According to Air France's web site the plane carrying Fred, JD, Nathan, and Russ has arrived in the capital. They should catch a ride with MAF and arrive in Chageen Sat morning. They are 7 hours ahead of us. Not sure we will hear anything while they are there. A recent report from Mark and Diane follows.

Dear family and friends, December 13, 2008
It has been just about 2 months since we returned to Chad. Here in brief are a few highlights of these past weeks.
The Lord was gracious to us and our return to Chad was not as much of a shock to our system as we anticipated. The country is relatively stable at this time.
We flew back to Chageen on MAF and were warmly welcomed by our friends and colleagues. We found everything in much better order than we expected. All our equipment (water pump, fridge, electrical system) still worked, and the radio station, medical clinic, and other ministries were functioning normally. Our employees had taken good care of our home so there was no termite damage. After a week or two, the snake and ant population were brought back under control.
We now have a satellite phone in Chageen enabling us to do email on a more regular basis. It has already had a dramatic impact on our quality of life in the village. We are, we believe, the last missionaries in Chad to get access to this technology.
We attended our annual field conference a couple weeks ago and bade farewell to our senior missionaries, Carl and Sandy Hodges who are retiring from Chad after 42 years here. It is a poignant milestone for all of us. Yesterday they boarded Air France in N'Djamena for the last time. They sailed on a ship the first time.
On Christmas day a work team of four men from First Baptist in Sycamore, IL will leave from O’Hare field in Chicago to come put the roof on the new clinic building. Mark has been working full-time with our Chadian masons to prepare the structure for their arrival.
Our main prayer request at this time is for strength, health, and safety for both ourselves and the work-team as we finish the construction of the clinic. Pray that the clinic building would be finished by the end of January so we can return to our ministries of Bible translation and teaching.
That's all for now. A Merry and Christ-centered Christmas to each of you.
Love, Mark and Diane Vanderkooi