September 2022 Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from South Carolina once again! We have now been back to the States for seven months.

Our time has been filled with doctors’ visits, family time, a two week visit to Chad for Debbie in August, exploring, and praying about what our missionary life will look like in the future.

We are also preparing to move up to Hendersonville, NC at the end of September to live near Philippe, Brenna, and our newest grandson who made his debut at the end of September. We welcomed Oliver on 9/20/22 at 2:36 am.  6 lbs 12 oz, 21 in. Both mom and baby are doing well.

FAMILY TIME: After three and a half years of not being able to spend time as a family due to COVID, we were able to all meet in Greece for two weeks! It was wonderful to see the Klar grandchildren and their parents of course! This was such a fun time – playing, talking, seeing new sites, and making many memories!

July 21st was also a very memorable day when Hannah Oubre, our oldest granddaughter, married Dane Decker in a beautiful and God honoring ceremony! We are so happy to welcome another grandson to our family.

TRIP TO CHAD: Debbie traveled to Chad for two weeks in August, which was short but many things were accomplished. The goal of the trip was to check up on various started projects and not quite finished prior to our departure in February, encourage those on the ground, meet with local and expatriate staff, meet with the Swiss consulate to seek funds for a new solar project to power our operating room, a new women’s ward and maternity, help get guest houses ready for short-termers and a new midwife, Kristy Harrison, and her family, sort through medical supplies and our personal belongings.

This made the time in Chad move at record pace! The work continues to go well. Our French missionary family, Paul and Céline Boni and their children, Lénaëlle and Yohan, returned to France in June and will be sorely missed in the work at the hospital. A maxillo-facial surgeon and team were at G2 for a week in August, doing amazing surgeries to help reconstruct Chadian faces ravaged by tropical disease and trauma.

Bert stayed with Greg and Lily, his son and daughter-in-law, in Texas for 2 weeks and then flew to North Carolina to be with Philippe and Brenna until Debbie returned from Chad.

OUR FUTURE PLANS: Many have asked about our future plans. At this time, we will be spending more time in the States than Chad due to Bert’s health concerns. We will continue to be involved with the work at the hospital and also the satellite work in the village of Dougia. Our goals are to continue to support the work through fund raising and staff recruitment, securing supplies for the hospital, continuing to be part of the senior management team by attending meetings remotely, and visiting the field several times a year.

PRAISES:

➢  Family trip to Greece- great time of reconnection and making new memories.

➢  Safe travels to Chad and back.

➢  MBB Mousa is doing really well in Bible school in another country. He is so joyful to be able to serve the Lord!

➢  New team mates- Kristy, midwife, and Peter Harrison and their three children.

➢  New physical therapy department is now open. It is a much more conducive work place for the staff and patients who need this service. 

PRAYER POINTS:

➢  Bert’s health.

➢  Peace in the country of Chad – there are national meetings going on at this time with the various political parties trying to come to a consensus of how to proceed with the elections in October.

➢  One of our faithful hospital workers, François, passed away August 30th. Praise the Lord that François was a disciple of Jesus! Pray for his family as some of the family members are not believers. (Pictured below)

➢  One of the MBB saved at the hospital continues to be persecuted by his family and has lost all his belongings recently due to flooding.

➢  For the new believers to stand strong as they are persecuted because of their faith in Christ.

➢  This year the rains have been abundant (unlike last year) but that also means lots of flooding, houses falling down and people losing loved ones and possessions. Prices of everything have gone up that poverty and suffering keep rising in Chad.

➢  The hospital’s solar system continues to break down- we need funding for a more efficient system.

➢  Continue to pray that the Lord will open the doors for those that He wants to join our team.

➢  Safe delivery for our grandson and no complications for Brenna.

➢  Would you join us and praying Psalms 83:18 over the work at G2: “Let them know that you,whose name is the Lord- that you alone are the Most-High over all the earth.”We want to continue to thank each of you again for being part of our team, keeping us in your prayers and supporting us financially!

We would love to hear your praises and prayer requests!

In Him,
Bert and Debbie Oubre- I Corinthians 15: 58

February 2022 Update

Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from South Carolina once again! We returned from Chad, Africa, to the States the 4th of

February. In the short time since we have been back, we have traveled to Hendersonville, North Carolina, and Louisville, Kentucky to visit our children and their wives. It was great to spend time with them once again!

NEW DEPARTMENT AT G2: 

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Chad in females. It is common in young as well as older women.

Early breast cancer detection and caring for the women and men who have this terrible disease has always been a special interest of Bert’s.

The goal of the breast cancer project is to find tumors and treat them early. In the past few years, Bert has been diagnosing breast cancer more frequently.

He has trained two staff members to perform breast exams. Gisele and Salema examine the women and teach them how to do self-breast exams. This service is being done at the hospital and also in Douguia, a village 70 miles from G2.

If a breast mass is found, while examining a patient in Douguia, they are referred back to G2 Hospital for treatment.

Our prayer is that we will be able to continue to support these women and men who have been diagnosed with breast cancer both medically and spiritually.

Yes, men do have breast cancer. Bert performed breast cancer surgery on two men the week before we left.

In the near future, we hope to add an oncological service and hospice care for these precious people.

GOD’S MIRACULOUS HEALING: 

A three-year-old boy, whom we will call Abdoulaye, was admitted to the hospital with severe malnutrition and vomiting due to a huge congenital umbilical hernia.

The mass was larger than the size of a softball and had several pressure sores. Bert was called to assess this little boy who was in much pain.

On assessment, Bert found that he had an intestinal obstruction and the only intervention was surgery.

