Chillin' in Chad

Blessed.

2012-01-17T13:37:00.002+01:00

The title for this post pretty much says it all. If you want a visual, simply look at these pictures. Here it is in early January and last week we were enjoying a picnic outside on a beautiful Saturday with the temperature around 70*F. Can you beat that in January? Our kids are healthy and doing well - it's just one of those "happy times" in your life where you just feel like things can't get better. All that being said, the blessings extend beyond simply nice weather, good food, and good health. In the last couple months we have seen our Father bless us in incredible ways:

For more than a year now we have been praying for God to raise up a team to join us in our work in Chad. In my limited faith I truly believed that we would be waiting up until the last second to find some people to join us...But God has already answered! We have one couple and three singles who have committed to being on our team! In addition we have one other family that is seriously considering joining us and are in the middle of praying about the decision. So God has answered, He is good.
I have to also mention here how God has provided for our financial needs. The truth is that the past several months has been hard - everyone has been affected by the economic situation and those in our line of work are no different. The great thing is being able to look back and see how God has provided in the past and knowing that His faithfulness will continue into the future and that has proven true for us. We've had some big needs lately and God has brought in some amazing gifts. God is good.
Lastly, another honest confession. When Krista I came back from Chad this past July, we felt exhausted and drained in many ways - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. God has used this time to refresh our spirits and bodies, having done an amazing work in our lives in several special ways. He has encouraged us and given us a great joy about going back to Chad and continuing the work He has given us there.

So all that to say, God is good - as He calls He is faithful to provide, equip, encourage, strengthen, and refresh.

Christmas time in the States

2012-01-09T19:37:00.007+01:00

So it was fantastic being back in the States for Christmas time. It was so nice to eat Christmas food, be with family, wear sweatshirts and huddle together under blankets, and play card games until late at night - things we just don't get to do in Chad. We took a long trip out to Colorado, making various stops along the way, and eventually spent a week with my (Justin) parents and brothers in Loveland, CO. We had a great time - too great a time I realized after stepping on the scales and recording a new record weight for myself! Yeah, not the type of record you usually shoot for. Anyway, it was a great time and we're thankful to God for wonderful family and friends.

So we went night skiing - Matt, Chris, Krista and I. Was a lot of fun. One of the highlights was getting this picture of Matt with kleenex stuffed up his nose while trying to stop a bloody nose. Hope you enjoy the picture as much as we did.

Krista and I at the ski lodge

Krista and our little girl on Christmas morning

Fun with Uncle Chris!

We got to go sledding and had a blast

We built snow forts and had wars

Sledding

The boys playing video games for the first time at Uncle Matt and Uncle Chris' house

A visit to the Saint Louis Zoo with Uncle Matt

Making ginger bread cookies and lookin good in an apron

Playing in the leaves

Thanksgiving in Jackson, TN

2011-12-04T13:20:00.004+01:00

"Oh Union dearest Union"...The boys enjoying their first basketball game ever at our alma mater along with Aunt Linda and Uncle Dirk.

What can you say, two cute kids. Levi is really good at loving his sister...somtimes.

The kids with their grandparents and great-grandparents

Storytime with Uncle Chris and the boys

At Micah's school for their Thanksgiving meal

Holiday time in America.

2011-11-27T23:17:00.002+01:00

It's that time of year - the time when you sit around in a warm house while it's cold outside, eat from a table full of a wide variety of dishes and treats, and play games with your family until late at night. This is one of the things that we miss the most when in Chad. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just normal days during a normal week where we live in Chad. What a special thing it is to celebrate these special holidays back here in the States with family and friends. We've had a wonderful week here in Jackson, TN - eating a lot and seeing many friends. We've been reminded daily how much God has blessed our little family with so many wonderful people around us.

We'll be on the road again tomorrow, heading back to South Carolina. Krista will take off a couple of days later for a trip she is taking to the west coast and I'll be holding down the fort with the kids! Pray for me! Also, be praying for us as we've just decided that I should probably return to Chad for a brief trip in January to begin the construction of our house. Pray for us as we need God to bring in the finances fast to meet the needs that I have for this trip! Also, praise God with us - we have at least one couple and one single who have committed to being part of our team in Chad! Woohoo! We are excited to see how God is bringing it all together.

Still on the road...

2011-11-17T18:30:00.006+01:00

So it's continued to be a busy time for our family. Since our last blog update we have basically been on the road. After getting back from out time in Cincinnati we had several days before we took off to Atlanta where we took part in one of our supporting churches missions conferences. We had a wonderful time there and were really blessed with a great host family - the Berkhans. Before our time in Atlanta finished up I (Justin) actually took off to Montreal, Canada where I spent a week speaking to French-speaking churches and other missions gatherings. My time was wonderful and challenging as I had ten different speaking engagements in a week's time as well as other meetings. Krista stayed with the kids and finished up the rest of our speaking engagements in Atlanta - thanks to the help of the Berkhans, her sister and parents, and the Lynch family in Monticello, GA. This past Monday I flew in to Atlanta and then drove back up to Columbia to have a very happy reunion with Krista and the kids. It's good to be back together as a family. Sometimes I look at my two single brothers and am somewhat envious of their freedom and ability to get up and go and do whatever they want. But after a week apart from my wife and kids - it was a great reminder of what a blessing they are and I wouldn't trade my life right now for anyone else's! So we're here in Columbia -for the moment. We head out on the road again this Saturday and will be in Jackson, TN for a little over a week. Looking forward to catching up with some of you in that area! Hope you enjoy the pics of the last several weeks.

This was Sunday lunch at the Menard's house in Montreal. They were my host family during my time there and they were wonderful. It was fun speaking French again and they were a big help in keeping me fed and helping me get around the city. On the right is Rosemary Walker, the regional rep for our organization (AIM) who organized all my speaking engagements.

So our supporting church in the Atlanta area is a big church, big enough they have a TV ministry and therefore we actually had to get make-up put on us before going on stage to speak. Notice i took the picture of Krista getting the make-up put on and not the other way around!

An American cultural experience. While at the Berkhan's house it was time for Halloween. Our boys helped Felina hand out the candy to all the kids that came to the door. Levi didn't quite understand the idea of giving out only so much candy - he would simply plunge both hands in the boxes of candy and give out arm-loads - made for lots of happy trick or treaters!

Clay works at the local fire department and so we went for a visit. The boys had a blast checking out the truck and trying on the jackets and helmets.

The day I took off to Canada, Krista and the boys along with her parents and sister Cheryl took off to spend a couple of days with the Lynch family a couple of hours from Atlanta. They had a great time hanging out on the family farm - riding horses, seeing the cows, going fishing, and riding on the boat. Made some great memories!

On the Road!

2011-10-27T16:47:00.010+02:00

So we've officially started our whirlwind tour of being in a different city and church every Sunday for the next seven weeks. Last week we were in Cincinnati, OH sharing with three different churches and visiting other supporters and friends. It was a great time reconnecting with many people. We're now back in Columbia, SC for a couple more days until we head out to Atlanta for another conference! Here are some pics of the last week.

Beginning of the road trip - everyone is happy (for now)

Before we left on our road trip, the South Carolina State Fair started up right here in Columbia - so we decided to have an American cultural experience by eating some corn dogs and going on a ride.

Fall time in America! It was a gorgeous drive from South Carolina to Ohio. This time of year is something we miss greatly when back in Chad.

One Sunday afternoon we went out to a local farm and the boys picked pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns. We had another great cultural experience by going on a hay ride!

A lot of our time during the week was spent visiting friends. Here's a picture of our boys with Ryan and Christy Peterson's oldest girls.

We had a great evening with the Whites and the Rakers

God cleared up the rainy skies for us and one day we went out and enjoyed a picnic with Krista's parents, grandparents, and sisters Cheryl, Linda and her husband Dirk. We grilled out and the kids enjoyed running around and playing.

Happy Birthday Keilah! Keilah celebrated her first birthday this past week. She's definitely a cutey and enjoyed her birthday cupcake.

Fun things we've enjoyed doing in the States!

2011-10-12T18:32:00.006+02:00

So here are some pictures of some things that we have really enjoyed doing since being back in the States - things that we don't get to do when we're back in Chad:

The house that we are staying in is owned by the church next door and so they actually do come and do all the yardwork. The boys love watching the guys cut the grass on the riding lawn mower - he's like a rock star to them as he flies around the yard.

Krista, Levi, and Keilah watching Josiah and Micah play soccer on their team.

Fishing! It's been a lot of fun to go fishing and I think the boys are now hooked. It's a nice cheap way to get outside and the boys love it.

For Krista and I it's been wonderful just to have the chance to exercise - something we almost never were able to do in Chad. So this past weekend Krista ran a 5K - and bettered the time she scored in the last 5K she ran before we had any kids. One tough woman!

My brother Chris and i decided to run a half-marathon together. It was insurance for me against putting on too many pounds while back in the States! We had a great time and beat our goal, completing it in about 1:47.

Back on the blog!

2011-10-12T17:23:00.005+02:00

Once again, I start off by apologizing for the major gap in between postings. We actually didn't have a camera for a while, and I am not a creative enough writer to post stuff without pictures - so we finally got a new camera and we have some pics!

So we've now been back in the states a little over three months. It's absolutely crazy to think that it's really only been three months - it feels like we've been back forever. Josiah and Micah are loving school and it's fun having Levi and Keilah at home. Our time thus far has been kept busy with simply getting organized, setting up house, seeing old friends and family, and preparing for the busy upcoming months as we start to travel and see supporters and churches.

I'll sign off for now and let the pictures do the talking.

Krista and Keilah enjoying a beautiful day

Grandpa Clermont and Levi washing the car

Levi with his cute by mischievous grin

The boys learning how to play baseball with grandpa

We made it - back in the States!

2011-07-06T16:05:00.002+02:00

Hey there everyone! So as usual, we're back updating our blog after a three or four month hiatus. Can't believe the awesome internet connection we have back here in the States! We made it safely through all our travels, including a stopover in France. The past two days I've worked on updating the blog and it dates back to March of this year. So if you want, you can start back in March and work your way up to this post. Hope you enjoy it and get a feel for what the past months have been like for our family. Looking forward to hanging out with some of you soon! Let us know if you'd like to get together!

A stopover in France

2011-07-06T15:48:00.004+02:00

So what can be said about making the change from hot, flat, dirty Chad to picnicking in lush, cool, green, mountainous eastern France? What an amazing week we had in France visiting friends from our time in French language school. Aside from several wonderful picnics up in the mountains we enjoyed walking around, eating fresh fruit, bread, cheese, etc. Krista and I looked at each other the day after arriving in Albertville and remarked how little stress we felt. We weren't constantly sweating, the boys weren't always covered in dirt and sand - we didn't stink (at least not too bad)! And we were surrounded by some wonderful people who blessed us with great fellowship and hospitality - it was just what we needed and were longing for. Aside from time back in Albertville we had the chance to visit two other families whom we were with during language school - was a great time to hear and see how God has been using them. Thanks a lot Meiers and Haddads!

Here we are enjoying a picnic in the mountains with Sabine, a friend of Krista. Not your regular picnic spread as she had almond stuffed olives, four kinds of cheese, cherry tomatoes, a rotisserie chicken - she was just upset that she forgot the wine!
Our old stroller that we had left at the language center was still there, so we put it to good use walking all over Albertville.

