A Bridge for the Gospel: Community Development Ministry in Chad

Floodwaters rose. Lives were lost. Livelihoods were swept away. This was the heartbreaking reality for villagers and nomads in one region in Chad. Until the Lord opened up an opportunity for TEAM missionaries to take on a community development ministry project: working alongside locals to build a bridge that brought safety, connection and hope to the region!

“You have to help us. This can’t keep happening.”

These were the words of a local merchant in Chad in 2019. He had just pulled the body of a woman and her child from a flooded river.

Nomads and their herds would cross over the seasonal river near Am Timan in Chad during the dry season, but once the rains began, the crossing became treacherous. Tragedy struck along the seasonal river when torrential rains killed over thirty nomads and 1,900 cattle.

This heartbreaking tragedy struck deep in the hearts of TEAM workers focused on community development ministry in Chad. They knew that they needed to do something to help.

TEAM workers didn’t just come in with their own plan. They listened, learned, and walked with locals to help create a plan that would work in that context.

TEAM has been working in Chad for nearly 60 years, and they have spent these years intentionally building relationships with local leaders, villagers, and workers. After the horrific flooding of 2019, TEAM worked alongside these people to come up with plans for a durable bridge, a way to prevent further tragedy from occurring. TEAM workers didn’t just come in with their own plan. They listened, learned, and walked with locals to help create a plan that would work in that context.

Faithful TEAM donors gave $500,000 for this community development ministry project in Chad, coming alongside the Chadian government to fund this vital work. The President of Chad himself even gave a $40,000 gift! Once funding was coming in, the job began with workers surveying the land and gaining needed permissions from the local government. Things were going according to schedule.

But then, due to circumstances beyond TEAM’s control, the project ground to a complete halt for a season.

Last summer, TEAM met with Chadian government officials. The outcome of the meeting was that permission was granted for the work on the bridge to finally move forward! The government formally executed the official documents on June 19, 2025. However, the plan was modified to include three smaller bridges as well as high-ground road development.

This modified bridge project was an incredible solution to the problem. But TEAM didn’t come up with this plan alone. A cornerstone of community development ministry is partnership. Global workers listened to and worked with local leaders and villagers to come up with this solution. These bridges are a strategic lifeline for the community. They increase local trade, connect villages, and offer a long-lasting means of safe transportation.

After the documents were signed last summer, construction began quickly. A Chadian engineer, a believer, monitored the entire process. The largest bridge is at Khach-khacha. The second is at Amchoka, and the third is at Na’ala. The government officials who monitored the progress of the project shared excitement over the quality and standards of the work that went into the bridges.

After months of hard work, the project was completed. All three bridges were built.

On April 29, 2026, villagers, tribal leaders, and government officials gathered to celebrate the opening of these bridges. What was once a dangerous passage is now a safe crossing, thanks to TEAM and all those who gave, prayed, and worked together to make this community development ministry project possible.

However, the most important part of this project is not the infrastructure aspect of it, critical as that is. The most important part of this project is that the love of Jesus has been on display during the whole process.

The most important part of this project is that the love of Jesus has been on display during the whole process.

The Muslim-majority community knows that this project has been backed by the church. They know that it is followers of Jesus who kept the funds safe and accounted for during the long project delay. They know that it is Christians who have cared enough to spend long hours and significant funds to make sure that these bridges were built, all to meet a very real need in the area.

Now these bridges stand tall, a testimony to how the Lord is working through His people in Chad. When the seasonal rains come, the people of this region will be safe. And all because followers of Jesus were given an incredible opportunity to love their neighbor in a practical, lifegiving, way.

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