Upon opening his abdomen, Bert also found that the intestinal obstruction was due to a malrotation of the gut and liver.

To take care of this little one, Bert had to think outside to box to get the edematous intestines back into the small space without compromising his organs.

For a while it was touch and go!

Praise the Lord that after about a month, three surgeries, and having his mother constantly at his side, little Abdoulaye was able to go home.

Our prayer is that through this difficult time, that his mother, who was constantly at his side, will have seen Jesus through the compassion, care, and prayers of the staff who spent many hours caring for him.

He continues to be followed in our malnutrition clinic and is making great progress.

FUN FACTS: 

1. Many people ask us if we live in mud huts and have indoor plumbing?

We live in homes built with cement bricks and have indoor plumbing. In the villages, much of the population, unless they have a job, live in mud huts with tin roofs. Their water supply is mainly provided by wells and they have outhouses.

2. Another frequent question- do you see lions or much wild life?

Where we live, most animals have been hunted and killed. Further out in the bush, one might see antelopes, elephants, monkeys and other wild animals. Zakouma National Park located in southern Chad, is a place where you are more likely to see lions, elephants, buffalos, giraffes, leopard, black rhinos, baboons and all kinds of birds.

3. Are there snakes in Chad?

Yes, there are all kinds, but I have seen and killed more snakes in South Carolina than I have in Chad.

PRAISES:

  • No major health problems during our time in Chad. Bert’s motorized wheelchair was a great help to him.
  • The new surgeon’s house and early detection breast cancer center have been completed and are in use.
  • New believers coming to the Lord through the ministry of our teammates. 
  • We have a new surgeon that will be starting to work part-time in April.

PRAYER POINTS:

  • For the new believers to stand strong through persecution because of their faith in Christ.
  • Still looking for another surgeon.
  • Life in Chad has become more and more difficult for many people due to inflation and a poor rain fall.
  • We are still having problems with the hospital solar system.
  • Please join us in praying that the Lord will open the doors for those that He wants to join our team.
  • Rest during our time in the States and that the Lord will give usdiscernment for our future plans.
  • Would you join us and praying Psalms 83:18 over the work at G2: “Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord- that you alone are the Most-High over all the earth.”

We want to continue to thank each of you again for being part of our team, keeping us in your prayers and supporting us financially!

We would love to hear your praises and prayer requests!

In Him,
Bert and Debbie Oubre
Psalms 100

October 2021 Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Last time we wrote our newsletter, we were preparing to return to Chad. When we arrived in July, everything was green and lush, the temperature cool as we were in the midst of rainy season. In the last two weeks, the weather has changed!

Things are drying up, it seems like the blow dryer has been turned up on the extreme dry setting, humidity has gone down from 70-80 % to 40% and dropping.

But we are so grateful that we are still having cool nights which makes life so much easier!

PRAISES:

  • We didn’t have any real hiccups during our travel back to Chad- all ten pieces of luggage and motorized wheelchair arrived and we had no problem with customs. We are happy to be back!

Bert keeps on saying: “I am having the best time of my life!” His Parkinson can’t keep him down!

The new sidewalk that goes from our house to the hospital and his motorized wheelchair have truly been a blessing as he can go back and forth easily. It is amazing to see his stamina and courage to keep on going even when he feels so tired that he doesn’t think that he can put one foot in front of the other but an emergency arises and he arises to the challenge!

He has been doing surgeries especially thyroidectomies (the last one was five and a half hours long) and breast surgeries, seeing patients in clinic and taking call.

I continue to be busy with supervising construction., working closely with our nursing supervisors and guest house management.

  • Thanks to a generous gift from Samaritan Purse, housing for a surgeon was started mid-June and will be completed in about a month. We are so blessed to have Alphonse, our onsite buildings manager, guiding his team calmly and with strength.

Being a land-locked country, prices of goods in Chad, which have always been high but now with Covid, disruption of the availability of goods, prices have soared even more, and trying to keep within a pre-Covid budget can be difficult!

  • Building started on our early detection and treatment of breast cancer ministry at G2 thanks to a donation from a couple in the States.

Construction started in September and we are hoping to be opened early December. The word is out as we are seeing more and more patients coming to G2 looking for treatment for breast cancer.

At this point, we can only offer surgery but are hoping to be able to also offer chemotherapy in the future.

Another aspect of this program is to train nurses and other women how to detect breast masses so that early detection and treatment can be offered.

Our community health team will also be involved in this program.

  • God has also provided the funds through Guernsey Overseas Aid and Development Commission, UK, to for a physiotherapy building.

Our physical therapists, Mathhieu and Cria, are doing an excellent job seeing over 300 patients a month but more space and a better-ventilated area will be greatly appreciated by staff and patients.

  • God is continuing to bless and protect the team here at G2.

After evacuation due to political unrest, home assignment and disruption due to Covid, all fourteen adults and eleven kids are back!

  • We have had several visitors in the past month and more to come in the next 2 months.

Lawrence Jones, our chaplain with CHSC, was able to visit and encourage us.

Bill Wright, Power Quest, came to fix our broken x-ray unit and work on our solar system.

Daniel Fele, from Nigeria, came on a vision trip to look at starting an agricultural project to reach the Kotoko, an unreached people group in Dougia, a village about one and a half hours away from G2.

But the most exciting news is that new believers coming to Christ and being discipled and others open to hearing more about Jesus!

PRAYER POINTS:

  • A SURGEON is urgently needed!
  • We have not had much rain this rainy season which has been good in that our road in and out of the hospital has not be difficult to manage, but many of the crops have not had the needed water to grow properly.