Our first two days in France we spent with good friend of ours, Laurent and Janna Joguet. They have three kids and our families had a wonderful time together. One day we went up to the mountains to watch the paragliders take off and have a picnic and later went to an old castle. Was a sweet time together!

June 2011 - Last weeks in Chad before leaving

2011-07-05T21:13:00.010+02:00

So we took the opportunity to make one last trip out to our old village of D. If you have been following along with our family news you'll know that after our furlough we'll be returning to work in D. We are so excited about returning and be God's ambassadors to our many friends who live in this town. This visit was a fun and encouraging time as we were once again reminded of all the friends we have there. It was impossible to walk through market without stopping at every stall to greet and ask of the latest news. Was a great time as well because we had the chance to take along some friends of ours.

One last picnic of roasted goat and bread. This a tradition for us everytime we make the trip from Ba-Illi to Ndjamena. Their is a town about halfway in the trip where they always have good roasted goat meat and local bread. So we generally buy some and then find a nice place to lay out our mat and enjoy a meal.

Our boys and some of their buddies - the day before we left Ba-Illi

Me and my girl

June 2011 - CFM Graduation

2011-07-05T20:08:00.004+02:00

These are the five families that we have been teaching and mentoring over the past two years here in Ba-Illi at the Centre de Formation Missionnaire. It's amazing how fast the time has passed by and we're grateful for the chance to have served at this school. As I shared with the students - though we came to teach them, we feel that it was rather they who taught us. These five families persevered through much sickness, lack of food, and lack of money over the past two years. Their committment has been a challenge to our family and we're excited about the fact that in the future they will be our colleagues as they attempt to reach the unreached with the good news of Jesus Christ. On June 12th we celebrated the end of their two year formation with the graduation ceremony - a celebration much deserved on the part of every student.

We were blessed to be given several minutes to say our "goodbyes" during the ceremony. I took advantage of the opportunity to share one last challenge with my students. Krista helped me distribute a basin and plastic teapot to each of our students. In Chad, these are commonly recognized and used objects. Since Chadians eat with their hands, there is always a teapot full of water and a basin to wash the hands of others. The Muslims in Chad use the teapot when performing their abolutions. Either way, the person holding the teapot is in the roll of a servant. We challenged our students with the same challenge that Jesus gave his disciples - to love and serve those around them. This is the challenge that we are all called to - to give up our lives and to serve others in order that some might be saved! What a challenge, but what a privilege!

Party time! Once the ceremony was over the singing and dancing began. The student housing area was packed with people - eating, drinking, dancing, singing, and celebrating the accomplishments of their friends.

June 2011 - VBS Chadian style!

2011-07-05T19:32:00.007+02:00

Before we left for home assignment, and before our students and their families left for their places of service, Krista especially had a burden on her heart to do something for the kids. For the past two years our students' children have been over at our house everyday - playing soccer, cars, wrestling, riding on bikes, learning to play basketball, etc. But before they left, we wanted to make sure that all these kids had a chance to clearly hear the message of Jesus Christ. So we decided to hold a week long bible club for the kids. Every morning the kids came at 7:30 and we had a time of singing, a lesson, some games, and a snack. Each day we had around 55 kids packed into our little shelter and it was a chaotic but great time. Everyday I taught the lesson in French while Esther (woman on the left), a wonderful godly lady who leads the women's group in the local church, translated it into Ngambai. The kids came from around four different tribes and thus have four different mother tongues - but they are all able to understand Ngambai.
Me trying to explain how God's righteousness covers us

Krista, along with Stephanie (the college age girl who was out with us for a month from the States), were the behind the scenes heroines of our VBS week. They prepared all the little booklets for each kid, helped with crowd control, handed out crayons and paper, held babies, etc.

Our lessons were based on the Wordless Book, where each day a different color represents something in regards to the gospel message. After hearing the lesson each day, the kids broke up into small groups on the mats to draw a picture that would help them remember the lesson for that day. Below are some examples of the pictures that were drawn.

All the kids sandals, left at the entrance of our lugdabe (grass shelter) before they sit down on the mats to listen to the day's lesson.

Game time! These kids had never played organized games - so for the most part it was a bunch of chaos, especially since all the instruction were having to be translated. But nonetheless they had a fun time. We played different tag games, relay races, sack race, three-leg race, and even dodge ball! Woohoo! Don't you guys wish you could have been there too!

May/June 2011

2011-07-05T19:13:00.003+02:00

A trip down to the river for a picnic

Josiah and his buddies play soccer every afternoon as soon as the sun has gone down enough

Krista helping Odile, the wife of the school director, clean up her millet fields

Keilah enjoys playing in and eating the sand and dirt

The finished 90m x 90m garden fence. The garden has been divided in to 10m x 10m plots and local villagers will farm these plots. The plan is that for every little plot, the person farming it will keep 50% of the produce and the school will keep the other 50%. If there is a good harvest, the school could greatly benefit from this project, enabling it to be more self-sustaining.

Levi carrying water on his head, just like he sees everyone around him doing.

Time for lunch. This is the group of guys who were helping me construct the garden project fence for the school. Here we're eating the staple food in Chad, ech (made from millet flour and dipped in a sauce).

Women from the local church came to visit Krista on a Sunday afternoon

Herd of camels passing behind our house in Ba-Illi

Having a party.

2011-07-04T18:55:00.004+02:00

Before we left Ba-Illi we really wanted to do something for Caleb, Chrsitine, and Odette - the three people who help us out around the house. They have been a true blessing to us as they have worked faithfully and honestly in our home over the past two years. They have taught us much and helped us out a lot in understanding local culture. So we decided to slaughter a goat and invite their families for a big party. Bringing the goat back from market.
Caleb and I slaughtering the goat.

Don't know if this is common practice around the world, but it's an ingenious way of skinning an animal. Caleb makes a tiny incision in one leg of the goat and then beging to blow the goat up like a balloon! The skinning process then goes much quicker as the skin is already somewhat detached from the inner tissue.

You can see the goat starting to blow up

We're some pretty good butchers - something you have to know how to do here in Chad.

The pot of intestines and other innards

Krista and the other women preparing all the food - rice, meat, sweet potatoes and carrots, and tea.

All the guys eat together and separate from the women as is the culture here (even amongst the Christians)

Some of the ladies getting ready to chow down.

Keilah is a pretty big fan of goat meat - here she is going to town on a bone.

Our boys and the kids getting ready to pig out!

A visit from a friend

2011-07-04T18:27:00.005+02:00

Meet Stephanie Smith. Back when we were in university in Tennessee, Krista actually used to babysit Stephanie and her sisters. Well, we now feel really old because Stephanie is now in university! We were blessed to have her come out and live with us for a month and help us out with the kids and anything else that came up. It was a great month and it was a blessing having her around.

Stephanie and Keilah

Stephanie and Odette worked together to make us our "daily bread", ech (made from millet flour)

Stephanie with Odette, Caleb, and Christine - all of whom help us out around the house.

An outing to the river together.

Stephanie holding the baby of a contact we have in Ba-Illi town

Our trip back down to Ba-Illi after picking up Stephanie. We had five bicycles to take down as gifts for our students from AIM.

It was a muddy drive back down to Ba-Illi and had to readjust the bikes several times with all the bumping around.... ...but we weren't near as loaded as this guy.

May 2011

2011-07-04T18:13:00.005+02:00

Krista's birthday present for me was a katmul (turban). So I put it on and then all the boys took a turn.

Josiah and Micah helping mom make tortillas

Krista and a contemplative Keilah

Happy 30th birthday Krista! We're getting old!

Krista took some nice pics of Keilah at six months - as good as what you'll get at Sears!

Happy Birthday Levi!

2011-07-04T18:08:00.002+02:00

It was special to be in Ndjamena to celebrate Levi's second birthday with Mom and Dad Propst and other colleagues.
The always incredible Krista made a ladybug cake for Levi

It was an extra blessing to have Aunt Julie around for Levi's birthday. She was in country for almost two weeks to help out at the small school that AIM is running in the capital.

Keilah starting to crawl around

April 2011

2011-07-04T17:26:00.009+02:00

March and April found us busy doing a lot of traveling. I (Justin) made one trip to northeastern Chad along with several Chadian pastors. After returning from that trip we then turned around and went out to eastern Chad to visit some friends and fellow colleagues who work amongst the same people group as us. Below is a picture of our two families together (minus Krista) at a national game park that is a several hour drive away from their house. We spent a wonderful week together and Krista and I benefited from seeing how they live life as a family and how they do ministry. They're an awesome family whom we admire and respect a lot.

A common sight on the bush roads of Chad - large lorries piled high with goods taking them from eastern Chad to western Chad or vice versa. We had to play the game of constantly rolling up and down our windows in order to avoid being covered by the dust thrown up by the trucks.

Some camels out roaming around.

Some mountains! Was fun to get to another part of Chad where there is actually a bit of change in the topography.

Having a cookout at their house!

The kids cooling off on a hot day.

Several years ago Scott was able to ship a drilling rig out from the States. Now he uses the rig to bless people in the eastern Chad through giving them the gift of water. People literally walk (or ride on donkeys) miles and miles in search of water for their everyday needs. Drilling wells and providing water for these people is just one way that they are able to show the love of our Saviour. In this picture Scott and some local guys he works with are hand drilling a new well.

Some nomads just passing through on their camels

All the women lining up to have their buckets filled.

Scott working on the generator to keep the water pump going while the other guys worked on fixing the hand pump.

These women are pulling water up from the well to fill their buckets. The water table is 45 meters down - they have some seriously toned arms!

Scott and his guys repairing a hand water pump.

We came across a herd of over a thousand cape buffalo! They were awesome to see, especially when they started a stampede and we were able to intersect them. Notice all the dust in the air from their running along.

Out on our game drive!

Our boys and the Downing kids hanging out on the veranda of the restaurant area of Zakouma Park

March 2011

2011-07-04T17:04:00.006+02:00

Micah and Josiah

What is there to say, she's just plain cute!

Levi and I coming in after a long hard day of work.

Working on the garden project, lining up the fence posts and making them plumb.

The boys in their bed. We had them sleeping on the floor of the veranda on a mat until we started finding scorpions under the mattresses in the morning.

Krista, Levi, and Keilah out at the worksite where we were working on putting up the big garden fence for the school.

Here we are trying to fill water balloons for Micah's birthday - a real challenge when you don't have a faucet. We had a great time getting wet and cooling off.

Back down in Ba-Illi we had a birthday party for Micah and invited over the other two AIM families in the area.

Krista and Keilah with two of her friends and some of their kids (both wives of our landlord from our old concession in Dourbali)

Mom and Dad Propst went out with us for a visit to Dourbali

A wonderful welcome back to Chad.

