Wednesday, November 28, 2012

School Events

School Events

Well school started October first and the children and the teachers love their newly remodeled and improved school. It has been so wonderful to be apart of this whole transition. Everyday I go to the school and do what I can to help them get the school running the way a real school should be run. Sometimes it is some of the most simple ideas that are foreign to them. But it seems as though they are eager to learn and things are moving forward. It is just a lot of work. I sure could use someone at the school full time if anyone is interested in a leader position at a French speaking 3rd world country school, please let me know.

This year I have not come right out and asked for help with tuition for the children but I have still had a few donations for it anyways. I want to thank those of you who have been dedicated to the children in this way. It really has been a blessing for the kids that would otherwise not be able to have this christian education. I did several interviews to be sure the right children are being helped. But one of the reasons I didn't ask is because this year I have other ideas that I am going to need help with. I am trying to fund raise now for building one more building for the school. I want to do a building like the one that we have already for the children in the grades 7-10th grade. I have a hope and dream to complete the school and all I need right now is a building with 5 classrooms.

When I was in the states on furlough I talked with the Architecture department of missions at Andrews University. They were able to come up with all the numbers of how much this project is going to cost. I gave them all of the costs for each of the items in Chad and they did all the figuring. They came up with $66,000.00. I know that this sounds like a whole lot of money and it is. But what I would like to do this year is raise some money to be able to at least get the building up and then finish only one room so that the 10th graders can move up to the next class next school year. It is the cement that cost so much here. It is about $25 a sack of cement. But I thought that if I could just do the cement in one room on the walls and the floor that this will bring the immediate cost down. Then we can complete a classroom each year to continue moving these kids up a class. I have been doing a lot of ground work for this already and we have sent Valery, the vice principal, to Cameroon to study and get his license to open up these next classes. God has helped me raise $10,000.00 specifically for the building already but need at least another $25,000.00 before I will break ground. This is where all of you come in. I know that this just seems like an incredibly huge dream but after being here for three years I have seen God work and I now know for sure, from experience, that with God all things ARE possible. If it is His will it will all happen but we each have to do our part starting with me just asking for help. I know that every $25 will make a difference.

Please help me raise this money. I can't do this alone. The reason this is so important to me is because after tenth grade these kids have no other option but to go to public school around here. And the public schools here are terrible. I would never consider allowing my child to ever go to one. The teachers come drunk all the time and encourage the kids to drink with them. Then several days the teachers are not even in the class to teach. It is such a vulnerable age and I think if we can keep them in the christian school there is a better hope for their future. If the kids even wanted to continue with an Adventist school they would have to move away from their families and most of them would not be able to afford that. Or even if they could there is not always the possibility of knowing someone in that area for them to stay with.

I truly believe in the christian education system. I believe that the only way of changing the mentality of the people here is through the children and the next generation. Please help me do this. Please consider being apart of the project. Get your schools or churches involved to help. Let this be apart of your end of the year, last chance to give a donation project. This is a real need for these kids and for the future of this place. I need to start soon if I am going to be able to get even one room finished before next year. Thank you for everything you have helped me accomplish so far it has been amazing to be apart of this.

God bless you all as you pray and consider supporting our addition at the Bere Adventist School.

Thank you so much,
Tammy Parker

All donations can be sent to:

Harrison SDA Church
P.O. Box 969
Harrison, TN 37341

Earmark: Bere Chad project
And send a small note inside the envelope stating that your check is for the "Addition of the Bere Adventist School"

Sent from my I-phone
Jamie Parker
Director of Maintenance
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
Chad, Africa

Prayed for the Possessed

It was a Friday afternoon and I was over at Samedi's house. This is Tony's grandfather, the man who has worked at the Adventist Hospital for thirty years. He started there as the janitor and now is doing surgeries. He has at least 25 family members living with him and there was a little construction going on over at his house so I went over to check it all out. Tony told me that his brother Weiba's wife was hit with something in the night. The people here have so many crazy voodoo ideas of what is going on with their lives that I tried to understand what he was telling me but it just didn't make any sense. But what I did get from what he was trying to explain to me was that she was trapped with evil spirits tormenting her. She is about 15 or 16 years old and just had a baby 3 weeks ago. She never goes anywhere and so Jamie and I were thinking that maybe she was crying a lot because she has postpartum depression and that the people here just don't know about things like that. But then while I was there I could hear her cries, they were piercing. I felt for her. It was so much that I kept thinking about her long after we were gone.

Later that evening I asked Tony if he would go back over to their house with me because there is another little 2 year old girl (Temda Tammy) that is sick and I wanted to check on her and also talk to them about Weiba's wife and see if she was doing any better. I was brought into their salon where they have what is like wooden patio furniture in there without any cushions. I immediately feel a wall of heat in the room, it was like walking into a brick oven. I am shown, by Jolie Tony's grandmother, where I should sit. She comes to shake my hand again after sitting down, which is a ritual that they do. You are greeted with a hand shake when you first get to their house and then again once you sit down, it is very time consuming but part of the culture and you actually get use to it. Temda was doing much better but they are still concerned about Weiba's wife. They said that she is now having fainting spells. She is possessed by three of her dead brothers which insulted Samedi and Jolie and insisted on receiving money. I was thinking to myself, even the dead is asking for money. They did give her money and the spirits settled down for a while and let the girl rest but now she is having these fainting spells. While we are in this room talking about her, she comes walking in without my knowledge. Then I see her behind me on this big rug that they have. Weiba is right behind her as she walks toward the wall. All of a sudden it was almost like she ran into a wall but from the side of her like she was hit with a board and then she falls straight to the ground without bending her knees to protect herself. When I saw it I couldn't believe it and I was instantly full of fear. The room was very dark and as I am witnessing this it feels a little darker. I instantly look over at Tony and he covered his face with his hands. I felt fear at first and then as I was able to process it I felt a comfort in knowing that I am safe because God IS with me. I had a real feeling like I needed to pray for her. I just sat and listened to Samedi and Jolie as they talked about the poor girls fainting spells like this. After the conversation settled down I could feel my conscience telling me that I needed to pray with her and for her. I am a missionary and this is the exact thing that I am here for to be used as a tool to push Satan away. So I looked at Tony and asked if he thought it would be ok for me to pray with her. He looked at me with a proud smile and said that it would be good. He told his grandparents what I had said and they instantly stood up and said, "koura" which means thats good in Nangjere and I followed them to her room.

We walked outside and music was playing by the many children that were wrestling on the mat right outside her room. Samedi said something in Nangjere to them and the music was turned off and every person in that compound entered the room with us. I respectfully took my shoes off outside and walked into a dark room. I could see her laying on a mat next to her newborn baby. I felt so much compassion for her. I knew that what I was getting ready to do was what God wanted me to do. My insides were turning. I was doing a lot of thinking of what I needed to say to God in this very important prayer. I began to pray. I knew that the only person in the room that knew what I was saying would be Tony and even though I was in a room with about 25 people I felt alone with God. I prayed. I begged for mercy on her part and claimed promises that God has given us in the bible and demanded Satan to leave this girl in the name of Jesus Christ. When the prayer was finished the Holy Spirit could be felt and I felt so peaceful.

Tony and I walked back home in the dark. I asked him what he was thinking and he told me that what I did for his family was very very good and he gave me a big smile. I just thank God for giving me the strength to be here for doing what He wants me to do.

Sent from my I-phone
Jamie Parker
Director of Maintenance
Hopital Adventiste de Bere
Chad, Africa