The millet, rice, and corn crops, which are staples for the people of Chad, are going to be very poor this year.

People are already talking about a famine in the future and high prices.

We are already seeing more malnourished children at the hospital. Many people in Chad live hand to mouth!

  • Solar power is what is used on the compound. We have been plagued with problems with our solar batteries due to difficulty of finding good ones in Chad, and prices are exorbitant (each one cost about $400- need four to eight batteries/house). Another problem is that these batteries don’t hold up well in this extreme heat.
  • For wisdom and unity amongst our national and missionary teams as decisions have to be made daily.
  • To realize our goals of providing the best care to our patients under difficult circumstances so they will see Christ’s compassion in our work.
  • For the new believers that their faith might stay strong as they count the cost of living a new life in Christ and that those helping them grow in their faith might have much wisdom as their guide them in their walk.
  • Our children in the USA and Australia, personal stamina (as the weather is getting hotter, discouraging issues at the hospital and life), safety, health, and spiritual growth (our goal is to continue to grow spiritual to be a blessing others).
  • Could you join us and praying Psalms 83:18 over the work at G2: “Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord- that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.”

We want to continue to thank each of you again for being part of our team keeping us in your prayers and supporting us financially!

We would love to hear from you with praise and prayer requests!

In Him,
Bert and Debbie
Psalms 119:114

July 2021 Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from SC! 

Missionary life isn’t always the easiest as one gets settled in a place just to have to leave in a few months again. Last-minute visits with family and friends begin as we wind down our time in SC and are getting ready to return to Chad on July 16th. 

As we get ready to leave, the last-minute emails start arriving from the field asking if there is still room for needed supplies for the work. 

Next, frantic shopping starts: buying the various supplies and trying to remember what we thought we would want to bring back when returning (as we get older it is harder to remember 😊). Amazon becomes our best friend!

We have been sorting through the various medical supplies that we received, then packing, unpacking, repacking, trying to fill every nook and cranny but still making sure that no suitcase is over 50 pounds!

The last days can be very tiring but what keeps us going is knowing that we are returning to the work that God has called us to.

We look forward to seeing our team, both national and missionary, and the country and people that we have come to love.

The last few months in Chad have not been easy for the staff on the ground. 

On April 11, rebels entered Chad from Libya in a coup attempt.  

The president of Chad, Idriss Déby, passed away on April 20th after sustaining injuries on the war front.  His son, General Mohamat Idriss Déby, was named interim president with a transitional council of military officers.

Because of the insecurity in the country due to the rebel’s advance on N’Djamena and then the death of Déby, most of our missionaries had to be evacuated to their home countries.   

Kalbassou, our Cameroonian nurse/surgeon and General Director of the hospital, Maïmouna, his wife, and their children, and Paul and Celine Boni, French nurses serving with SIM France/Belgium, and their two children remained at G2 as their government did not require them to evacuate.  

There is still some tension in the country, but missionaries are returning to Chad at this time. 

Claudia Wahl, German OB/GYN serving with CFI, returned about three weeks ago. 

Claire Bedford, British pharmacist, and Brian and Jackie Chilvers, British nurses, returned July 4th. 

It is amazing to see how God has protected the hospital and staff during this turbulent time and we can praise Him for how He continues to bless the medical ministry!  

We have been asked many times about COVID in Chad.  There were almost 5,000 cases and 174 deaths according to the Chadian government, but we are not sure how accurate these numbers are because of the lack of testability and reporting outside the capital. 

Our hospital has to refer all cases of possible COVID to the government hospital.  The Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccines are now available in Chad.

We have met many people who have asked us for information about Chad so we thought we would share these facts about Chad with you. The source is Wikipedia.  

  • Landlocked and located in what is known as the “dead heart of Africa”.  This name is given due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate.
  • Is eight times smaller than the USA, the 5th largest country in Africa with a population of about 17,000,000.
  • Colonized by the French and became independent in 1960.
  • Ranked 187 out of 189 on the UN’s human development list.
  • Capital: N’Djamena.  G2 is about 20 minutes north of N’Djamena.
  • The country is separated into 3 regions: in the north desert (Sahara Desert), in the middle Sahel (where G2 is located) and Savannah in the south
  • Official languages are French and Arabic but has over 100 different languages and 200 ethnic groups.
  • Life expectancy- 54 years. Under-five years old mortality rate- 113.8/1000 live births as compared to 6.98/1000 live births in the USA.  (Source UNICEF).
  • Literacy rate is only 33 percent which is one of the lowest literacy rates in Sub-Sahara Africa.
  • Currency is the Central African Franc (CFA).  $1= 575 CFA. 
  • There are only 345 physicians in country with very few specialists, for example no oncologist in country.
  • Chad has religious freedom:  51.8% Islam, 44.1% Christian and 7.7% includes animism and 7.7% other.
  • Crude oil is the country’s primary source of export since 2003 but most of the population does not benefit from the oil export.  Much of the population live below the poverty line.

PRAISES:

  • For the safe travels and quality time with family and friends during our time in the States.
  • Interest in our early detection and treatment of breast cancer ministry.
  • God continuing to bless the team on the ground and protect them through difficult times.

PRAYER POINTS:

  • A SURGEON is urgently needed!
  • No problems at customs with the supplies we are returning with.
  • Our health and safety as we return to Chad.  Bert continues to do well and now has a motorized wheelchair that will help him get around the hospital.
  • That the Lord will show us exactly what projects we need to concentrate on during our time in Chad.
  • For wisdom and unity amongst our national and missionary teams as decisions have to be made daily.
  • To realize our goal of providing the best care to our patients under difficult circumstances so they will see Christ’s compassion in our work.