2011-03-07T20:43:00.004+01:00

In the early hours of this Monday morning our family disembarked from our Ethipion Airways plane, having finally arrived back in Chad. The kids were tired, Krista and I were tired, but I still had six immigration cards to fill out while wearing two backpacks and holding Levi. Micah made it more interesting by grimacing in pain as he declared his need to use the potty - which was a slight problem because the only bathroom was on the other side of immigration. After having smooth talked my way through (or maybe it was the look on Micah's face), we arrived at the one toilet, that appeared as if it had never been cleaned, and Micah did his business while I swatted the thousands of swarming mosquitoes away from us both. Returning back to immigration, we finally finished filling out our forms and then had to wait in line - we were the very last people to go through as one immigration officer worked through the line. As the officer put his hundreds of stamps in our passport, the other officers sat idly by, observing our kids, noting that they were indeed tired. They also noticed Keilah's runny nose and I explained that she had been sick. Now here in Chad, one thing the people don't like is letting their kids run around with snot streaming down their faces (it's always pointed out to us when one of our own has this problem and we are encouraged to solve the problem). Well, the big armed immigration officer that noted Keilah's streams of snot exiting from her nose then proceeded to pinch her nose, squeezing out any other snot that was trying to make and exit, and thus gathering all of her snot between his fingers and then nonchalantly whipped it on the ground. Our passports were handed back to us and we were allowed to continue. Ah yes, you gotta love Africa. Where else would the armed customs officer willingly remove the snot off of your kids face with their bare fingers and then just whip it on the ground! What a great place to live!

Just had to tell that simple story as it was a great welcome back to Chad after our brief sejour in Kenya - well, that and arriving at the SIL guesthouse at 2 a.m. to find out that they didn't have a room for us even though we had confirmed it the day before (we all six ended up sleeping in the one extra room of some colleagues who were also staying at the guest house). Alright, that really is it for now, gotta get clean and get some sleep. Tomorrow we head back down to Ba-Illi, and yes, that means it will be a while until our next post. Thanks to all of you out there who actually read these posts and look at the pics, hope it's giving you a good glimpse of our lives!

Once again...a long time

2011-03-04T20:09:00.002+01:00

Hey there everyone! So yep, it's been a long time once again since our last post. Well, we're here in Kenya where we've got incredible wifi connection and so I've taken the last couple of days to post pictures from the last several months, going back to last November. I hope you all enjoy the pics and I can't promise it won't be another long wait for our next posting! Thanks for the many of you out there who do follow our family news and keep us in your prayers!

Kenya (Feb - March 2011)

2011-03-04T19:45:00.005+01:00

In mid-February our family made the trip from Chad to Kenya via Ethiopia. We've now been here in Kenya for around three wonderful weeks. We had a week long conference where we had the chance to worship, fellowship, and interact with others in our line of work - it was a great and refreshing time. After the conference was over, we spent a week up in Kijabe, where our organization has a large MK school as well as a good hospital. The boys loved the playground at the school, seeing where mommy went to school as a girl, and playing with all the kids. However, they didn't enjoy all of the medical check-ups that mommy scheduled for all of us. We were at the hospital at least once every day for some sort of check-up or procedure. Krista had a great time reconnecting with some of her former teachers and dorm parents and we were also blessed to reconnect with several friends who come from a similar sending church as us. As I write this, we have two days left - only two! How we've enjoyed the cool weather, the wonderful fruit and vegetables, the ice cream, the cheese, the stores where you can by anything you want! Woohoo! Yet at the same time, we're looking forward to getting back to Chad and being back with our friends there.

We got to have a great meal with the Mathison family who are now serving at RVA and with whom we went to seminary and attended the same church back in South Carolina.

Our boys and Nathan Mathison enjoying the meal

Julie and Keilah enjoying a rest on a bench at RVA

The boys thought these motorcycle helmets were pretty cool

Ahh, beautiful grass! The boys loved running around on it - we hadn't seen any real grass like this in several years!

The boys trying to figure out drinking fountains

After a week at Kijabe, we returned to Nairobi where we had planned on spending the rest of our time before flying back to Chad...however, we decided to bite the bullet and make the most of our situation and make a trip to the coast. So, for three days and four nights we enjoyed life on the coast of Kenya at Mombasa. Aunt Julie came along as well and we had a great time - enjoying the food and the water.

Keila and Aunt Julie

Yes, now that's a great picture

Carrying on the Propst family tradition of building a sand castle big enough for all of us to get into.

February 2011 - An important month

2011-03-04T13:12:00.003+01:00

February was actually a very busy and important month for our family. For the past almost two years our family has been based in Ba-Illi where we have been involved in training fellow believers and their families to reach others with the good news of Christ. The time that we have spent here has been both wonderful and difficult, challenging and growing. As we began to look at our families future in Chad, we began to pray that God would guide us to what He would have us to do, and where He would have us do it. We've actually been praying that prayer ever since we arrived in Ba-Illi. For over a year now we have known that God was leading us to head back north to minister His love to the still unreached peoples in Chad. This past February we made that decision official and have decided to return to our old town of D- where we will be leading a team after returning from home assignment. We're excited and looking forward to the future while thankful for what God has taught us in the recent past through our experiences at Ba-Illi. Here are just several pictures that we took of a brief visit to our old town to visit some of our friends and let them know of our plans to return to live amongst them.

Mom and Dad Propst made the trip out with us

Krista with the two wives from our former concession

January 2011

2011-03-04T12:35:00.005+01:00

January started out much as December did. I (Justin) was in the classroom for three weeks straight as the only professor - it was a lot of work, but it was once again very good time with my students. At the end of the three courses that I taught, it was encouraging to hear my students talk about how they felt so much better prepared to go out and minister amongst the unreached peoples of Chad. January also meant we had to say goodbye to Aunt Cheryl, Aunt Linda, and Mom and Dad Propst. Krista continued to hold down the fort while I spent long hours in the classroom. As you can see in the picture below, Levi was trying to "hold the fort down" as well by helping to make pancakes, but it didn't go so smoothly.

Can you spot Keilah and Justin?

During the month of January we were blessed to have some nomadic Arabs come through and settle down for a while on our school property. Around twelve guys were driving three herds of bulls and for about a week they camped out just next to us. Everyday they were coming to the water pump to get water and pretty soon they were coming over just to sit and talk under our lugdabe (hanger). It was a blessing and a lot of fun to speak Arabic again and I think they enjoyed the tea and watching the little white kids run around. One night, after having had an interesting spiritual conversation with one of the guys, I had the opportunity to take our small dvd player out to the fields where they had built lean-to's, and show the J-film.

One day while down in Ba-Illi we went down to the river with our colleagues, the Cray family, to celebrate the birthday of their second daughter, Susie. We had a great time having a picnic on a little island in the middle of the river.

Keilah's looking oh so comfortable in that life jacket

December 2010

2011-03-03T20:08:00.006+01:00

December was a busy but fun month. In early December we returned to Ba-Illi for the first time as a family of six. We were happily welcomed back and everyone was eager to see the little white baby. As we told everyone her name, the people were very excited as they told us that "Keilah" is a Ngambai name (one of the larger tribes in Chad, of which several of our students and staff belong to). That was sort of fun to find out until they told us that the translation of the name means "House of money" - not exactly what we were shooting for in regards to the significance. Anyway, the day after we arrived back down in Ba-Illi, I (Justin), started two weeks straight of teaching - though tiring, it was fun to be back in the classroom and with the students. Krista was now trying to keep together a house full of four kids and with the absence of faithful Odette, the woman who helps clean and cook in the house, who was gone to Ndjamena because of health issues. Less than a week before Christmas we had the joy of welcoming two of Krista's sisters, Cheryl and Linda, who had come out to Chad for the holidays. They were a big help to us and the boys loved having them around. A couple days before Christmas, mom and dad Propst drove down and we all enjoyed Christmas together down in Ba-Illi.

Keilah's a cutey

Big Brother Josiah helping out with Keilah while coloring some pictures

Levi having fun as we help out with the other professor's sweet potato harvest

Our Christmas tree - although it didn't last very long before all the leaves dried up and fell to the ground, so we had to cut down a second one.

Josiah and Justin head off on a Sunday morning to a "dunking" service

This Christmas we wanted to do something special for our students, so we got together basins of things such as sugar, rice, candy, cookies, mosquito nets, tomato paste, and tea. This Christmas, all of the men went back to their home villages while the wives and kids stayed behind - yeah, may not sound very fair, but none of them have enough money for the whole family to go, so the husbands went back to greet family and friends as well as give condolensces to the family of any who have died over the past year.

During December I found myself being asked to preach a lot. This particularly Sunday i had the opportunity to speak to a body of believers that one of my students used to lead.

Krista and the boys prepare to eat the meal served to us after the service

Thanks to the help of Cheryl and Linda, the boys and Keilah were able to stay around for the whole service! This is normally not possible!

Decorating Christmas cookies with the aunties

More Christmas cookies with the aunties

The previous cold season the boys and I (Justin) had "camped out" in our yard and so we decided to do it again this year with the addition of Auntie Cheryl and Auntie Linda. We had a nice fire to keep us warm and cook our meat and then we all slept well. The next morning we woke up with the sun and enjoyed hot chocalate and tea together.

The morning after our campout

Mom and Dad Propst enjoying a cup of tea on a cool morning

Christmas day portrait. It is common in Chad, no matter what religion you adhere to, to have special clothes made to celebrate your religious holidays. So this year, the boys and I all had jalabyas made out of matching cloth.

Krista with her Mom and her sisters Cheryl and Linda

The boys and their buddies - children of our students

November 2010

2011-03-03T19:33:00.007+01:00

November was a busy month spent in Ndjamena as we adapted to life with four kids and tried to get all of Keilah's paperwork taken care of. We were blessed to have a lot of people in the community around us who helped with the boys and who also brought meals for our family. While we were up in Ndjamena, school was in full swing down in Ba-Illi and plenty of work awaited us there. It was great being up in Ndjamena having the help of everyone, including Krista's parents.

Keilah at around two weeks old

Krista and Keilah

Daddy and the kids

Josiah, Micah, and Levi with friends who work out in eastern Chad. While we were in Ndjamena for Keilah's birth, the boys were blessed to have plenty of playmates to keep them busy and have fun with.

Levi and his friend Shiloh enjoying their booster seats

Mama and all the kids

Daddy and his girl

Not quite sure what this is, but made for a good picture

The boys and their little sister

Hanging out with Mr. Jonathan and Mr. Scott - some of the best babysitters you could ever find! These two guys were out in Chad helping with some construction work, but they were also great with the boys and made some pretty mean pancakes.

Latest family portrait

2010-11-17T14:09:00.002+01:00

Long time...too long.

2010-10-27T09:07:00.002+02:00

Hey there everyone! My biggest apologies to all of you who regularly follow us on this blog. I know it's been forever since we've posted anything...so I'm trying to make up for it now. Down in Ba-Illi we've been unable to write any new posts, let alone put up pictures - thus the long wait since our last posting. Anyway, I've just put up around six or seven new posts that date back to May and run up to just a couple of days ago with the birth of our daughter, Keilh Ni'ima. Hope you enjoy the pics and the stories.

Keilah Ni'ima Clermont is born!

2010-10-26T22:06:00.005+02:00

So here's the post everyone has been waiting on. This past Sunday, October 24, at 3:10am our little girl, Keilah Ni'ima Clermont was born. Keilah is pronounced "Kay-lah" and Ni'ima is pronounced "Ni -i-ma", which means "grace" in Arabic. Krista did a great job and it was wonderful to have Mom Propst with us throughout the whole labor at the hospital. The labor itself at the Chadian hospital was an experience in many ways, but also went very smoothly and the staff was great! So here are some pics of the whole experience and the family time we've enjoyed since the birth of Keilah.

Starting labor, still in the stage where Krista can smile.

All you dads out there know that we work hard, we deserve a rest too.

