Saturday Evening Post

Had a lovely night with the Schroth family at our home in Ndu. It's been a long week but a good one in many ways. Ellie was recruiting painters for the child care center so I went and painted benches. Drew poured some steps today - I'm hoping to post his progress with pictures one of these days. One thing I have noticed is how little garbage our family generates here in Cameroon. At home it would not be uncommon for us to have at least one large kitchen garbage bag a day plus a bin of recycled items. Since we have been in this house, we have had one small target size bag for 3 - 4 days. We have eaten plenty of food but very little is packaged. We also keep a slop bucket for Martha's pig. Our refrigerator is quite small so we try not to have too many leftovers. Drew has brought leftovers to the men he works with just so we don't have to deal with them. This works well especially when it's a meal we maybe didn't care for too much because it was too authentic Cameroonian, which means the other workers love it. Today I met our new cook Irene - she is lovely and very cheerful. The house we are living in used to be her uncle's house so she is familiar with the kitchen. Clovis was here today putting in shelves for me outside our bathroom, he'll be back on Monday to put up shelves in the kitchen. He is a student here at CBTS and can use the extra income. It's starting to feel like a home. Tonight we had 4 extra kids and their parents - loved having all the action in here. We thrive around people and I'm so thankful we can use this home to entertain and fellowship with others here in Ndu.

More Pictures

Marie coming home from the market area.

pictures

I know everyone wants to see pictures but it takes forever to upload them. I will try to upload a few every other day or so... in no particular order.

The girls heading out on their way to Bamenda.

Martha and Ancela: 2 amazing cooks.

Schroth family: Ben, Jacob, Andrew, Abby and Andrea (her husband Dan was teaching a class)

Abby and friends

The main entrance into CBTS. The hope is that Drew will put some concrete in at the entrance.

Unmet Expectations

Yesterday was a long day and I feel into bed exhausted. Today will be more of the same: there are more linens to wash and I need to find some order to my new home. I'm trying not to be discouraged but I'm not really succeeding. This is our 4th place to stay since leaving our house in MN 2 weeks ago - each place has gotten progressively worse.

I talked to Ancela this morning (she was one of our cooks last week), she told me that her truck was stolen. Her kids use this truck to get water and now they have to carry it on their heads. The pump that brings water to their home is turned on only once a week - at which time they fill every container they have to use throughout the week. It did put my problems in perspective though after talking with her. This home (and the teams home) has a couple of large barrels that fill up when the pump is one, so we have never had to go without water (yet). We have water whenever we turn on the sinks but we also have leaks whenever we turn on the sinks. Drew plans to look at the problem tonight but it is hard to find parts - you can't just run to Home Depot. The person who "fixed" the leaks before used a plastic bag and some scotch tape... now wonder it didn't work. There is a little Hardware shack that I have bought a number of items from, so we will try there first.

My friend Andrea (here with her family from Edmonton, Alberta in Canada for 1 month)and I were discussing this problem with our expectations this morning. It doesn't bother me much when the electricity goes off - we expect it to. At home, I would never put up with my electricity going off on a daily basis. Even here, I have an expectation (although unmet), that my sinks should drain without leaking and my toilet should flush, yet the people living right next to me do not have that same expectation. For me, I should lower those expectations if I am to find any joy in this journey.

Some things that I am struggling with in this new home are: the ants, cock roaches, lack of storage space, the leaky EVERYTHING, the showers and toilets... but I know that with a little (or a lot) of work we can make this place feel like home. We can get some shelves built and fix the leaks to bless whoever moves in after us. Ellie already has made an effort to make her room work for her - she is busy taping verses up all over her walls. My favorite one is Matthew 6:33
"...and He will give you ALL you need from day to day if you live for HIM and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern."

Sounds good - I just need to adjust my thinking on what a NEED is.

Welcome Home

Here is a little "friend" that we found in our new home. I thought you would like this Kaley.

Our New Home

It was a long day today. The house we moved from isn't far but there is a hill to climb to get to this one. I get winded climbing the hill but I've had a good workout today with all the trips taken to bring stuff to our place... and sometimes bring stuff back down to the old place. I was washing linens and towels all day at the old place, preparing for the 4 teachers that are coming in a few weeks. I took one last "good" shower before moving up to our new home. All of those who have been living here know that that is actually kind of funny since the showers were less than ideal. We ate some of our left overs from the team at the old house and washed most of the kitchen down. I know I mentioned that it takes longer to do everything but I will try to explain what that looks like. The water needs to be heated on the stove for dish washing and rinsing. Although, I was so thankful today that our house had it's own tank and it still had plenty of water. The pump was not working on the water tank that the campus uses and all day long there were people (mostly children), walking by our house on the way to the stream to get water. They carry it on their heads and it's quite a long walk with such a load. I don't know how we will be affected by this in our new home, it has a tank but not sure how much water is in it. Tomorrow I will try to put our new home in order but for now all the beds are made and ready for us. I will sleep good tonight!