Thanks again for being part of our team keeping us in your prayers and supporting us financially!

In Him,

Bert and Debbie
Ephesians 6:10-20

March 2021—Musa Suffers Persecution For His New Faith; Plans Begin for New Women’s Center; and Oubre Family Update.

Dear Family and Friends,

“When morning gilds the skies,
our hearts awaking cry;
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In all our work and prayers,
we ask his loving care:
May Jesus Christ be praised!”

This song came to mind as I (Debbie) was watching the sunrise with its beautiful reddish, orange hue across the sky as we settle back in Lexington, South Carolina for a few months. That is our prayer that Jesus Christ be praised in all our work and our daily lives!

Our time at G2 (Guinebor 2) flew by and we have now been back for three weeks already. Time does not stand still, does it!

Our flights back were uneventful, and we were wonderfully welcomed home by our dear friend, Gail Ferguson. We have settled back into “our” home in Lexington.

Philippe and Brenna were able to come and surprise us the weekend we got home!

On the 19th of March, we were able to celebrate with Joël being accepted into the ENT residency program at The University of Louisville. He and Jenny will be living there for five years.

Heidi, Petter, and the children live in Australia and we have not been able to see them for a year and a half because of COVID.

The work at G2 continued at a fast pace. January is usually a very busy month for the hospital as the governance board meets yearly. This year was lighter as we did not have any guests due to Covid, and so we met on Zoom with people in six different countries. We were so grateful that the internet worked well during the meetings! New partnerships are developing which will allow the hospital to grow with more specialties.

Other exciting news is that some of our patients and others in the village have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior! PRAY as they are being discipled and that they will stand strong in the Lord even through difficult circumstances.

Meet Musa- (name changed to protect the individual). Musa had come to visit his sick sister at the hospital and while he was there, he picked up one of the New Testaments, in Arabic script, that are in the ward. As Musa read the New Testament, he was impressed by who Jesus was. Our Ethiopian chaplains visit the wards daily, talking and praying with patients and their caregivers.

It was during one of those visits that Musa started talking with them and asked to know more about what he was reading. During one of these talks, Musa accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior!

He could not wait to tell his family and friends about the joy and peace that he was experiencing. He encouraged them to accept Christ as well. That did not sit well with this Muslim family!

Musa was thrown in jail by his older brother, who was an officer at the prison, for over 4 months because of the family’s anger towards him because of his change of faith. Four months later, he was released from prison. While in prison, the chaplains and other Christians visited him, encouraging, and discipling him in his new faith.

After his release, he visited with Bert and told him that nothing could take away his newfound faith and joy! Unfortunately, Musa was again found by his family. They kidnapped, beat, and tried to kill him.

During a machete attack, Musa put his hands up to try to protect himself. The tendon in his left thumb was severed, leaving him with a useless thumb and a mangled hand.

Through it all, his faith in Christ remained strong and he was finally able to escape and return to our area. Musa returned to the home of a local pastor who had discipled him prior to being kidnapped.

All along, Bert had asked about news of Musa, but didn’t have any until this pastor friend called Bert and told him the good news that Musa was still alive, having escaped from his family, standing very strong in his faith even through persecution, and what had happened to his thumb.

Bert met with Musa and was so excited that he was continuing so strongly in the Lord! Musa repeatedly told Bert that he would never deny Christ no matter what!

Surgery was scheduled a few days before we left Chad. It was a success! He can extend his thumb again. We all praised the Lord!

PRAY for Musa as his faith continues to grow stronger and that he continues to not be ashamed of the gospel.

Another issue is that all his legal documents have been taken by his family and now he needs to get them replaced which isn’t always easy in Chad. Without them, he can’t legally travel, get a job, etc. PRAY for wisdom for our team as they help Musa navigate through this issue!

Plans for a new women’s center at G2 Hospital are being made so that the women of the area can have more accessibility to care especially when it comes to breast cancer. Breast cancer is often not detected at early stages in Chad because of the lack of knowledge. Patients tend to go the traditional medicine route first, they lack funds to pay for surgery, and some are too far from the
hospital.

Bert has a passion to teach others about the importance of breast checks. He would like to train a team of women to go into the communities and teach the locals how to check themselves.

Mel Spears and Jackie Chilvers will be restarting our community health later this year and will also help with this new program. The new center will have an outpatient component, a breast cancer detection room, and an office for our OB/GYN, Claudia Wahl.

The inpatient component will have a new maternity ward with six beds for labor patients, six delivery rooms, an operating room, an antenatal, and a post-partum ward. A women’s ward and two private rooms will also be part of the new center.

Our plans are to be in the States till June/July and then return to Chad for a season. We would love to catch up with you to share what the Lord is doing in Chad. Thanks again for your continued prayers and financial support!

In Him,
Bert and Debbie | Ephesians 6:10

We’re Taking Hope for Beating Breast Cancer to Women in Chad

Isaiah 43:19 says “I am about to do something new…”

As I reflected on this verse I thought it applied to me and my life and my service here in Chad.

Breast cancer is such a terrible thing. It’s almost always beyond cure once we find it here. We have had a few cases where we have found it through breast exams.

Mammography exists here but it’s not practical. Most people don’t know how to read them, and even I’m limited with what I know of it. It’s very expensive too.

We will have to depend on breast exams and teaching women to examine themselves. If we can train one person in each family, we could have that person do breast checks.

