Dear friends and family,

Where we currently live here, we are living in the same concession (house and yard surrounded by a wall) with a D extended family of about 16 people.

Leasted below are the top 10 reasons for sharing the same living space with 16 northern Chadians …

1)   There is always someone available to practice the language as soon as you walk outside your house.

2)     Your kids always have a playmate when they walk outside the house.

3)     There are almost always 2-3 people ready to help you wash your car.

4)     There is always someone ready to go with you to the market and help you get a fair price.

5)     When you discover a flat tire as you are leaving for church, 2-3 people jump up and change it for you in 10 minutes.

6)     You get to live in a village, while living in the city.

7)     When you need to go to the airport at midnight to pick someone up, you can always find a volunteer to go with you.

8)     You get invited to do things like: go to a baby naming ceremony, sit in on a reconciliation meeting between two clans, help a guy steal another wife (this one I did not do, but it was nice to be invited. =)

9)     You never worry about feeling safe.

10)  You are so glad to see their friendly faces when you come home after getting your car mobbed by kids, because you ran over their soccer ball.

And 1e1) You miss them when you leave for 10 days to go down south.

Please remember us in prayer as we leave this morning to head down south with our mission director. We will be visiting many of the other TEAM workers here in Chad, as we get a more global view of our new country.   We had a good Christmas, we haven’t been sick lately & we’re feeling generally encouraged about language learning.  Thank you for your continued prayers for us!

Love,

Tom’s nephew and their family