Jesus Film Outreach

Well, it's been an eventful past few days, which is why I haven't updated recently.

In a rather complicated turn of affairs, I was selected to go on an Outreach to show the Jesus Film in the local villages. I was given a crash course in how to set up the equipment, in a mix of German, French and English, and then we were off, Friday morning! A team from France just arrived for two weeks, so to say the least, our communication issues have just gone through the roof!

The day that we left the morning devotion was on God's strength shining through our weakness. And coincidentally  that was the day I started feeling quite sick.

We started out with a 2 hour drive on pavement, so that was fine. 17 people total, 15 in the back, luggage, and two sets of Jesus Film equipment. We arrived at the main place in time for supper, but instead of eating, Kurt and I and one of the French pastors went to start setting up the film. The first set of equipment was owned by the EET, Evangelical Church of Chad, and they showed their film at the main place, and then we took ours about 5 minutes down a dirt road, and we showed ours there, to about 200-300 people. It went very well, except God would only give me energy when I was setting up or taking down. I felt absolutely fine when I was doing something, but the moment I had a break I started to feel lightheaded and had stomach problems.

Two hours later (I had no idea the Jesus film was that long) it was finished. The pastor had us pause the film after Jesus said 'It is finished' and he preached for a while. And then we continued the film, packed up (with Chadian kids crowding around us...less than a foot away), and we started back. And I was so glad, because I was very tired, and starting to get quite lightheaded. And I was starving, and had drank all my water. It was 9 pm, and I was ready to call it a day. And then we got there the national team was having troubles, because their equipment is still reel to reel. There was some problem with the generator, so the generator stayed on low speed, and they said you could see each frame of the video it was so slow!

Kurt told me we needed to set up, and I groaned and got up. But suddenly I was filled with energy and completely healed from my lightheadedness. I lifted all the equipment with no problem whatsoever, ran around like a madman setting it up, and that was that. As soon as it was set up and running, they served us supper. It was rice and some sort of oily meat sauce. The rice was good, once you got past all the sand in it. Crunch Crunch.

And when the movie finished, I was filled with energy again and got it all packed up, set up my mosquito tent, and was out before I hit the non-existent pillow.

Evidently in Chad the time to get up is 4 am, before its even light. I kinda came to about then, and people were walking around and singing (and when Chadians sing, they don't hold back...AT ALL) and dancing, and shouting 'Bonjour!'...it was chaos. I laid in bed another 20-30 minutes, and then rolled out and packed up my tent and mat, and I was the first one up on our team. But I'm glad I didn't wait, because I don't like getting ready in the morning with 200 people watching and laughing.

I can't remember what they called breakfast.  It was basically rice mashed up with a bit of water, honey and sugar, and of course, sand. You drink it like a milkshake...runny, but chunky. And gritty. They make all their food in huge cauldrons over an open fire, so you get plenty of sand and dirt. But I'm sure its all clean sand and dirt. It really wasn't too bad...really good when you are hungry!

Kurt and I essentially rested and stayed with the Unimog all day, while the French team and all the Chadian team from the EET (there were about 100 of them) did house to house evangelism. At one point, the President of the Moundou Annex (basically the District President for the denomination) decided he wanted to travel to where we were going to show the film that night. We found out later that the Moundou Annex had been assigned this part of Chad, the very southeast corner (like 5 kilometers from Cameroon) since there are very few churches. I rested in the truck most of the time. I laid on the wooden bench and stared at the tarp ceiling. I got very VERY familiar with those wooden benches...they are actually really comfortable when you get used to them. Just don't sleep on your side, or when you get up all your joints are out of order.

That was the first thing I learned about Chad...the art of waiting, and being able to go to sleep in any position in any situation. Because when it is this hot and humid, if you work for 8 hours, you'll never live. So you have to get a bad American work ethic...work slowly, and take many breaks, so that you survive. So I didn't waste the time that we were waiting...I rested, which is not wasting time.

We eventually made our way back to the main village, and had lunch. Lunch was the famous 'Boul'. Now Boul is a local dish, and the substance dish. They take maize and mash it to a pulp, add water, cook it in the cauldron for a while, and serve it with sauce. There is no equivalent in the US. Its a white (sandy) spongy  dough without too much flavor. But everything is good to a man that is hungry.

Finally we went to set up the film. We went back and made the hour long drive through very rough roads to go 20 kilometers, just as we had before. We were driving an Unimog, the German Mercedes Benz equivilent of the M35 Deuce and a half army truck. Absolutely amazing and unstoppable. If you want better, you need a tank. There is absolutely nowhere that Unimog can't go. Incredible vehicle...so much fun. Kurt used to drive one in the German army, and then he drove one for years in Congo and Kenya as a missionary, so he is very familiar with them. Which is good, because the road was a real killer!

Anyways, we got there, set up, and showed the film to about 300 people. Same thing as before...I had no energy until I had to do something, and God gave me strength, and I was fine, and then when I had a break, I was completely overcome with weariness and was fighting just to keep my head upright. But we serve an AMAZING God, who gives us strength when we need it!

We packed up, and went back. We picked up the other film team, and their equipment worked fine this time (go figure, since the guy that they sent to Moundou to get the spare part...something happened and they didn't get the part), and we went back to the main place. There we were greeted by 600 Chadians shouting and singing and dancing. I had no idea what was going on. We found out that these people had walked from kilometers away to get here, and were promised that we would show them the movie about Jesus. It was a huge opportunity, but I just groaned. I was exhausted beyond exhausted, and could barely keep my head up at this point...and I hadn't eaten in 8 or 9 hours. But God gave me strength, and both of the teams set up, one at each end of the clearing, the pastor prayed, and we started it.

Now this night (which was last night for me) we were showing it to a tribe that is the biggest tribe in Chad, and also the tribe that is bringing Islam into the country in force. So I couldn't take any pictures, and we showed them the 'extended version', a 3 hour one that gave the whole creation and Abraham story, and all the prophecies leading up to Jesus.

The film finished, and we got it all packed up, and I finally hit the sack at 1:30 am. We never got supper. Well, the next morning, all the Chadians got up at 4 am, but I was so tired, I slept until 5:30. And so, we missed breakfast, because OBVIOUSLY breakfast is served at 4:30 am...when else would you have it on a Sunday morning? We foreigners, will we never learn?

So today was kinda a rough day for me. Church started about 7 am, and we transported one group of people. The Chadian Christians from the EET spread themselves out throughout the villages, and had church services. Instead of going to the church, I just laid in the truck and listened. I didn't sleep, because I was feeling rather miserable. Oh, and did I mention that we had skipped the previous two meals?

After Church had ended (its about a 2.5 hour service) we went back, bought some bread and peanuts at the market about noon, and then afterwards had some Boul.

Eventually, we were asked to go pick up some of the Chadian pastors who had been scattered along the villages. These pastors weren't ready to leave when the other truck left, and so they were walking. Kurt and I drove off, and picked up 32...which is a lot when you think you're only picking up 8. I wasn't sure what made the truck bounce more...the road, or the 32 Chadians singing and dancing and jumping up and down in unison. To say we were packed like sardines is an understatement. Thank God we had the Unimog!

It was an amazing experience, and evidently we are going to do another shorter outreach later this week. I can't wait.

Hopefully I will get pictures on that trip and be able to post them for you!

A few prayer requests:
-I'm still sick, so pray that I get better.
-That God would work in the hearts of all those who saw the Jesus films.
-That God would work through all the communication issues with the diversity of languages on the team right now.

And Thank God for giving me strength to do what I needed to do! All the Glory goes to God for the whole trip!

--Josh