My plan is to train maybe four women at G2 and also four women at Dougia. They could do examinations for free or a small charge, and if they have a lump they could be referred to our center at Guinebor 2 and Dougia. 

The reason I would like to go to Dougia is there are two people groups that we are currently not reaching here. The Kotoko and Kanembu are those two groups.

Once I have those two teams trained, they will refer back to me, and I will go out to the village myself with the community health team.

The breast exam will only be part of our work in community health and will be part of women’s and children’s care.

We do not have funding for it currently but anyone who has a personal experience with breast cancer or lost a loved one will hopefully be compassionate to these African women whose only hope is this kind of service. 

I first developed a hatred for breast cancer in high school when  I would go to my high school sweetheart, Alayne Knight’s home and noticed there was something wrong with her mom. I found out that she was fighting breast cancer and had had lots of medical procedures.

This pain shaped my future wife’s childhood and youth because her mother was always suffering.

Alayne even had a premonition that she would die of the same disease. Her mother died at age 43 and Alayne did as well. We lived with her breast cancer for 6 years. She had a lump and two positive nodes of breast cancer. She refused chemotherapy and seemed to have beat it and after her mastectomy and reconstruction, she developed vicious metastasis in her liver.

Cancer took Alayne’s life, but not before she professed her faith in Jesus Christ. I was saved and my commitment to the Lord, and it was real.

Now I’m at the ending of my career,  I am 80, and I’ve developed Parkinsons.  I’ve been able to still do surgery even though I can’t stand long.

I didn’t expect to be able to come to Chad after all the health issues I’ve faced, but here I am.

This simple method of creating a breast exam system and community care that I am proposing has the potential to save the lives of many women! 

I feel like I’m a solider in a the war against breast cancer, and we need others to help in the fight!

Any interest in being involved can be sent to to oubrebert@gmail.com.

No financial donation is too small! 

The address is: 

CHSC
PO BOX 132 
Fruitvale, TX 75127  

Thank you for your support! 

Dr. Bert Oubre

Latest Update — October 2020

Dear Family and Partners,

Greetings from South Carolina!  Fall is in the air, the trees are changing color, and the weather has been great.  It is a crazy time for us as we have been busy making preparations for our departure on October 27th back to Chad. We have been making last-minute phone calls, packing suitcases, ordering medical supplies, having meetings, and visiting with friends and family.

Our time in the States has been quite different than other furloughs, but also a time of rest, reconnecting with family and friends by phone, and social distancing.  We have been able to spend more time with Philippe, Brenna, Joel, and Jenny than we have in years! It has been a great blessing during this difficult COVID 19 time.

The highlight of our time in the States was Joël and Jenny’s beautiful wedding on October 10th in Johnson City, Tennessee. Unfortunately, Heidi, Petter and the children were unable to attend due to travel restrictions. Hurricane DeIta and COVID 19 did not damper the mood and it was such a joyous occasion to see the two take their vows before God and man.   A night to remember full of joy and laughter!  Please pray for them as they embark on this new journey we call marriage!

We continue to praise the Lord that the number of COVID cases in Chad have remained relatively low and that all staff members at the hospital have remained COVID free!  We are looking forward to being with and working with the staff soon. Our amazing team at Guinebor 2 Hospital continues to keep busy. 

Let us tell you about a case, unfortunately not unusual!  “Moussa” (not his real name) is a thirteen years old boy who was brought to the hospital by his parents because he broke his right arm and left leg in a motorcycle accident. 

The family, being poor, thought it would be easier and cheaper to take Moussa to a traditional healer who bound up Moussa’s arm tightly. 

Unfortunately, the dressing was much too tight causing the arm to lose its blood supply, and the arm became gangrenous. 

The parents, who had originally asked the traditional healer to help them, decided it was making their son worse so they brought him to Guinebor 2 Hospital. They had noted that there was a bad smell coming from the arm. 

Kalbassou and the staff were able to set the child’s left leg without any problem, but were not so fortunate with his right arm because the arm had developed gangrene and a bone infection.  The only solution was to amputate it above his elbow. 

Because of generous gifts given to the hospital’s “Poor Fund” by friends around the world, the family was helped with their bill and were so grateful for Moussa’s care and financial help!  Pray for this family that they will be touched by Christ’s love because of the care they received at the hospital!

We are so looking forward to getting back to Chad and being with our staff and missionary friends again, but it will be hard to say goodbye to family and friends.

We want to thank each of you who has helped us with prayer, financial gifts and other ways of encouragement during our prolonged stay here in the States!  We had intended to be here for about 5 months post-Bert’s total knee, however, because of COVID, another unexpected major surgery, and various health-related complications, we have now been here for almost 9 months. We will be returning on October 27th.

We thank you for continuing to pray for:

1.  Bert’s health,

2. Our trip back to Chad (with lots of luggage),

3. That no problems would arise with customs in Chad because of all the supplies and equipment we are transporting for the hospital, and

4. The readaptation to the October/November heat and dust as the rains have ended the beginning of October. 

Prior to leaving the States, we are required to have a negative COVID test.  Upon arrival in Chad, we are required to quarantine the first week, repeat our COVID test on day six with a negative COVID result before we are released to go back to work at the hospital.

Thanks for your continued prayers and financial support.  Without you as “our team” we couldn’t continue our ministry for the Lord in Chad!

In Him!
Bert and Debbie Oubre
Psalms 9:1-2

October 2020 Update

Newsletter 3, October 2020:

Greetings from Guinebor 2 Hospital (G2)!