That's right, old school birthing tools. Using a bell stethoscope to listen to the baby during labor. You can tell Krista is having a great time! (I did get permission from her to show this picture)

Happy parents not long after the birth

Three generations of women together in Chad

Mama and her girl

A very proud big brother and his new baby sister

I'm a proud daddy

The boys and their sister

Levi and Keilah

Keilah awake and alert

Up to Ndjamena (late September)

2010-10-26T21:44:00.006+02:00

Towards the end of September, Krista and the boys flew up on a MAF flight to Ndjamena to begin our two month stay in the capital city as we awaited the birth of Keilah. I made the trip up in our vehicle over the muddy and bumpy roads and was glad that we had decided that Krista should go on the plane. Not long after arriving in Ndjamena we celebrated Josiah's 5th birthday. His favorite thing now is go up and ask people, "Do you know that I'm a whole handful?!" - I'm quick to agree with him on that one. Anyway, here are some pics of the two bday celebrations we had for him - that's right, he's one lucky kid, two cakes, two time to open presents, two times the balloons!

Here we're celebrating at the guest house where we are staying along with Bibi (Krista's mom), Cucu (Krista's grandmother), Jonathan Hennigh and Scott Neeley (both out doing construction on some AIM projects), and our family.

Classic Micah.

Enjoying his presents

The second party we had was for everyone else on the guest house compound as well as any other friends Josiah has in Ndjamena. Was a lot of fun and a nice excuse for all the adults to just sit outside and do something fun together.

Blowing out all five candles!

Opening up the presents with mom's help.

The wild birthday celebration bash!

Levi enjoying Josiah's new ball.

Josiah and Micah with two of their good buddies who live in Ndjamena

Life in Ba-Illi (September 2010)

2010-10-26T21:28:00.003+02:00

Levi and Christine, the lady who helps do our laundry. Every day when Krista prepares tea and food for Christine and Odette (see below), Levi sits down to joing them - eating their snack with them. He happily climbs on their laps and just hangs out with them.
Odette is a wonderful lady who comes everyday to help out around our house - cleaning, cooking, helping with the boys - she can do it all.

Krista and another colleague held an afternoon session for the wives of our students on women's health. Many other women came to sit in as well. The session went long because of the many questions the women had - Krista was able to dispell a lot of old wive's tales and other misconceptions concerning a lot of health issues. The meeting went so well that she was asked to do another one at the local church for the women there.

Soccer in the rain! When we get a good rain, our front yard floods and pretty much becomes a lake - not fun for keeping clean or dry, but lots of fun for playing.

Our house after a big rain.

Life in Ba-Illi (August/September)

2010-10-26T17:24:00.004+02:00

The boys riding their bikes on the airstrip

Josiah being a good big brother

Micah learning how to ride a bike on the airstrip

Krista and Levi

The boys and their cool lion masks, handiwork of Krista (except for all the black scribbles on Micah's)

Life down in Ba-Illi (July/August 2010 continued)

2010-10-26T17:07:00.003+02:00

My students and me after a bible study

Krista and Levi hanging out

Micah showing his skills

Josiah shooting for a goal

Our own patch of sweet potatoes and corn

Levi in a hat woven by one of the boys' friends

Krista and Josiah resting in the afternoon shade

Micah being a good big brother pulling Levi along

Micah and Levi playing in the sand

Settling down to life back in Ba-Illi (July/August 2010)

2010-10-26T16:38:00.005+02:00

After saying goodbye to Lee and Whitney, it was back to life as normal for us in Ba-Illi, but with some new twists. Josiah officially started kindergarten with Krista doing the teaching. Micah sits in as much as possible as I (Justin) hang out with Levi to keep him occupied. Most of you out there know of my love for the game of basketball, so...I made two basketball goals, one for the boys, and one for me and any other "big kids" who would want to try it out. With classes being done for the planting season, all my students were spending there days out in their fields. I approached them about starting a Bible study together and they were all for it, so two days a week for several months we met together to drink tea and study scripture - was a great time of discussion, learning, and fellowship. Enjoy the pics!

Studying the Word with my students.

Levi is all ready for school.

Woohoo! Ballin' in the bush of Chad!

Micah's got ups!

Look at that form - he's a natural.

First day in Kindergarten! Welcome to School!

Mama laying down the rules.

Check out our fancy schoolroom

A visit from some good friends. (June/July 2010)

2010-10-26T16:10:00.005+02:00

In June we were blessed to have good friends from the States, Lee and Whitney Plunkett, come out and visit us for several weeks. It was so much fun having good friends come out and see our world. After only a couple days of being in the capital city, Lee and I made a road trip down to southern Chad to pick up some of our solar equipment that had arrived in a container. In two days we covered over 1000km and sloshed through some nasty mud and water - but it was all worth it to get the equipment and have the time together to hang out. We took Lee and Whitney out to our old Arab village and spent the night there. I took Lee around to meet my friends around the village and he had several opportunities to drink the sweet Arab tea. Krista and Whitney did some visiting and sat with the wives from our old concession. It was a great time (even though we had forgotten to bring mosquito nets and tents to sleep in!). We then made the trip down to Ba-Illi, once again going through some good sections of mud (we stopped to pull out an ox cart that was sunk up to its axle). In Ba-Illi Lee and Whitney both pitched in to help us get our new solar freezer system up and running - we started in the morning and by evening we had cold water to drink! Woohoo! the rest of our time in Ba-Illi together was spent visiting our students, eating a traditional Chadian meal with them, and playing soccer games with our boys and other kids in the area. The time passed too quickly and we soon sent them off on a MAF flight back up to Ndjamena to then return back to the States. Thanks so much Lee and Whitney for coming out! If anyone else out there is reading this and gets any ideas...we'd love to have you!

Whitney getting henna put on her feet and ankles during a visit to our old Arab village.

Only married women are supposed to have the henna done on their feets and it is considered a real sign of beauty.

Sitting down to a meal together at home.

Lee helping us out with some of our computer needs. He's a stud!

Loading up the plane and drawing a crowd as Lee and Whitney get ready to head up to Ndjamena on the MAF flight.

Saying bye to Lee and Whitney as they get ready to take off from Ba-Illi and then back to the States.

Lee in the co-pilot's seat.

The boys with one of their favorite MAF pilots, Mr. Greg, who has made numerous stops for us down in Ba-Illi. The boys were pretty excited that they had the same kind of hat as Mr. Greg.

Going back home to Chad! (June 2010)

2010-10-26T15:55:00.005+02:00

I uploaded these in the wrong order, but this picture is driving on the main road, back in Chad. We just thought we'd show the contrast between the landscape in Chad compared to where we were at in Cameroon (see two pictures below)

Stopping for a picnic on the way back to Chad.

The greener, tree-filled landscape of Cameroon

Mom and Micah having a good time in the car.

After a wonderful time in Cameroon, it was time to face life once again in Chad! Here are just some pics from our return trip.

Doughnuts!

2010-06-22T14:41:00.003+02:00

One of the things I have passed on to our boys is my love for doughnuts. Thankfully the boys have a wonderful mom who is able to prepare all sorts of culinary delights - and that includes doughnuts. So, seeing as it's vacation and we had all the ingredients that we needed to make doughnuts, we spent this morning working together as a family to produce some very delicious doughnuts - right up there on the level of Krispy Kreme and Senior Store doughnuts (for all you RVA grads). Krista did all the prep work and frying and the boys and i were in charge of the frosting department. Levi was our quality inspector as he sampled various doughnuts throughout the cooking process, and he seemed pleased. After enjoying the wonderful breakfast of doughnuts, the boys went out and picked mulberries from some bushes behind our house here. We're looking forward to having them on some homemade ice cream that Krista whipped up yesterday.

We have two days left here in Cameroon. It's been a wonderfully relaxing time for all of us, so it will be sad to say goodbye to everything we have so enjoyed here, we are also looking forward to getting back to Chad and the work and relationships that await us. Enjoy the pics and hopefully we'll put up one more post before we leave.

Krista and the boys posing with our beautiful homemade doughnuts.

Krista hard at work - By the way, for all of you out there who may not have heard yet, Krista is pregnant with baby #4 and it's going to be a girl! Sort of surreal for us to be having a girl after three boys, but we're looking forward to having her - due in October!

The frosting department

Mulberry picking (and eating, judging on the appearance of Micah's face)

Vacation in Cameroon.

2010-06-17T12:00:00.007+02:00

Krista, Micah, and Levi amongst some of the "mountains that we climbed"

Josiah proudly posing after conquering one of the mountains

The Clermont men on our manly hike

Enjoying the pool

Levi had no reservations about jumping right in and kicking his legs

Daddy and Micah enjoying some reading time during a rainy and cool afternoon

Micah and Levi enjoying the grass

Levi's first time wearing shoes and socks!

Life here in Ngaoundere, Cameroon has been good! For the past two weeks we have enjoyed the wonderfully cool weather (wearing a jacket or sweatshirt during the morning and evening hours), the wonderful fruits and vegetables available to us (pineapple, apples, oranges, mangoes, guavas, papayas, bananas, potatoes, eggplant, beans, etc.). I know this list may not sound that impressive if you're living in the States or in other parts of Africa, but for us coming from Chad, the above list of produce is a special treat. Aside from the above foods, as previously mentioned, we've been able to get cheese here and have already consumed several kilos of emmental (swiss) and gouda. Krista is actually making pizza tonight and we're looking forward to it. Aside from eating we have spent a lot of time reading, playing outside in the wonderful grass, building things with legos, swimming in the pool that is here on the compound, and climbing the local "mountains"! Enjoy the pics.

Last set of May pics

2010-06-04T17:48:00.004+02:00

So I've just spent the last couple of hours posting pictures taken from the last five months. At least it will give you some idea of what all has been happening in our lives. Hope you enjoy the pictures and thankfully we'll continue to be able to make regular posts while here in Cameroon with some more pictures of us enjoying our wonderful vacation!

Clearing out our soccer field of all the small plants and mounds

Here the boys are, out on the soccer field to help smash up all the old sweet potato mounds.

Sleepover on the veranda! We were blessed with a visit from friends who work in the north of Chad. Their two boys and our three had a blast for the several days that we were together.

May pics

2010-06-04T17:22:00.004+02:00

Justin welding together some poles to make soccer goals. They're now painted and in the ground and the whole community around Ba-Illi is excited about the new "field" to play on (there are still many old sweet potato mounds to level off and one large neem tree that sits in the middle of the field)

Krista caring for a student's finger.

This is Rebekah, one of the student's wives and owner of a very infected and swollen finger. For 2-3 weeks Rebekah came morning and evening to soak her finger in hot salt-water and then Krista would clean the wound and dress it. By the time we left Ba-Illi earlier this week, the finger was well on its way to being healed.

Krista and the boys on our return trip from visiting our colleagues, the Kim family, who live across the river.

Krista and the boys taking a ride on the cow cart to get to the river.

One of our students, Robert, studying in the classroom.

Micah enjoying the morning after waking up in our completed veranda.

Our almost-finished veranda that has been a huge blessing to our family. We can now sleep and sit out under the veranda without being bothered by the many mosquitoes, bugs, and pouring rain (now that rainy season has started).

The boys playing in the dirt and sand by our lugdabe

April pics

2010-06-04T17:10:00.002+02:00

The boys dressed in their Sunday best before we head to the English service held at SIL

Levi's 1 year old picture. Krista figured this was every bit as good as what they do at Sears or JCPenny's and much cheaper.

