A
sideline of ours is occasionally spending time with the neighborhood and church
children with a mind to teaching them to think and reason - and ultimately
become leaders in the church and community. Uno cards have proved very popular.
Alas, Mark seems to create more confusion for these tender young minds than he
clears up. (look at the Uno card he's holding).
A
visit by the top leadership of the Evangelical Church of Chad to Chageen in
April was much appreciated. From Left, Diane, Bekayo Joel, the Pastor Lago
Jacob, the president of the EET, Pastor Batein, Moses Djidaboum, and the
chauffer of their vehicle.
During much of early 2007, in the quietness of the night, we could hear a low rumble - the sound of the oil drilling rig 10 miles to the east of Chageen. One day, we went to see the operation, which was being undertaken by the Chinese. A bunch of local Kwong guys got hired as day laborers and were keen to have their picture taken with Diane. Apparently, they found oil.
Life in Chageen means being cut off from the rest of the world for the
duration of the rainy season, which means purchasing nearly a year's worth of
food in one fell swoop. Rainy season also means spectacular cloud
formations and sunsets. Before the season - and the violent winds which
accompany it - began, Mark, who is deathly afraid of heights, ascended the full
96-foot height of the radio tower to attach the final cables in what has been a
year-long process of reinforcing it. 