Although the covid 19 pandemic has, mercifully, been less severe here in Chad than in many other countries, it continues to make its presence felt, primarily through the heightened economic pressure it has placed upon an already very poor country.

Here at the hospital, the prices of many of our consumable products have continued to rise, and their availability to decline, while the capacity of our patients to pay for the goods and services we provide them has reduced.

Keeping our pharmacy well stocked is becoming more and more of a challenge and, now that the generous COVID 19 relief grants we received from BMS, CEF, SIM-France, and through individual supporters via CHSC, have all finished, we’re facing acute financial challenges.

To make matters worse, the hospital recently – and in our opinion unjustly – lost a court case which had been running against us through different levels of the legal and appeals system for almost two years. This resulted in a substantial fine and the demand to pay it within 8 days.

We managed to pay the first half to keep the bailiffs from the door (the plaintiff is well connected and had access to the power to seize assets if we refused to pay), and have negotiated some delay on paying the remainder, which God has provided for through a generous individual donation. However, even paying that first half was a big hit for the hospital which functions on very tight margins at the best of times, without the means to save for such eventualities, and in a country without viable insurance protection.

The hospital management team has been wrestling with the tri-fold challenges of rising prices for drugs and consumable supplies, reduced numbers of patients (partly seasonal during these heavy rains, partly due to COVID 19 and its socio-economic impacts), and the fact that most patients would not be able to afford it if we increased the prices we charge them.

To prevent continual stress around paying for pharmacy and lab bills, we want to establish a “revolving drugs fund” whereby all revenue from pharmacy sales and lab tests is set aside specifically to pay for laboratory reagents and pharmacy bills (these amount to more than $15,000 / €13,500 / £12,000 each month).

In order to do this, we first need a cash injection to do a major re-stock of both our lab and pharmacy – the latter most urgently, as we’re starting to run out of many drugs including those desperately needed for malaria.

We also have pressing material needs, such as replacing the 16 solar batteries in our main building (we just managed to replace the 8 in our wards in August), which are almost dead, meaning that the lights go out soon after 5pm in our 24/7 pharmacy, and the fridges in the lab and pharmacy lose power, unless we run the generator at night and burn more fuel.

We know that times are difficult for everyone right now, but if there is any way that you can help us to meet these urgent needs then that would really help us to keep treating all the patients who come here.

Our international church in N’Djamena has been studying the book of Acts recently, and we are reminded that when progress is being made for God’s kingdom it often meets with opposition.

We’ve been blessed to see much progress this year at G2, but we are now also feeling the pressure of that opposition, through the court case, the increased security risk, and our financial challenges. We need God’s grace to persevere through it so that our labors for him will be sustained and continue to bear fruit.

The Team at G2:

G2 hospital has always attracted a mixture of long and short-term mission workers, in addition to our core team of Chadian staff.

We have recently been blessed with a real answer to prayer in the form of an obstetrician/gynecologist. Dr. Claudia Wahl was already serving in Chad through the German mission agency Christliche Fachkräfte International (CFI) and will now be working with the maternity department at G2 until the end of 2021.

Maternal and infant mortality remains one of Chad’s many big health challenges and so we are very glad to welcome her skills and her contribution to the team here at G2. May God bless all her efforts!

After many months of school closures, it’s been a blessing that the two international schools re-opened in late September. As well as being good news for all the G2 mission children, this has also freed up their parents to work more at the hospital.

In particular, Bizunesh and Genet, the wives of our two Ethiopian pastors, are now ministering alongside their husbands here at the hospital, which is a real boost to sharing the Gospel here, especially for our female patients in this very gender-orientated culture.

We’ve also experienced the potential of our new football/soccer field for use in outreach ministry to local boys, although, unfortunately, the combination of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and recently heightened security situation has meant that developing this exciting new ministry is on hold again for now.

When working in Chad, it seems that steps forward can often be followed by steps backward, which can be discouraging, but we will keep persevering.

Lives Transformed at G2 Hospital:

After the intensely dry hot season, the rains that start in June are very welcome indeed. The air cools and the landscape rapidly transforms from a barren desert into lush green grassland.

It does not take long however before much of the area around the hospital becomes flooded. Not only does this see some roads become impassable and others much more challenging, but the cases of malaria increase relentlessly through July, August, and September.

This affects every age group, but we see all too readily that it is often the children who are more severely affected. Amina* is one such child. [*Name changed to protect her identity.]

Amina* & her mother, after successful treatment for severe malaria. [*Name changed to protect her identity.]

Amina is 10 years old and was brought into the hospital at the beginning of September, having been comatose already for 3 days.

Her malaria test was positive, and she was admitted for treatment in the pediatric ward with daily injections and IV fluids. The malaria parasite destroyed her red blood cells and caused her to become anemic. Thus, she needed blood transfusions. And as she was unable to eat, we also started feeding her through a tube into the stomach.

Each day we saw a small amount of progress until finally after 7 days of being in hospital, she opened her eyes for the first time.

All of the staff who had been caring for her were delighted to see the amazing recovery that she made. The photo above was taken another 4 days later. She was still a little weak, but able to walk, and she replied with a smile when we asked if she was ready to go home.

See & Learn more about G2 Hospital:

BMS World Mission made an excellent short video about the work here at G2 hospital. If you haven’t seen it yet, then please watch the “Operation Chad” film. Watch it here.

We also now have a G2 facebook page!

