Merry Christmas from Chad!

 Merry Christmas Everyone!   Our Christmas day is coming to an end and yours is just beginning.  I hope that you have a fulfilling holiday and that each of you think of our Savior and what He has given up for us.  I hope that you too have been able to enjoy a little of the giving season as much as we have.  I would like to let you know what it is like having Christmas in Chad. This is going to be a two part letter because I want to give pictures to help show you as well as tell you how different it is here.     Our holiday really started Christmas eve eve.  Friday was an extremely busy day for us getting the house ready for the full weekend we had planned for the volunteers.  I also made a lot of goodies for all my native loved ones.  These goodies were only possible because of all of our good friends and family that provided us with all the means to do so.  I put together a plate full of goodies and some in little bags to hand out to those that came to the door.  Friday was a lot of work but so much fun too showing everyone that helps us out everyday how much we appreciate them.  Their faces showed so much surprise.  It was so much fun!   This is a picture of a little girl about 6 months old.  Her name is Temda and we have been helping her since she was born.  I have not seen her since she was born because they live far from Bere.  She just got out of the hospital after being sick for quite a while.  She is way too little for six months so I taught the grandmother how to make a nutritious porridge and provided them with all the ingredients to help them out for the next week.  She is so beautiful and sweet that I had to take some pictures of her and thought you all would enjoy seeing where some of your money is going.     Saturday morning I woke up to three little kids sitting on my bench outside my door holding an infant.  I knew the little boy for he is one that would come to work for baby food for his little brother but he has not been very regular lately.  After getting myself ready for church I walked outside to talk to them.  The baby was so small.  We ended up weighing him and he is a big 8 lbs at 7-8 months old.  Think about that, that is how much a newborn weighs.  Danae was walking by and she was touched by this as much as I was and we both wanted to just take the baby in for a month or two just long enough to fatten him up a little and give him a fighting chance at life.  The father is in Ndjamena but for how long the children have no idea and that is why they came to me cause they needed to feed him and had nothing.  I decided to skip church and take the baby inside and give him a very much needed bath.  I could hardly handle it, he was skin and bones, literally!  He was crying but did not have the strength for a very loud cry but I noticed one tear made it out of his eye as it rolled around his face toward his ear.  His legs were retracted into a fetal position as though he was trying to keep himself warm even though the water was warm.  His little body and loose skin tore me up inside.  I got a newborn outfit from my Samaritan center closet and as I put it on I wanted to just cry for it was too big on him.  I found a pair of socks to help him feel warn and a hat.  I rubbed his body with a type of oil they use on their skin here, for his skin was almost wrinkly.  I grabbed the bottle of formula that I had made and snuggled him as he sucked it down.  I stop and think about how stressed I had been feeling about the baby program for it has been growing and I don't want to have to turn anyone away that needs it.  But as long as God continues to lead me to believe this is a mission He wants me to continue I will keep doing it.  We pray that God will bring to us that day who He wants us to help.  It can be a heartbreaking mission but how could I not help after seeing this child.  God knows the needs of His children!    All of us volunteers here worked hard on Friday to try and create a lasagna meal for our Christmas sabbath together.  It turned out wonderful!  It is amazing how creative you can be when you really want something.  We were able to get all of us together at one long table. It reminded me of the table we are eager to sit at in heaven with all the many different types of people that are united by the same purpose in life to serve the Lord.  We invited the three hungry children to join us for our special Christmas dinner.  Four different courses were served starting with salad and garlic bread balls, then pumpkin soup, the main course lasagna and finally pumpkin pie.  We all felt American for an hour and it was great!  During this time we were able to talk about what we all thought would be best to do in this situation.  We really do want to take the child but decided it was not the best thing to do while the father is away.  We told the children to come everyday to get the things necessary to take care of their brother and when their father comes back we will talk with him about it again.