The dry season is fully here, and the last of the grasses have disintegrated into the sand. Days are getting longer and hotter, and the nights are less cool. Last year's rains were very poor in our zone, so many people have already exhausted their stores of millet and sorghum and the hungry season has come early.

We were able to organize about 4000 people to do market gardening along the edges of local dry riverbeds (wadis) in December, and the first vegetables from those little plots are finding their way into pots and markets. Hopefully the added food and income will help our families to buy what they need until April when a general food distribution will start from WFP. We are waiting to hear whether we will receive more funding from USAID.

The disaster in Haiti is diverting much resource away from this area in spite of the newly re-declared food and security disaster by the US Ambassador.

I had a wonderful visit with a beneficiary family --muslims, from Darfur. When we had finshed taking tea and dates, before we left, the husband asked if he could pray for us. They know that we are "people of faith"...our testimony is different from the secular humanitarian groups, and they felt free to give us the one gift they have access to: the blessing of God.

It was a tremendously powerful moment. I pray we will be able to share more about the Issa they think they know, and open the gates, not just to justice and development, but to the mercy of God and the transformation of Christ.

On a personal note: I have started studying Chadian Arabic ... We'll see how well I manage to stick with it! Pray for my health, sleep during hot season, and continued physical safety. There is a big political wrangle between the government here and the UN peacekeeping presence. Pray for the best possible resolution and clarity for us to know how to work with the increased tension.