Prayer Requests & Opportunities to Serve:

We are still in urgent need of a Surgeon. If you have these skills and are willing to serve, whether long or short term, then please do contact us at Guinebor2@gmail.com

Please pray for our financial situation. By the grace of God, we have kept the doors open and staff paid through the last 6 months, but bills and needs continue to mount without respite.

Pray for journey mercies for our staff coming into work and the children who live here going out to school each day. Three months of heavy rain has severely deteriorated our un-surfaced/dirt access road and made getting in and out of the hospital an endurance test for people and vehicles alike. Our ambulance was stuck in mud for two hours recently with vital oxygen bottles and vaccines in it.

Continue to pray for strength for Kalbassou, our General Director, who has also been our only surgeon for the last seven months, working almost ceaselessly.

Pray also for the safe return from the USA of our founder and surgeon, Dr. Bert Oubre, and his wife Debbie, due back in Chad later this month.

Please pray God’s protection over this hospital and this country, not only through the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, but also against the increased threat from Boko Haram, who have become much more active in closely neighbouring Nigeria and Cameroon, and are also present here in central Chad.

Keep praying for the work of our two Ethiopian pastors/chaplains and their wives, and for all those they are reaching here with the Gospel.

G2 Hospital is very grateful for all the volunteers, prayers and financial support we receive from all over the world, including from AIM, DWAM, Encompass World Partners, Humedica, CFI, CHSC, SIM-France, CEF, BMS World Mission, and individual private donors and churches. We could not keep doing what we do without your ongoing support.

May the Lord continue to bless you in all that you do!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

July 2020 Guinebor 2 Hospital Update

Welcome to the second quarterly newsletter from Guinebor 2 Hospital (G2)!

The last few months have been challenging for everyone, everywhere, due to the global spread of the Corona Virus and the necessary restrictions and limitations imposed to counter it.

Chad was fortunate to have been less severely affected than many other countries in terms of confirmed case numbers, but we are yet to see clearly the full impact it’s had in terms of increased mortality and the suffering caused by the economic burden of business closures and transport restrictions.

Here in Chad the government designated a hospital in nearby Farcha as the official testing and treatment centre for Covid 19. Therefore our primary concern at G2 in relation to Covid 19 has been how to minimize the risk of it entering the hospital while continuing to ensure that everyone who comes to the hospital gets the care they need for all the other medical conditions which are so prevalent here.

This involved creating a new sheltered triage area outside the gate, banning visiting-hours, establishing hand-washing stations everywhere, re-purposing our carers village as an isolation area for suspect cases (of which we’ve had several, but thankfully not many), improving all our cleaning routines and external security, improving our power generation to keep oxygen concentrators running, and equipping our staff with protective equipment including masks, gowns, gloves etc and additional training.

These actions all incurred additional expense at a time when our normal hospital income took a real hit from the combined effects of the Covid 19 business and travel restrictions and the annual reduction in patient numbers during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

God is good, however, and ensured that the hospital got additional help from some of our partners, notably medical, cleaning and protective supplies donated from MSF, the Chadian Ministry of Health and SIM, and cash grants from BMS, CEF and some individual donors. We are so grateful for all those who gave generously, especially during this time of hardship for so many. Without this support we could not have kept functioning throughout April, May and June.

Patient numbers are now higher again, and the health needs here remain as great as ever, especially with the rains bringing the start of malaria season.

The Team at G2

G2 hospital has always attracted a mixture of long and short-term mission workers, in addition to our core team of Chadian staff. With the airport and borders closed for more than 4 months, we’ve had some volunteers who ended up serving here much longer than they had expected to!

With much patience and prayer, Dr Penny Hyde (UK) and Eric Tangen (CEF, USA) were eventually able to return home on special evacuation flights in April and May, and American Theatre/Operating Room Nurse, Tyler Fair will fly home on 2nd August, once the airport formally re-opens.

We thank them all for their service here, and for “going the extra mile” with us during these challenging times, both here and in their home countries.

For those of us who live here, the 6-month closure of all schools has also been a real challenge, as it has elsewhere. Home-schooling our children through the heat of Chad’s hot season and working at the hospital at the same time was not easy, but everyone helped each other.

The G2 children were the most excited of all when the rainy season finally started during June, bringing strong cooling winds, spectacular lightening storms, mud and green grass instead of sand, and some truly enormous puddles to be played in, jumped over, or driven through with much splashing!

The G2 soccer/football field we created in February on an expanse of unused sand is now complete and its fresh grass needs regular mowing.

Lives Transformed at G2 Hospital

Ahmat (His name is changed to protect his identity), a farmer from a village some 100km away from G2 hospital, was feeling troubled one night and, unable to sleep. He was walking in the dark and tripped and fell down a well. He broke his right leg so badly it sheared right through the femur and he also bruised his left knee. He spent a long and painful night in the well before help came in the morning to get him out and find transport to come to G2 hospital.

When our Hospital Director Kalbassou Doubassou saw his leg X-ray he was shocked. This would be a difficult operation with a break that severe. He prayed to God for wisdom and then worked hard with the surgical team on Ahmat’s leg.

With considerable skill and two hours of surgery, he was able to fix the broken femur with three screws. The leg is now healing in plaster and Ahmat has been discharged to return back to his farm, his wife, and 4 children, all of whom are dependent upon him.

Had his leg remained broken, or had he gone to a local witch-doctor whose remedies would probably have resulted in the eventual need for amputation, Ahmat’s life would have been ruined, and his family impoverished.

Thankfully, he was able to come to G2 hospital, which has a good reputation for surgery. Although Ahmat will need to keep his leg in plaster to strengthen for another two or three months, at least now he’s home in time for planting season, and he can supervise his children planting the new crop of millet and peanuts, using wooden crutches made for him by our physiotherapist, Matthieu.

