The Weltreisebär goes on a mission

For the first trip of 2026, the Weltreisebär headed off to Chad. The way it came about was, once again, rather curious: since the Weltreisebär travels with Rainer from Solingen (a missionary), it stands to reason that God had a hand in this somehow.

When I met Tim at the New Year's camp „jesuslive“ (Instagram: @jesuslive.co), he told me about his father's work and that he'd soon be travelling to Chad. Naturally, my ears pricked up and I asked straight away whether the Weltreisebär could come along.

Time was a bit tight between returning from Saudi Arabia (8th January) and flying out to N'Djamena (13th January). There was a weekend in between, but thanks to my brother Florian, the parcel with the bear inside arrived punctually in Solingen on 12th January.

„In Chad you don't need to go looking for adventure, it finds you!“

The country by Lake Chad (which has sadly now almost completely dried up) is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 190th out of 193 on the Human Development Index. The majority of people are Muslim (around 60%), with 35% Christian. These figures alone show that Chad is something of a tug-of-war between the two religions. While Islam also spreads its influence politically, the Christian mission organisation „Liebe in Aktion“ (www.liebeinaktion.de) focuses mainly on social and humanitarian work. It helps people gain access to education and employment, and among other things protects young women from genital mutilation: around 50% of all women in Chad undergo this procedure, and 1 in 4 dies as a result. That means roughly 1 in 8 girls in Chad dies from this practice – something that would be entirely avoidable.

The purpose of Rainer's trip (he was accompanied by Robyn, also from Germany) was to help a missionary couple based there, Cindy and Markus, with their move. Until recently they lived right in the south of the country, but are now relocating to the capital and metropolis N'Djamena, since the level of development there is far higher, meaning they can reach considerably more (young) people from the centre of the country.

It was in the south of the country that the Weltreisebär photo was taken: at the „centre of Africa“. Until recently, the monument marking this spot didn't even exist.

Rainer and Robyn at the centre of Africa near the town of Sarh

A very sad fact: not far from this very spot, hundreds of Christians were murdered a hundred years ago. Still, without these people, the Christian faith likely wouldn't have become so widespread in the country.

The Weltreisebär enjoyed top-notch security throughout the whole trip: someone would have had to kidnap Rainer himself to lay a paw on the Weltreisebär.

At Cindy and Markus's house, the bear stayed with the stuffed-animal family belonging to their daughters Amy and Elaine. The two girls would certainly have loved to keep the bear, but Rainer explained: „I'm afraid I have to take him with me again, because he's the Weltreisebär who travels around the world. He's not finished yet.“ The two girls understood.

Markus, Cindy, Robyn and Rainer (from right to left) with Elaine and Amy

On the return flight, the plane even made a stopover in Niamey (Niger), giving us yet another new country. Even though it was only a brief stopover, it still counts according to the internal Weltreisebär rules for a new country ("The bear must be, or have been, on the territory of the state").

If you fancy it, do take a look at the website of „Liebe in Aktion“: https://liebeinaktion.org/tschad/

Thanks again to Rainer from Solingen for letting the bear travel with you!

As a thank you, €20 will be donated to Chad. According to Rainer, (almost) all of it actually reaches those in need!

At the end of February, the bear is off on his next trip – a very, very big one.

Stay tuned.

Yours, Tobias