The Team is on their way to Bamenda

The team (Peg, Kaley, Alyssa and Kym) headed out at 9am this morning. Pray for safety on the road and that Peg can navigate around all the pot holes. I had a brief cry with Kym this morning but then felt fine. I will miss the life and laughter they each brought to our house but I'm looking forward to the next stage of this trip. It helped when Deb came out to wish them a safe journey and then turned to me and said "Not all your friends are leaving." So true, I feel a connection with these dear Saints that are serving up here in Ndu with their families full time. Just think of all the good-byes they must endure with this calling in their life.

Feeling encouraged and excited about the days ahead!
Psalm 16:7-9
"I will bless the Lord who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is filled with joy,
and my mouth shouts His praises!
My body rests in safety."

I need to run and get some pictures of Drew - he's actually "pouring" steps today. Then I need to get back to finishing my wash, hanging everything out to dry and carrying the rest of our things up the hill.... did I mention that everything takes longer here?

Last Day With Our Team

We just had a sweet time with all of us together, reminiscing about our time here up in Ndu. We took turns telling a high and a low from our time and giving words of encouragement. It's always fun to see how God brings people together on mission trips. You spend day in and day out with people who you aren't normally used to being around, and in our case people have to spend time with my whole family. I feel our team was very united and that is a result of many prayers. I was in tears earlier today as I thought of what a blessing it has been to be with these other women and how much I will miss them.

Tomorrow we will move out of this home and into our little yellow house. It will be a much quieter evening without the laughter of having 9 people in one house going a little loopy. This has been such a nice place to stay, but during supper I went into the kitchen and a mouse ran across my slipper. I was very calm about it because it happened so fast I think I was in shock. So now I'm thankful to be moving to a kitchen with a cock roach and away from my kitchen with a mouse. I will miss all the cupboard space.

Pray for our team as they travel that rough road back to Bamenda and then on to Yaounde' the following day. Pray for us also as we transition into serving for the next 2 months without the support of a team. We have met the other missionaries and they are so supportive in helping me to understand all the ways of Cameroon.

Today our friends the Schroth family bought a chicken and had it slaughtered. Levi and Kyle were so excited to watch the action, they even took my camera to record it. I arrived shortly after the chickens neck was sliced and Levi was close to tears. He has a very tender heart and it was just too much for him. I think he also felt some empathy since it wasn't that long ago that his own neck had been sliced open and it brought back bad memories. Even tonight when we were doing our "High and Low" game he couldn't mention the chicken experience.

I'm so thankful for this experience, even if some of my blogs may sound like I am complaining. In truth, I have many emotions that go through me as I am experiencing life in Ndu, my blog is just my place to process the good and the bad. I will not sugar coat it and make you think it is "easy" - I think everything is harder here. I would love a hot shower, but for now I am thankful for my Norwex cloths. You get so dirty here even if you try to stay clean. Be thankful for the cold snow in MN... that is if you have any yet.

Pictures of life in Ndu

Some of the cute kids in the nursery: Cindy on the far left,Victory, God Grace in the middle, Holly, Emmanuel

Ellie holding baby Emmanuel

Drew and the guys working.  Notice the dust all over the walls behind them.


Marie and Ellie at a little shop across from the Seminary where we are working and living.  Notice the bush taxi in the background.

I would love to show more pictures but it takes forever to upload.

January 16, 2012

January 16, 2012

Life is different in Cameroon, it’s hard to even guess how the day will go.  As Alyssa would say “You can’t make this stuff up”…. Oh wait, she is usually talking about something my family is doing when she says that.

 Kym has been working in the library, she has become friends with one of the office girls there and often will say “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”  She passed by her again today and threw out her cheery greeting as usual “If you need anything, just let me know.”  Later the office girl entered the room where Kym was working and shut the door.  “You keep telling me that if I need anything to ask you…well, I need a watch and a computer.”  Thankfully, Kym was quick on her feet and said she will check around for her.

Drew spent the day chipping the dirt off stones that will be used to rebuild the wall…no power washer here.  He sat on a rock with his hammer and wire brush for 7 hours – time consuming but necessary.  He learned to say “Sore Butt” in Limbum. 

Alyssa and I had to head up to the stores to find a voltage regulator for my new refrigerator.  We arrived at a hardware looking store and found out there are choices.  After buying a few odds and ends (sunglasses and a plastic bin), we had to walk back to the house and look at the frig to see what size regulator it needed.  Later we walked again to the store (lots of walking around here), and they didn’t have the size I needed so I had to get the next size up.  We then stopped at a little bar to see if they had any “Ginger pop” (which is good for upset tummys).  I have been looking for the Ginger Pop for days – one bar I stopped in had a young (maybe 10 year old) boy serving up glasses of Vodka.  Apparently there is no minimum age to work in a bar here.  The bar we stopped in did not have “Ginger” but the waitress ran up to another store to see if they had if for us… but no “It is finished.”  That seemed to be the reply from everywhere we checked.  We settled for bottles of Fanta (all of 50 cents each) and will return the glass bottles sometime tomorrow.  Once we were refreshed, we headed to my house to plug in the refrigerator – which did no good since the electricity was out again. 