Celebrating Levi's birthday in the swimming pool with Susie and Becky Cray, daughters of our colleagues who are also located in Ba-Illi

The classic picture of the 1 year old birthday boy tearing into their frosting covered cake (and thus playing more with the frosting than actually eating cake)

More March pics (it was a busy month!)

2010-06-04T16:14:00.004+02:00

Levi getting in on some of the trampoline action while we were staying at the SIL compound in Ndjamena

The boys hanging out in the play car at SIL (Where else in the world besides Africa would you find a playground car with a roof-rack on it?). The boys love to act like they're loading up the roof-rack with stuff, just like we do when we head out on any long trips from home.

Without a doubt, one of the best things about the SIL base in Ndjamena is the wonderful playground they have made for kids - and at the center of it all is a great trampoline. The other wonderful thing about SIL is that they have swamp coolers in the guesthouse rooms! For three weeks we were up in Ndjamena and stayed at the SIL compound. During that time I (Justin) attended a seminar and Krista also took a week to complete some online courses to keep up her nursing license.

Bibi and Babu were able to celebrate Micah's 3rd birthday with us down in Ba-Illi.

Happy Birthday Micah!

They boys and their buddies having a snack (leftovers from the previous night's meal)

March pics

2010-06-04T15:58:00.003+02:00

For about a week harmattan (winds from the Sahara that carry dust and sand) hit us hard in Ba-Illi, causing our house to stay constantly blanketed in dirt and sand, both inside and out. For those of you who have been through it before, you know it's not a whole lot of fun!

No, there's nothing wrong with the coloring in this picture. Mom and Dad Propst along with summer volunteer Scott Neeley and two Chadian guys came drove down from Ndjamena for three weeks of construction work on a local church, a community center being built by a colleague, and for putting up a veranda on the back of our house. Here is what they looked like when they finally made it to our house that night after driving through the dust all day long.

Micah and I pumping water to fill our barrels and water our precious trees

Starting to sleep outside because of the heat.

Levi with his first set of wheels

February pics

2010-06-04T15:42:00.004+02:00

The best way to cool down!

Matching haircuts to beat the heat

Krista with her English club students

Brothers

Dinner under the stars with Bibi and Babu. The boys and daddy took the opportunity to "camp out" in our yard

Pics from January

2010-06-04T15:29:00.002+02:00

Krista and Micah

The Boys

Getting rid of an unwelcome house-guest

Toy 4wheel drive car complete with roof rack made by a local boy with millet stalks

Harvesting the sweet potatoes

Taking it easy in Cameroon.

2010-06-04T11:39:00.003+02:00

Well, i hope this doesn't become a habit - that we're only able to post pictures and new posts whenever we make it to Cameroon for vacation - but we're once again in Cameroon and have a good internet connection. So as promised, i'll try downloading some pictures to give you all a good idea of what the past five months have been like for our family. And by the way, it is wonderfully cool here where we are staying in Ngaoundere, Cameroon. The boys don't even know how to sleep with blankets on (i'm being quite literal here, Krista was having to show them how get in under the blankets!). They were squirming with delight at being able to wear clothes to bed and with the feeling of being cold (I guess it wasn't just the boys, i would have to include Krista and I in that category as well). Anyway, before i start getting into the present, here's some pics to show the recent past (I'll spread them out over several posts).

Was only able to get this picture of Levi to load for right now, but will try some more later today.

Levi at nine months (January), enjoying cars and sand

Pictureless blog

2010-05-25T11:49:00.002+02:00

Hey there again everyone. Well, sorry to inform you once again that posting pictures on our blog from here in Ba-Illi is pretty much a no-go. We've used up a lot of our phone credit watching the little internet symbol go round and round and round as I wait for Blogger to tell me that it's done uploading our pictures. So goes life in Africa. But here's the good news, in less than a week we'll be heading up to Ndjamena and then on to Cameroon where we are bound to not only find cooler weather and food, but a better internet connection. So hopefully in a week or so we'll be able to post some pics for you all of what life has looked like for the past five months or so for us.

Just a brief summary. The boys are all doing fine right now. Levi is trying to keep up with Josiah and Micah as they run around the yard and dig in the sand and dirt. Krista has been kept busy being mommy and lately being a nurse has become a full time job as she has been caring for quite a few of our students. As of late I have been busy welding and putting together some soccer goals as we are making a "field" for those here at the center as well as those in the community. I'm also hoping to put up some poles for volleyball and a basketball hoop. It has rained two days in a row and i think we might actually be starting into the real rainy season! No way to describe the joy this gives us as we can look forward to the cooling rain rather than the amazing dust storms that have been covering our entire house in bucket-fulls of dirt. Overall were hanging in there and ready for our vacation, but God is good and continues to give strength daily.

For those of you who read this in time, you can be praying as i will be preaching at the local church this Sunday (and I'm still not sure of my topic!). I'd also ask that you pray for a meeting I'm having with the director and other teacher on Friday morning. There are some things that i feel that i need to address/confront them on and it's not a task that i look forward to. Pray that a spirit of unity might be amongst us. Thanks for your prayers!

Been a long time.

2010-05-15T14:33:00.002+02:00

I know that this seems to be the themes of all my entries - the fact that it's a long time between each one. Well this time i really did it. It's basically been around five months since our last entry - sorry about that for those of you out there that keep up with our blog. It wasn't intentional. Business combined with lack of internet connection has aided me in this record lapse in entries.

Instead of trying to tell you of all that's happened between our last entry (December of last year) and now, it will be a lot easier to just show you in pictures. So hopefully our connection here will allow enough for me to at least post some pictures.

In brief though, we're doing well, just extremely hot as we are at the tail of hot season and awaiting the rains. We are actually headed to Cameroon again in a couple of weeks for a much needed break. The biggest news is that Krista is pregnant with baby #4 and is due in October. We're excited and hoping that she can actually deliver here in country - so please be praying especially for that! Alright, will be quiet now and let the pictures do the talking...

OK, well just spent a good thirty minutes wasting money and time trying to download only two pictures - guess it's just not going to happen today. And now it seems as if the computer is about to self-destruct as it doesn't want to respond. I guess we'll leave this for another day. Sorry about that, and i promise to try to get some pics up soon!

Been a nice break

2009-12-29T10:43:00.003+01:00

So for the past week or so we've been enjoying the good life here in northern Cameroon with Krista's parents. Going to the pool everyday, eating lots of french fries, fruit, and ice cream; watching movies, and playing games. Well, it will soon be a thing of the past as we return to Chad tomorrow, but we've enjoyed it while it lasted! We're grateful to God for giving us this time to get away and relax a little bit before starting back up with the work. What a great time it's also been to be with grandparents for a whole week! Thanks to those of you who play a crucial part in supporting us which allows us to make such a trip as this one to Cameroon.

Christmas in Cameroon

2009-12-29T09:20:00.003+01:00

Christmas morning with Bibi and Babu!

Playing at the pool!

Babu and Josiah and Micah on top of the "mountain" that we climbed!

Levi enjoying the pool

Daddy and the boys hanging out at the pool!

A fun visit

2009-12-24T09:56:00.004+01:00

Over 600 believers being "dunked" recently in the river that runs by the capital city!

Two couples recently came out from two of our supporting bodies in the States to help with our annual conference. We also had the opportunity to bring them to our village and see the work that we are doing with CFM. Here we enjoying a meal with the men and below you'll see pictures of Krista and with the other women as well as Josiah with his friends enjoying the meal!

So we're here in Cameroon, enjoying a bit of a break from Chad, along with Krista's parents. We've already enjoyed the many fruits and vegetables we're able to buy from the local market, as well as the electricity and running water. But, one of the best things has to be high speed wireless internet! So I'm posting a bunch of pictures that we would not have been able to post in Chad due to our lack of internet access there. Will write more later, but for now enjoy the pictures.

More pics

2009-12-24T09:48:00.003+01:00

Krista and the women enjoying a celebration meal

Myself and Ben S., a colleague who came to teach
a two week course to our students here at CFM, eating a final celebration meal with the guys

View from the front of our canoe while taking a trip across the river to visit some colleagues

Krista and Levi enjoying the canoe ride

More pics from the last while

2009-12-24T09:40:00.002+01:00

Babu and the boys hanging out by the river

Bibi and Levi

Our AIM Chad team at our annual conference

A bit of rest

2009-11-15T09:34:00.007+01:00

Josiah gives Caleb English lessons over tea

Snack time!

Josiah and Mich and their buddies Iras and Giom

The boys helping pick okra for our lunch sauce

I'm now writing this entry sitting under a fan with the computer plugged into an actual electrical outlet. Yep, we're in good ol' civilisation. Last Saturday we had a bumpy drive up from Ba-Illi and for the past week we've enjoyed being up here and seeing friends and family (grandparents). We've already shared several meals with Krista's parents as well as others who are located here in Ndjamena. Yesterday we went for an outing to a place around an hours drive north of Ndjamena. There we were able to swim all day long and enjoy a nice meal. Was a great day.

Our last little bit of time in Ba-Illi finished up with me teaching a full day of classes and then laying e-hausted (in case you didn't notice, we're missing two keys on our keyboard) on our bed. Krista gave me a home malaria test and sure enough i tested positive. So the trip up here was less than pleasant for me as i was suffering from fever, chills, and achiness. I'm over it now, but after a doctor's visit and blood test, it looks like i may have hepatitis (which e-plains a lot of fatigue i've been e-periencing over the past several months). So you all can be praying for that.

Other than the sickness (sorry it seems like every time i write an entry it's to report someone being sick) life is going well. Down in Ba-Illi daily life continue to be busy with teaching (for me) and with the boys and the home for Krista. Krista actually started up an English club which she is hoping to do every Saturday. It's a great way to get out of the house, and there are a lot of people who would really like to learn (even if there's no way to use it there in the village). On another note, we managed to find a nice little place to get away as a family. Early one morning a couple of weeks ago we drove farther down along the river and we found a more open place with some beautiful spots along the river to sit and fish and have a picnic. We weren't very successful with the fishing, but we are e-cited to have found a little "getaway" spot for our family.

So we've got another week left here in Ndjamena. This Tuesday, a good friend who has been in our line of work for years, is flying in and will be teaching a two week course down at our school. We're e-cited about his coming and how the students will benefit from what he has to share. We also just talked with one of our Arab friends from back in our old village and he told us that his wife just gave birth to their third child. The naming ceremony will be this week and so we hope to make the hour and a half drive out to be there for it. Should be a great time.

Down but not out

2009-10-04T16:06:00.009+02:00

Latest family picture

The three Clermont boys

Chad's future missionaries! This year's students.

Students working the fields to help support the school.

Happy Birthday Josiah! Big #4

Hey everyone! Sorry we're so inconsistent with this blog. In between caring for all the kids, daily chores required to live here, preparing for my courses, and relying on solar power and and inconsistent internet connection, it can sometimes be difficult to get on here. So what's been happening lately at the Clermont house.

Well, to be quite honest with all of you, we've been going through a pretty hard period. In the last several weeks all of the boys, including little Levi, have come down with a staph infection that has caused them to break out in little boils all over their bodies. On top of that Josiah has had malaria and Levi has had a cold/flu that has meant some sleepless nights. Now when the kids are sick it's never fun. But when Krista or I get sick, that's when it really gets hard, as all of the workload of keeping our household running falls on one person. Well, for the past two weeks I've had some sort of malady that has kept me pretty fatigued and with a constant headache and neckache. It has culminated this past week in an extremely sore throat that has kept me from sleeping and swallowing at times. So...Krista has been mom and dad for the past week. And I am once again reminded of what a wonderful wife I have. Aside from the tiring task of caring for all three boys all day, she has nursed me along when I have been too sick or tired to do anything. I definitely wouldn't have thought of coming to a place like this without a woman like Krista by my side.