After planting season he will return for removal of the plaster, a post-surgical check-up, and some physiotherapy. Ahmat said he is happy with the treatment he had here and thanked Kalbassou for saving his leg.

New Equipment & Services:

We are very grateful for a private donation to purchase an Immuno Analyser for our laboratory, enabling us to perform many new diagnostic tests, including PSA and TSH (prostate & thyroid tests) for the first time, for money raised by Staunton Alliance Church, which paid for our new mobile surgical lamp, and to the Dawn Laurel Foundation which donated money for a new delivery table, Operating table, and ceiling-mounted Operating lamp.

Our new mobile surgical lamp provides better light for surgery.

We also now have a G2 facebook page! You can find us at Hopital Guinebor 2

Prayer Requests & Opportunities to Serve

We are still in urgent need of a Surgeon.

If you have these skills and are willing to serve, whether long or short term, then please do contact us at Guinebor2@gmail.com

Please pray for our founder and surgeon Dr Bert Oubre, who is in the USA after recovering from knee surgery. Pray that he and Debbie will be healthy and able to return to Chad soon.

Please pray for Kalbassou, our General Director and currently our only Surgeon. May God give him energy, strength and wisdom for all the work he does, especially while Bert and Debbie are still away.

Please pray God’s protection over this hospital and this country as we emerge from the restrictions of Coronavirus, and also as heavy rains bring the start of malaria season and occasional flooding and storm damage.

Pray that we will be able to treat patients with the many diseases and conditions which shorten lives and cause so much suffering here in Chad.

Please keep praying for the work of our two Ethiopian Pastors/Chaplains and for all those they are reaching with the Gospel.

G2 Hospital is very grateful for all the volunteers, prayers, and financial support we receive from all over the world, including from AIM, DWAM, Humedica, CHSC, SIM-France, the Cutting Edge Foundation (CEF), and BMS World Mission.

We are also proud to announce a new partnership with the Neuenbürg hospital for anaesthesia training, funded by GIZ (German international development agency)

May the Lord continue to bless you in all that you do.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

July 2020 Update

Joel, Jenny, Debbie, Bert, Philippe, and Brenna

Dear Family and Partners,

Wow! What a year this has been so far! So many things happening around the world starting with fires and floods in Australia, China, Pakistan, volcanoes erupting, locust invasions, protests, riots, and of course the Coronavirus that has closed many countries to travel, caused economic disasters, loss of lives, anger, despair, loss of hope, isolation, increase in suicides, time of reflection, new ways of meeting and greeting friends.

There are too many negative consequences due to COVID 19 that we could talk about but… we know who holds this world and who holds our hands through all these various trials!

Our time in the States did not turn out how we had planned it either.

Bert was to have a total knee surgery in February, then plans for physical therapy for 2-3 months, celebrating with my Mom’s 90th birthday June 12th (which was canceled because my mother fell and broke her hip on the 9th of June), traveling to visit our partners and family updating them about our work, getting ready to go back to Chad the end of June.

Those were our plans, but things didn’t go as planned.

Bert had his total knee on February 17th, but then on April 23rd, Bert started to feel nauseated, with abdominal distention. So being a surgeon, he started assessing his abdomen and decided that we needed to go to urgent care for a possible bowel obstruction.

He had surgery the next day for a small bowel obstruction, was hospitalized for twelve days without visitors post-op. It was a difficult time for all and the recovery has been long and hard for Bert. He is slowly gaining back his strength.

At this time, Chad’s borders are still closed to incoming planes so we are still seeking the Lord’s direction for when we will be going back.

One of our fears was that Chad would have many cases of COVID, but the Lord has protected that country and there are less than 1000 cases. But this has affected the hospital’s income (decrease by 30%) as fewer patients came to the hospital because the bus taxis were not able to travel as usual making them have to use taxis that are too expensive for most of the population.

But God intervened and the hospital received several donations to help pay the staff salaries, buy supplies and we are glad to say that no staff had to be furloughed during this time. No staff member was diagnosed with COVID for which we praise the Lord!

Even in the midst of what we consider a disaster, God has used the hospital to take care of those who need medical help.

Meet Fatime

When Fatime was 1 yr old, she picked up a hot piece of coal and burned her hand.

Unfortunately, her parents took her to a traditional healer and she did not get the care that she needed. She arrived at the hospital a few weeks before we left with her hand totally deformed with all fingers contracted down like a boxing glove—a totally useless hand.

Bert talked to her parents and it was decided that he would do surgery on her little hand to release the contractures and try to free up her fingers to make her hand more useful. They were also told that it would take more surgeries and physical therapy. Fatime did well through the first surgery.

When we left, the hand was healing well, but she needed more skin grafts. The OR team, led by Kalbassou and Tyler, continued the care for this beautiful little girl. We are told that she is coming along well and she is healing. She will still need more specialized surgery when Bert gets back. We pray that this family will see the love that was shown to them and will want to know more about the true Messiah.

Meet Jenny

Other exciting news for our family, our youngest son, Joel finished LSU Medical School (no graduation ceremony because of COVID), is doing his preliminary year of a surgical residency in Johnson City, Tennessee, and was engaged on May 31st to Jenny Land, a travel nurse.

Joel and Jenny are getting married on October 10, 2020.

Thanks for your continued prayers and financial support. Without you as “our team” we couldn’t continue our ministry for the Lord in Chad!

In Him,

Bert and Debbie Oubre

Lamentations 3:22-24