Kaley, Ellie and Alyssa spent time in the Child Care Center again today.  I went down to visit after getting a lesson from Kym on how to log library books.  One child fell asleep and they grabbed her by one arm and threw her into the crib…not very gentle.  One of the missionaries had given us a bag of toys that her church had donated, I brought the toys down to the kids and they had so much fun.  The teachers didn’t even know what to do with the Duplo Legos that were given so I gave a lesson on building with legos.  I came back later and someone had built a cross out of them and put it in the window.  There really is very little structure in the nursery, the kids play until they get fed or fall over and get thrown in a crib.  I hope that we can give them some ideas of fun things to do with the kids, but in truth, I’m not sure they want any ideas.

We are having a beautiful night warming up together by the fire.  The Pastor just stopped by to pray for us and leave a gift of bread and soda.  He gave an enthusiastic and encouraging prayer.  As he was leaving, and would be driving his motorcycle in the dark, I said “Thank you for coming, Don’t hit a goat”….what is wrong with me?

African Church

We went to an African church this morning.  There are several within walking distance of us but we chose this one because they gave the sermon in English (sort of) and their services are only 2 - 3 hours long (which is short in this area of the World).   We joined some other English speaking white people and the 20 of us looked a bit like a parade heading down the path to church.  The walk was very dusty and I ended up slipping on a steep part of the path.  The dust is a lot like baking cocoa in its consistency so it puffs up with each step you take, blowing back on anyone walking behind you.   We left our house at 9am knowing the service was scheduled to begin at 9am.  We figured that we would arrive just in time after our 10 minute walk there, however we arrived just after Sunday School started (which usually starts at 8am).  The church building is much like a big pole barn with simple hard wooden boards with backs for pews.  There are 4 - 5 different adult classes going on at one time in this big open room making it very difficult to concentrate.  We chose the class lead by the Pastor because it was partly in English.  The gist of the class was that there is more to our salvation then having faith in Jesus, it needs to show itself in our actions.  Before we knew it the church was filling up and church was beginning.   The Pastor spoke in English, Pidgeon and Limbum, making it hard to follow but still interesting.  He spoke on having God as our friend, using the account of Abraham from the Bible.  He was very thorough about the responsibility we have to call God our friend.  The concept of this is different in this culture because people are not generally friends with people who are higher or lower than them in their "class".  Obviously no one is in the same class as God and yet He says we can be His friend.    The music was fun - they sing out the verses first and then the congregation sings back.  At the end everyone dances, walks to the front to give their offering and then farmers bring their crops to the front as their gifts and offerings.  The service ends as they auction off the food from the front of the church.   Cool experience!

The rest of our day was very relaxing.  We got to go to the Rundus family's house for fresh roasted coffee.  There are 3 other missionary families that work at the Seminary full time from America- one of them is from Minneapolis (Bethleham Baptist - North Campus).  There is also a family from Canada with boys my sons ages who are here until the end of February.  It was fun to meet all of them and see how we can encourage them.  Our hope is to come alongside them in whatever way God shows us.

Pray for our team as people are wrestling through the emotions of not being able to do enough for all the needs that are here.

Ndu Tea

Today we took a tour of the Ndu Tea Estate.  The fields of tea go for miles and are so beautiful.  The location near Ndu was chosen as a perfect place to grow tea because of the climate.  The first stop on our tour was a weather station:  the coolest thing was a ball of glass that marked the length of the sun for each day.  It had a strip of paper under the ball and as the sun hit the glass it burned a line into the paper, each night this strip of paper is collected.  Our second stop was the fields where the workers gather the tea and bring it to the road where it is picked up by a truck.  From there the tea travels down the road to the factory.  We were given a very thorough tour by a man in a shiny disco shirt.  The building smelled great too.  There are about 5 conveyer belts and heaters – each one different names but all actually the same tea.  The end of the road was the tea tasting office where we had a sample of the wonderful tea of Ndu.  Our guide’s name was Emmanual and he did a great job.  I had promised my artist friend Elisabeth Preble that I would bring one on her Doily Ninjas to Africa with me.  I chose to leave one at the tea plantation because I know that Elisabeth loves tea and it seemed like a good fit.

Workers in the field harvesting the tea leaves.

Ndu Tea

Today we took a tour of the Ndu Tea Estate.  The fields of tea go for miles and are so beautiful.  The location near Ndu was chosen as a perfect place to grow tea because of the climate.  The first stop on our tour was a weather station:  the coolest thing was a ball of glass that marked the length of the sun for each day.  It had a strip of paper under the ball and as the sun hit the glass it burned a line into the paper, each night this strip of paper is collected.  Our second stop was the fields where the workers gather the tea and bring it to the road where it is picked up by a truck.  From there the tea travels down the road to the factory.  We were given a very thorough tour by a man in a shiny disco shirt.  The building smelled great too.  There are about 5 conveyer belts and heaters – each one different names but all actually the same tea.  The end of the road was the tea tasting office where we had a sample of the wonderful tea of Ndu.  Our guide’s name was Emmanual and he did a great job.  I had promised my artist friend Elisabeth Preble that I would bring one on her Doily Ninjas to Africa with me.  I chose to leave one at the tea plantation because I know that Elisabeth loves tea and it seemed like a good fit.

Workers in the field harvesting the tea leaves.