Aside from sharing with you all what a wonderful wife I have and what a wonderful mother my boys have, I also wanted to share a little bit of what we've learned over these past couple of weeks. For some of us coming from western backgrounds and cultures, we have a hard time understanding "spiritual warfare". Is it real? Is Satan really actively fighting against us, our work, and our families. Krista and I were amazed at how we had experienced basically no sickness within our first couple months here...and then, as soon as classes were ready to begin, all of a sudden four of the five of us in our house are laid out with some sort of illness. For some of you that might just be coincidence, but the longer we've been in Africa, the more we see "coincidences" like this as being a sign that we are truly in a spiritual battle. We are an unwelcome presence in a place that Satan has controlled for a long time. And as most of you know, our African friends understand this much quicker than we do. In finding out that we have been sick, their first response has never been to ask what medicine we're taking, but rather to offer up a prayer to God for our healing and for our protection against the Enemy. The encouraging thing about being in the midst of spiritual warfare is that we truly have no reason to fear. In recalling the story of Job we can see that God was fully knowledgable of what was happening to Job and He even allowed it to happen. Just as when we are being "sifted", God is there knowing our pain, fatigue, and desperateness - and He is not going to abandon us!. Ok, enough of the little sermon. I'm going to try and get some pics posted for you all of the students and their wives and maybe some family pics as well. Oh yeah, and hopefully this little discussion will spur you all to stay on your knees for us, we need it! (I start teaching tomorrow and am still feeling pretty lousy!)

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?

2009-09-13T21:15:00.002+02:00

The Apostle Paul was obviously not talking about my feet when he was writing that passage in Romans. A couple of weeks ago I woke up in the morning to find that something had managed to get inside our mosquito net and feast on my feet, leaving me with between 20-30 incredibly itchy bites all over my feet. Anyway, I don't know if this picture really shows it or not, but suffice it say my feet didn't feel or look beautiful (but then again that's never been a great concern of mine).

Wow, so things have begun to settle down for us here in Ba-Illi. For a while both Krista and I felt that we had been called here just to fix up the house. It took a long time to get all the major projects done around our house and then we ended up with the surprise trip up to Ndjamena with Levi's sickness. This last week however I was able to begin spending every day preparing for the courses I will be teaching starting in just a few weeks. Though I feel incredibly unworthy and unqualified to be teaching (I'll be teaching Theology of Missions, Contextualisation, and Survey of OT and NT), I'm excited about the task that lays ahead of me. Already while reading through articles and books I've enjoyed the process of learning and relearning different things. So while I've been sitting over in my office, Krista is the real trooper who has been taking care of the boys and keeping the house running.

It's amazing how different life is for us here Ba-Illi as compared with the village where we lived before. There, from sunrise to sunset, we were immersed within a Mu-lim culture, spoke only Arabic, and were active witnesses amongst an unreached people. Here, we live with the other students, teacher, and director of our little school. We speak French with them, they all come from non-Mu-lim backgrounds, and they're all believers. Instead of us living day in and day out amongst the unreached, we're now training these future missionaries to do it. We've found both to be valid roles, just different and we're still getting used to the change. In some ways, we're living in a totally different Chad than what we knew before. Thankfully once we leave our little school "campus" and make the fifteen minute walk into town, we have the opportunity to once again be surrounded by unbelievers from all different tribes. On market day we can meander through all the stalls and feel like we're back in our old village as we converse in Arabic with all the traders. So in some ways now, we have the best of both worlds: the opportunity to work side by side with our national brothers and sisters in preparing them to reach the unreached of Chad, as well as opportunities to develop relationships and be active witnesses amongst the many unreached that are right around us here in Ba-Illi. So, it's exciting to be here, we'll see what happens!

A scare from Levi

2009-08-28T16:15:00.007+02:00

Levi just before his little bout with bacillary dysentery

Seeing as our internet access isn't that great, we haven't had much opportunity to really sit down and let you all know what's happening. Well, we're actually now sitting up in the capital city of Ndjamena, having made an unexpected emergency trip due to Levi's health. For those of you who aren't on our mailing list and didn't get the story, Levi began having diarrhea with blood in it and then to the point of just having just blood in his diaper (sorry for those of you out there who are a bit squeamish). Anyway, to make a long story short, after consulting a lot of people by phone, we agreed with the recommendation to get an emergency MAF flight out to the capital city. A lot of people were lifting our situation up as we hurriedly packed up some bags and waited out on the dirt airstrip, praying that God would hold off the rain that was coming in the dark clouds that surrounded us. The plane landed, we loaded up, and as we taxied off the airstrip rain began to fall on our windshield. After five days now in the capital and having spent several long days at the hospital, Levi is in good shape. He ended up having basillic dysentarry (Yeah, i really have no idea how to spell that), something which we didn't have the medication to treat back in our village. So flying out was the right move, especially since the road to our village is just about impassable at this point due to the mud and rain. Needless to say, God answered many prayers and his gracious and merciful hand was upon us throughout the whole ordeal. It's through situations like these that we're overwhelmed by His care for us. Thanks to those of you who were lifting us up in prayer.

We're now getting ready to return to Ba-Illi as we hope to take a MAF flight down tomorrow, trusting that the rain holds off down there and the airstrip isn't too soft. Other than that we are doing well and have gotten fairly settled into our new home. A lot of work is still to be done to feel completely settled. I (Justin) will begin teaching at the small training school in less than a months time. I'm not sure I've ever felt so unworthy or unprepared for a task, but maybe I can be of more use to God that way! Anyway, it will be fun, but it will be a challenge. Krista's challenge is just the day to day routine of taking care of the boys, keeping them clean, keeping us all fed, and building relationships with the other women around us. Well, would like to write more, but really need to get going and get us ready for our flight tomorrow. Pray that we have a dry airstrip!

Josiah and Micah enjoying the remnants of a big rain

Josiah just having a good time, what else is there to say?

Settled in at Ba-Illi

2009-08-12T17:48:00.007+02:00

Our new home in Ba-Illi

Josiah and his buddies from back in Dourbali

Krista and all of the wives from our former concession in Dourbali

Our trip down to our new home in Ba-Illi

Josiah and some of his new buddies

Back in Chad!

2009-07-12T09:11:00.002+02:00

In case you hadn't already heard, we made it! We've been in here in Chad for about a week now and it's been a busy week at that. Our internet availability isn't the greatest, so these blog updates won't be as frequent as before. Hopefully we'll still be able to put up some pictures from time to time to give you guys an idea of what our new life looks like.

We're actually still in the capital city of Ndjamena as we have been getting things done around here before heading off to Bailli. We've spent two good days working on our vehicle, making repairs on it and readying it for the messy, muddy roads that await us. Tomorrow we will hopefully head out to our old village of Dourbali, along with two of Krista's sisters who are here, to reconnect with our friends that are still there. We're looking forward to being together once again with our friends that we have been praying for ever since we were forced to evacuate. After returning from Dourbali, we plan on heading down south to Bailli and on to some other mission stations. So life continues to be busy, but hopefully in about a couple weeks time we'll be able to settle down and get unpacked in our new home.

Otherwise life is going well. Our Father has been so good to us and we have seen His goodness in our lives on a daily basis here. Keep on praying for good health, and for our adjustment to the heat, culture, and new ministry that awaits us. Though life here isn't always easy, there's definitely no other place we'd rather be right now!

Au revoir a la France!

2009-07-04T09:39:00.002+02:00

Well this is it. We had a rather uneventful train trip into Paris from Albertville, found our hotel, retrieved the luggage we had sent ahead, and had a good nights rest in our hotel. We're now about an hour from heading off to the airport, so this will be the last entry we send from France.

It's almost surreal to finally be heading back to Chad, but we're ready to be back. The past ten months here in France have been a wonderful time. We were blessed to have wonderful teachers and staff at our school as well as wonderful classmates who also doubled as our neighbors. On top of that we lived in the beauty of the French Alps, enjoying mountain scenery all around us and fresh cool air every morning. Needless to say, we will miss it all. But we're also looking forward to what lies ahead, to the joy and challenges that come with obeying God's call on our lives. Thank you all for your many prayers, emails, packages, and prayers over the past ten months. Please continue to uphold our family in prayer as we now get used to life back in Chad and seek to serve our Lord daily in whatever he puts before us.

Au Tchad!

One day left in Albertville.

2009-07-02T08:31:00.002+02:00

So it's our last day here in Albertville and as you can imagine it is going to be very busy and full of last minute packing, cleaning, runs to the store, and saying goodbyes. We have to say that all has gone well in the past week as we went through our little graduation from language school and have slowly been saying goodbye to other families that we have befriended throughout our time here. It's still hard to imagine that will be leaving for Chad on Saturday. Well, i have to keep this short for the sake of getting things done around here, but I'm going to leave you with some prayer requests and some things that you can be praising our Father for:

- We have a car! Last week our leaders in Chad decided upon a good vehicle for us and seeing as they are Krista's parents, we trusted their judgement and gave them the green light to buy it. It's currently getting repaired and will hopefully be ready to go when we arrive. Thanks to the many of you who gave generously towards this purchase. God once again has overwhelmed us by how He provides through you the body of Christ. It's our prayer and desire that this be His vehicle and that we use it everyday with the mindset that it is to be used for His glory.
- Sickness. Apparently our bodies didn't get the memo that they needed to wait until Chad to start getting sick. I (Justin) was laid out earlier this week for several days with some sort of virus. I'm doing better now, but am still feeling a lot of nausea and dizziness and really don't want to head to Chad feeling this way. Please pray for my complete healing. Please pray also for Levi as he seems to have come down with the same virus. Pray for protection for the rest of the family from getting whatever this is.
- Travel. We'll be taking two trains on Friday to make the journey from Albertville to Paris and will then need to go and find our luggage which we sent ahead on a previous train. We'll then be flying out the next day from Paris to Tripoli and then on to Ndjamena where we'll arrive at 12:30 am Sunday morning. Pray for safe travels and for the kids to travel well.

Alright, gotta go and get to work. Thanks for all the prayers!

Children's Songs

2009-06-25T20:43:00.006+02:00

We received an e-mail two weeks ago which informed us of the following:

"Just to let you all know, this morning a little missionary child went to heaven. He was four years old, had malaria for a week but seemed to be responding to treatment. His sister is two. It does make one think with your little ones but we continue to pray and trust God. Pray for the dear family."

Not an e-mail that this Mom wanted to read just weeks before heading to Chad with my three little ones!

We were just starting to play a game when we received this e-mail and read it. When my turn came around I tried to think of what to play and I just couldn't. Finally, as tears welled up in my eyes, I asked that we pray together for this little family and then informed my playmates that I couldn't finish the game that evening. My heart was so heavy and as I laid down in bed that night with Justin. Through my sobs, I told him, "I don't want to go to Chad!"

After we discussed our purpose for going to Chad and remembering the many times we've seen God's faithfulness, provision, protection, and answered prayers in our life, I face the future with more of a peace in my heart. Yes, I'll admit that I am human and I still have fears, but there are a couple of children's songs that are dear to me.

