libya invaded Northern Chad. The Libyan army constructed several mile-long, beautifully smooth, interlocking steelplated runways. Times have changed. The Libyan jets are long gone and now MAF enjoys their use.
Sources: Operation World, CIA Factbook, Wikipedia.com, ethnologue.com
LIBYA
MAF Flight Standardization Training Nampa, Idaho Mar 25–Apr 20
Blog: Have a look at www.mafhendersons.com for videos, updates and insights
Commissioning Weekend Services, North Park, London, ON May 26 & 27, 2012
Begin French language training
VIVA...LE QUÉBEC.
OUR TIME IN ONTARIO
You may have noticed that I didn’t list English as one of the languages spoken in Chad. Therefore, language school for us will take place in Québec City, Québec. We’ve been told that in Q.C. no one will be switching to English if we start butchering French. The plan is for us to leave Ontario and drive to Québec in June where we will spend the next 6 months immersed in the French language and culture. MAF has also arranged for a retired French teacher who will do one-on-one lessons with us every day! We hear that she speaks very little English so it looks like it’ll be sink or swim for the first little while in Québec. Merilee took French in school for about 8 years, compared to my rather short 2 years. Even Kaitlyn and Lily are getting into the spirit saying things like “Bonjour” and “Un, deux, trois...”
Our hearts are full of thanks to God for arranging the time we’ve had here in Ontario to live with my mom, to visit with friends and family and to reconnect with our old community here in London. It’s been excellent for Kaitlyn and Lily to have lots of cousin and grandparent time on both sides. We expect to be in Chad for about three-and-a-half years for our first term so this time has meant even
Praise God ‣ ‣
‣
Monthly: $950 to go
As you can see from the timeline above we are almost ready to move on to language training and from there we go directly overseas. Many of you have told us you want to stand with us in partnership and if you’ve been waiting until the last minute, this is it. We’re also thankful beyond words for those of you who’ve already partnered with us. The knowledge of all of you standing with us as we go to Chad is both an honour and an important asset that we will carry with us. Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada, 264 Woodlawn Rd. W, Guelph, ON, N1H 1B6 Toll free: 1.877.351.9344 | www.mafc.org
Lily (3) & Kaitlyn (4½)
That we have been assigned to a country! And for the incredible amount of support that’s been pledged to get us there.
Prayer
‣
On a recent trip to Ottawa we got to experience the Rideau Canal, Beaver Tails™ and the Canadian Aviation Museum.
Arrive in N’Djamena, Chad February 2013
more considering that Kaitlyn will be 8 on our first visit back to Canada!
‣
One-time: $8800 to go
If you’ve been waiting...now’s the time!
2 Week Training in Ashford, UK January 2013
in Québec June 2012
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➭
For Chad! An extremely needy country. Please look up Chad online for more country info or see our blog for some good information. For our family! Adjusting to new languages, cultures, temperatures and leaving family and friends. That French would come quickly to all of us. ‣For the grandparents and siblings we are leaving; this is not an easy departure for them either.
We hope you will prayerfully consider financially supporting our ministry with MAF in Chad.
You can do this by getting in touch with MAF directly – see below. Our friends in the US can go to www.maf.org/25604 to contribute. Each gift allocated toward an MAF board-approved program will be used as allocated with the understanding that when any given need has been met, additional allocated gifts will be used where most needed.
Mission Aviation Fellowship, PO Box 47, Nampa, ID, 83653 Toll free: 1.800.359.7623 | www.maf.org
Please let us know if you’re not interested in receiving our letters. If you’re getting this by mail and would prefer an email version, just email us at mr.philhenderson@gmail.com
➭ http://qrmobilize.com/mafhendersons – A link to our contact information and some other stuff.
the loose timeline
THE JOURNEY
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