Before we went to Chad in May of 2007 I remember these lyrics being very real to me and then it took the death of this little missionary boy to remind me of the importance of these lyrics again. As we sing them almost nightly with our boys, I am reminded that:

"My God is so big
So strong and so mighty
THERE'S NOTHING MY GOD CAN NOT DO."

and

"Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
LITTLE ONES TO HIM BELONG
THEY ARE WEAK BUT HE IS STRONG."

"God, thank you that you love my little boys even more than I. Thank you that you are sovereign and may I remember these things as we leave for Chad in one week. Amen"

Morning in the Mountains

2009-06-18T13:28:00.010+02:00

Yesterday Julie and Linda graciously watched all three boys so that Justin and I could go up into the mountains for the morning. We had a wonderful time hiking and finding a beautiful overlook of Albertville where we were able to rest while we talked and prayed. We are overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and His blessings on our family as He provides for each step we take.

Mont Blanc in the distance

Wildflowers

Daddy and His Boys

2009-05-27T07:39:00.007+02:00

The boys all love their Daddy. They miss him when he's at school and can't wait for him to get home in the evening!

Justin and Levi taking a nap

Storytime

Playing some ball

Surfing the web together

Comforting 2 of the 3

Crunch Time

2009-05-21T08:14:00.006+02:00

Krista and I in Paris (Eiffel Tower is in background but can't be seen in the fog)Here I am with my beautiful pink and green umbrella that we had to buy because of the rain (I 've received many compliments on it from all of my guy friends here)

So we all tend to have checklists, whether you're the type of person that actually writes down a list to get accomplished each day or if you just have some ideas in your head of what needs to be done. Our time in France has been a process of slowly checking off things on our list as we look to the end goal of getting back to Chad, and now we seem to just about be at the end. In less than six short weeks we will actually be on a plane leaving France to head back to Africa. It's a bit surreal to think that we will soon be back living in Chad, back in the country that gave us so many memories and challenges in the ten brief months that we were there. We'll soon have the chance to see our friends from the village where we used to live, and somehow we're going to have to reach way back in our brains to recall what Arabic we still know. It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

So one of the main things on our checklist was getting all of Levi's paperwork started. Last week Krista and I took the night train to Paris with little Levi and in one day we filed to receive his confirmation of birth abroad, birth certificate, American passport, and social security number at the American Embassy. God was incredibly good in putting just the right person in charge of the paperwork. In around an hour we walked out with his birth certificate and assurance that we would receive his passport in ten days (it came in around 4 days!). We rushed to another appointment that we had at the American Hospital for Levi and then had enough time to grab a bite to eat, walk down the Champs Elysee for a little bit in the drizzling rain, and then find our train to head back to Albertville. The brief trip went incredibly well, from getting all of Levi's paperwork to the boys being good for Grandpa and Grandma back in Albertville.

With the time that remains we are continuing to work on our French, welcoming visitors (Dave and Carolyn Pritchard from our home church in Columbia, SC are actually arriving today), and trying to make all the preparations for returning to Chad. Please continue to pray that God would provide just the right vehicle for our family, we'll need one as soon as we get to Chad as we will hit the ground running.

Pictures of the last month

2009-05-21T08:02:00.004+02:00

Our latest family portrait.

Lunch at our favorite pizzeria with Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa and Grandma with the boys

Happy Birthday Krista!

Grandpa and the boys reading a story

Home as a family of 5!

2009-04-24T14:34:00.003+02:00

Yesterday Levi Ibrahim and Mommy were discharged from the hospital. It was quite the process as the custom here in France is a 5 day hospital stay following a delivery. It's so good to be back together as a family of 5!

Josiah and Micah love their little brother "baby Evi" as Micah calls him.

Levi Ibrahim Clermont

2009-04-24T14:26:00.004+02:00

Levi Ibrahim Clermont was born on April 21 at 6:05 pm.
Weight: 3580 grams
Height: 50.5 centimeters

"We need to pray!"

2009-04-12T08:41:00.005+02:00

All too often I feel like I have become desensitized to the greatness of God, to the immensity of the sacrifice that He made in sending his only son for us. That's why it's great having kids around. They help "resensitize" us. As we read through their children's bible every night, Josiah's and Micah's excitement and amazement when hearing the stories help remind us of how great God is. Just this week as we were reading the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac, the look of horror and fear on Josiah's face and the near tears in his eyes reminded me of the pain I would feel in giving up one of my sons. And this morning, as we read over the crucifixion and resurrection, his sadness at Jesus's death on the cross, and in the next moment, the great joy in realizing that Jesus is now alive! How amazing and exciting it is to see God working in the hearts of our little boys.

Around a month ago we were sitting at our table eating dinner when Josiah started talking about our neighbor who had recently had a miscarriage. Earlier in the week we had explained to him that the baby inside of Mrs. Rachel had died and was now in heaven with Jesus. Well, out of nowhere during our meal, he began talking about Mrs. Rachel's baby and how he wanted to go to heaven too. We took the opportunity to explain to him how Mommy and Daddy knew that one day we would get to go live with Jesus in heaven and how he could too. We left it at that, not wanting to push a decision on him. In other words, we weren't giving an alter call and asking him to pray the sinner's prayer! But as he sat there and was obviously mulling over what we had said, he suddenly stopped and declared that we had to pray! Krista and I were shocked and said ok as we held hads and bowed our head. Josiah then, without any leading from us, went on to thank Jesus for dying for him and told Jesus that he was sorry for when he disobeyed. He said a big "Amen!" and there were tears in both Krista's and my eyes as we realized how God was already beginning to answer the many prayers that we and many of you have offered up for our boys.

So, as we celebrate Easter this year, our family is particularly grateful for how God is at work in the hearts of our two young boys. Please continue to pray with us that our boys would grow in their knowledge of God, who He is, and His love for them. Thanks to those of you out there who have been praying for Josiah and Micah!

Needing some wheels!

2009-03-27T10:54:00.009+01:00

So as we head back to Chad there is one very big need that looms in front of us: a good vehicle. We are going to be living around three hundred kilometers from the capital city of Ndjamena, with the latter part of the trip being on dirt and sand roads that require a good 4 wheel drive vehicle. During the rainy season the road turns into a muddy, swampy mess and becomes pretty much impassable. Our current means of transportation just won't cut it on the roads in Chad (see picture below)! So we are needing to raise some funds to purchase a vehicle.

If you would like to give to help us purchase a vehicle for our family, we've set up a vehicle project fund with our mission, AIM. Here's the different ways you can give:

Send a check made out to AIM with an attached note designating the gift to: "Clermont Vehicle Fund - ID #021530-010" Africa Inland Mission P.O. Box 178 Pearl River, NY 10965
Give online at: <www.aimint.org/usa/online_giving.html>

Under "Make a Gift", click on "Give Now"
Under "Categories and Funds" select "Missionaries (USA)"
Under subcategory scroll down and select "Clermont Vehicle Fund"

3. Call the AIM office at: 1-800-254-0010

Reflections on my Kenya trip

2009-03-10T17:30:00.006+01:00

Hey there everyone! I know, once again, I've done a horrible job of keeping this blog updated. But I'll just post some cute pictures of our two boys and you'll forgive me for everything (at least all of the grandmas and mothers out there will).

So I returned from Kenya a little over two weeks ago. The conference that I went to was attended by around two hundred other workers who are with the same organization as us. It was a wonderful time of getting to know fellow co-laborers who are scattered around Africa. I was so excited to be back in Africa that it felt in many ways like vacation. I know, sounds a bit weird. Most people would rather leave Africa to go to France for a vacation (unless you're going to a fancy gamepark), but not me.

There were many highlights of being there in Kenya at the conference: great fellowship and worship, the informal discussions around meals and tea, small group discussions, and early morning runs through beautiful tea fields. But without a doubt, the highlight of my time there was seeing Krista's parents (John and Pam Propst) and talking with them about the work going on in Chad, and meeting and talking with Emile, the Chadian who I will be working with at the Centre de Formation Missionaire in Bailli. What a blessing it was to meet Emile and hear his vision for the school and his passion to send out believers to reach the many unreached peoples of Chad. We discussed what courses I would be teaching, what life is like in Ba-Illi, where he sees Krista fitting in at the school, and what we envision doing together. I went away from my time in Kenya encouraged and excited about the future ministry God is giving us, as well as feeling blessed that we will have the opportunity to work alongside Emile and his family. In the picture that I posted are several different people from our Central Region group, including Pam Propst (next to me) and Emile (hard to see in the shadows, he is fourth from the right).

All in all it was a great trip, though not exactly uneventful. In route to Nairobi, I had a 14 hour layover in Heathrow Airport (London). Of course I wasn't going to spend good money on a hotel room for the night (that would have shamed my father and everyone else in the same field of work as I am, I think we're all just a bunch of cheapskates). Anyway, so I thought i had lucked out by finding a very cushiony art structure that gave me enough room to lay down, and so i did. But around midnight i woke up to the sound of British accents, as two security workers were trying to figure out who i was and what i was doing in a part of the airport that was closed for the night (and had been that way for several hours). Well, to shorten the story, after gathering my belongings and angering the only immigration officer who hadn't already gone home, i was escorted out and was able to make my way up to the front desk area where i joined fellow cheapskates and spent the night trying to sleep while contorting my body around the armrests.

And lastly, i ended up limping my way onto the plane as i was leaving Kenya. "Why?" you ask. Well, while playing a game of football (that would be soccer) with some other guys at the conference, someone fell on my foot. It hurt bad enough that i limped around the rest of my time there and as i started my return trip home. Only problem is, i also had blisters on my other foot that had opened up and, unknown to me, had become infected. By the time our plane reached London, i was having to limp on my foot that had been fallen on because my other foot had swollen with infection. So to shorten up the story, i did a lot of praying and after two plane rides and two train rides I limped my way home where i ended up going to the emergency room and being on antibiotics for the next ten days! And i'm still waiting for my other foot to recover (actually going in for an x-ray tomorrow). OK, that's it, gotta go and get the boys to bed.

We'll post another blog soon as there have been some other neat things happening in our household lately. Thanks to the many of you who prayed for my trip to Kenya and for Krista and the boys while i was gone.

A Week Without Daddy

2009-02-18T09:42:00.003+01:00

Debbie and the boys playing

Justin left on the 14th for Kenya to attend a conference there. Mama and the boys are holding down the fort (or at least doing our best to)! We're halfway through our week without Daddy and I think I can say that we are all ready for Daddy's return. Josiah has really missed his Daddy! Justin will arrive back here in Albertville the evening of the 21st.

Debbie Garland, a friend from college and bridesmaid, is visiting for a couple days from Northern Ireland. She's been a huge help with the boys and playing with them right now as I type this. I'm sorry it hasn't been a great touristy trip to France for her, but she's a trooper!

I had great ambitions to accomplish a lot this week, but have come to realize that it's OK if only one of those items is accomplished. That one item is potty training Micah and I'm happy to announce that I think we've accomplished that goal!!

God has been so faithful in giving me strength and patience this week! Thank you for your prayers!

Today we went to Old McDonalds!

2009-02-10T15:26:00.003+01:00

Ahh, living in a cold climate, in a small apartment, without a car. You add all those up together and you have some ultra-hyper boys and some parents who are on the verge of going crazy. So today, as we embarked on the second day of our break, we decided we must take action, we must get out of the house! We bravely borrowed the old van of some fellow students here (I say "bravely" because this is a true "missionary car" complete with doors that fly open while you drive, or just don't open at all). Even though it was raining out, we drove up to the mountains hoping to find falling snow instead of rain and some nice hills to go sledding on. Success! It was cold enough up in the mountains that small balls of frozen rain were falling down and for about an hour Josiah and I (Justin) enjoyed going up and down the hill on the sleds (see the pictures). Micah's not a big fan of snow, he's just not a big fan of cold weather at all. So Micah sat with Krista and watched us have all the fun. We finally packed up and enjoyed the beautiful drive back down to Albertville, but our fun outing was not over yet. In our five months being here in Albertville we had yet to go the home of Happy Meals and Big Macs. As we walked in the doors of the restaurant, Josiah exclaimed how happy he was that we were getting to eat at Old McDonalds! (There's a good missionary kid quote for you) The boys enjoyed Happy Meals and some free balloons and Krista and I enjoyed some hamburgers and fries. And so ended our family outing. It was good to get out.

The joy of trying to work in a foreign language.

2009-02-07T08:24:00.005+01:00

Dad and the boys

I've never considered myself to be a very fashionable person. Krista made fun of me in college because I used to wear the same shirt everyday (i still do); my wardrobe consists of grey, dark blue, and white t-shirts, and I shave my head because it's the easiest and most convenient haircut. All this to say that i'm probably not going to be appearing on the cover of any fashion magazines. So where is all this going you ask? Well, it's a slightly humorous story that starts with me just wanting to find some lotion. It's winter here in Albertville and it get's pretty dry. So off i went for my weekly trek to the grocery store to get our weekly ration of food as well as to find some lotion that didn't cost an arm and a leg (cosmetics are expensive here). As I stared at the display of various toiletries available i was trying my best to figure which of them was lotion (I didn't know the word for it yet in French). After five minutes of just staring, i decided to just grab a product which had a familiar name brand, hoping that it really was lotion. I got home and opened it up and, yes, i had bought the right thing! It didn't smell too fruity or feminine, so I was pleased and gave myself a pat on the back for this small accomplishment. Well, this past week after applying some lotion to my dry hands, arms, and face and getting ready to head out the door to class, Krista looked at me with a quizzical expression and stated that i looked a bit sparkly. I took a look at myself and she was right, i had noticed it before but thought it was just sweat or the lotion needing to dry. Instead Krista went on to inform me that for the past several weeks she had noticed me looking a bit "sparkly". Well i ran to check out the lotion bottle once again, and sure enough, realized that i had bought some nice "sparkly" lotion that has nice little reflecting particles to make my skin "shine"! So basically for the past couple of weeks i've been going around looking like a teenage girl with little sparkles all over me! I'm just surprised that noone complimented me on how pretty i looked. So, needless to say, i think i'll leave that lotion for Krista and try and find some more manly lotion at the store, maybe some with bits of dirt in it or with the scent of hamburgers. (and no, i'm not going to post any pictures about this)

On a more serious note...We have just begun a two week break from class. The first part of this trimester has gone well as we continue to learn French. I (Justin) have begun meeting once a week with a private tutor so that I can learn as much as possible before we head back to Chad. Krista is feeling very pregnant at this point and is ready to have the baby, but we still have a long way to go. You can be praying for her as she has had a lot more aches and pains with this pregnancy. The boys continue to be boys (eat, sleep, and play) and they are looking forward to having a little brother. Over this break I have the opportunity to go to Kenya for a week to attend a conference our mission is putting on. The exciting thing is Krista's parents are going to be there as well as the Chadian director whom I will be working alongside when we get to the training center in Chad, so i am looking forward to that. Krista will be staying here with the kids but a good friend (Debbie Garland) will be coming to spend the week with her and the boys while I am gone.

God has continued to bless our family in amazing ways and continues to surprise us with how He provides for every need. Thanks to the many of you who continually are praying for us!

Rolling along.

2009-01-24T16:35:00.004+01:00

Mom and Micah discussing theology

Daddy and Josiah enjoying the view.

So it's already almost the end of January 2009. Pretty crazy. Another year come and gone, a new president sworn into office (don't worry, i'm not going to get into all that), and another kid on the way! We're amazed at how fast time has gone by for our little family since being here in France. Only six more months to go, and yet at times it seems like forever. I must confess that in many ways I'm ready to get back to Chad. Though I've enjoyed learning French and eating great bread and pastries, I'm also ready to move on. But...there's still work to be done here: continuing French language study, relationships with French friends, and awaiting the arrival of our third child in late April. On top of the things we have to do, it's amazing how God uses times like these (transition periods) to to do a lot of His own work on us. It's truly a sanctifying process living in a small apartment with two little boys during a cold winter (aka: a lot of time with just us and the kids inside)! I can't wait until we get back to Africa and the boys can run around outside and we never have to worry about it being too cold!

Some pictures...

2009-01-01T14:37:00.007+01:00

A family picture

Storytime with Uncle Matt

Walking around Conflan, a medieval city in Albertville

We climbed to the top of "Belle Trois" (a small mountain range)

Christmas in Albertville

2008-12-31T10:21:00.007+01:00

Uncle Matt, Uncle Chris, and Josiah on an old canon

Uncle Matt and Micah going sledding!

The boys opening up their stockings

Enjoying a meal together.

This Christmas break has been a nice time for us to rest our brains from French language study as well as to just hang out and enjoy having some free time. Last Wednesday night (the 24th), my brothers Matt and Chris flew in from the States to spend some time with us. They just took off this morning on the train to head back to Paris and back to the States. So for the past week we've all had a fun time eating, playing games, and seeing more of Albertville together. In the week that they've been here we have:

visited an old castle
gone sledding
Matt went to a service at an abby that has been around since the 12th century
made a three hour hike up a mountain and descended it in 30 minutes on our backsides (see the pictures)
eaten a four hour French meal at one of Krista's friend's house (we didn't get home until midnight)
enjoyed a wonderful meal with our Korean friends who are here at school
played many games of "Settlers of Catan"
sampled a number of French cheeses and eaten baguettes everyday (at the request of Chris)

Josiah and Micah have enjoyed having their uncles around and have made sure that they don't get too much rest while they're here. Thanks to many of you who sent gifts along with Matt and Chris for us and the boys. Josiah walked out Christmas morning, sort of stumbling around and half asleep still when he saw the presents under our tree and his eyes bugged out. So thanks to Uncle Matt and Uncle Chris, the boys were able to receive a lot of great gifts.

So life will soon be back to "normal" for most of us as Christmas and New Years have come and gone. Though we have figured out what is "normal" for us right now, it's going to change soon. It's weird to think that we're a more than a third of a way through our studies here in France. In no time we will be adding another member to our family and heading back to Chad and we will be searching for a new "normal". Krista just mentioned this morning that in many ways, she feels that the following three years may be the toughest of her life. Though that may be true, we are nevertheless looking forward and eager to get back to the country where God has led us. Continue to pray that God would equip us with the language and whatever else we need to return and serve Him in Chad.

It's a ...

2008-12-18T12:26:00.002+01:00

...BOY! That's right, we found out yesterday at the doctor's office that baby #3 is officially a boy. It was pretty clear (if you all know what I mean). We're happy about having another boy, but most of all we're just thankful that everything looked good on the ultrasound. Krista is doing well and has stayed healthy and avoided all the bugs that have been going around our school with all our kids. Please keep on praying for the safe and healthy development of our little guy.

Winter in Albertville!

2008-12-13T09:10:00.006+01:00

It's a cold wintery morning here in Albertville. Snow covers the mountains all around us and we also enjoyed getting some snow down here in the valley this week. We're at the end of our semester here in language school and we've finished two days of tests with two more days to go. That's right, four days of tests! Though challenging, it's also been fun (I admit that in some ways I must be a nerd because I sort of enjoy the tests and being challenged academically). The encouraging thing is to be able to sit down and understand the French that is written on the paper before us and even being able to respond somewhat correctly. Any time Krista and i are tempted to be discouraged at how much French we know, we just have to look back at what we understood of this language when we first arrived. Then we can see that progress has definitely been made!

So our break is coming up in a little over a week and we're looking forward to having some down time. A lot of the kids here have been sick over the past couple of weeks and that has included Josiah and Micah. Micah has been running a fever for about two weeks straight now and we're now on our second course of antibiotics due to a very persistent ear infection! Josiah has rebounded and seems to be at 100% now. We're looking forward to my two brothers coming out for our Christmas break. They will come bearing many gifts from friends and family back in the States. Chris, my younger brother, said he didn't care if we did much while they were here, just as long as he could eat a lot of French bread. So I guess we'll just spend our break eating a lot of bread!

Anyway, we'll leave you guys with some pictures of the nice snow from this week. We keep on thinking how it will be a long time before we enjoy another Christmas season like this one!

The boys enjoying the snow in a little playhouse behind our apartment building

Josiah on his morning walk to school!

The boys showing off their fancy stockings that their Aunt Cheryl made for them.

Hanging out in the playhouse.

The next step

2008-12-01T10:42:00.006+01:00

Over the past ten months, since being evacuated out of Chad, we have had to take life step by step, praying and waiting on God to show us the next move to make. God has faithfully led us to France in preparation for our return to Chad. But what exactly will we be returning to? What will we be doing and where? As we have spent time praying as well as talking to our leadership about this issue, we feel that God has now made it clear what He is leading us to do.

For many years AIM has helped run a small missionary training center called Siloh, located in Ba Illi, Chad. The school exists to effectively train Chadian Christians as missionaries to their fellow countrymen, particularly to the Muslim peoples of central and northern Chad. Normally the school trains around 5-7 couples every year. For over ten years AIM has been wanting a missionary to teach full-time at the school.

We feel that at this time God has called us to meet this need and we have committed to serving at Siloh. Justin’s primary focus will be teaching and training the men in the various aspects of missions, while Krista will also have the chance to work with the wives.

Many of you may be wondering what this move will mean for the many relationships we have established back in Dourbali. We have kept up contact with our friends there and hope to continue our witness to them through frequent trips to see them, possibly even bringing students with us. Our hearts, now more than ever, are burdened for the Muslim peoples of Chad. We look forward to the opportunities we will have to build relationships with the Chadian Arabs who are in and around Ba Illi and we look forward to training and sending Chadians out who will reach the unreached all throughout Chad and even beyond.

Over the next several months as we prepare for our return to Chad in July of 2009, we'll be sharing more with you all what exactly our lives will look like in Ba Illi. In the meantime, here are some pictures to give you an idea of where we'll be. For those of you on our mailing and email list, you should be getting our newsletter soon, in the meantime, here's where you'll find all our latest news.

Our future home in Ba Illi

Another shot of our future home

Chapel in one of the classrooms

John and Pam Propst with Emile and Odile.
Emile is the director of Siloh and we will work closely alongside he and his wife.

2008-11-17T21:11:00.003+01:00

So it's been a while since we put up a new post here. I've been avoiding writing any big updates lately because we were planning on just posting our latest email update that we send to everyone. So we're getting it checked over at the moment, but should have it or something informative posted up here sometime soon. In the meantime, we'll post some pictures to entertain everyone out there.

A family outing at our favorite little pizzeria!

An afternoon hike with friends

What can you say about these two good looking guys? Micah is styling in his winter hat, diaper, and red socks.
Josiah is sporting a new style of hairdo (the one he may have sixty years from now)