Follow-up to Cameroon

I had forgotten about this blog, but signed on so I could comment on a friends blog. I was shocked to see how many people have looked at these blogs in the past year. Last month over 200 people looked at my old blog - from all over the world! When I first started writing, my purpose was to keep my friends and family informed about our trip to Cameroon and fill in all the fun details of living there. I loved watching the stats and getting feedback from my friends, especially during some of the lonelier days. It seems very amusing to me that anyone else would find any of this interesting.

Since we have returned home, life has gone on at the same crazy speed as ever. One difference that shows me that we will never be the same from our experience we shared as a family- a day does not go by that one of us does not reference a memory from Africa. I love that we will always have these amazing memories. We are constantly comparing our days in Minnesota to what they were like in Cameroon. We all share the longing we have to see our friends that will always have a place in our hearts. Another change that I see is that our prayer life is a little richer - oh how I would love to have the depth of prayer that some of our African friends have. The missionaries that we have met along the way (especially those who were our neighbors), are prayed for as if they were family. I have so much respect and admiration for the missionaries that are working side by side with our brothers and sisters in Cameroon bringing God's Word to the ends of Cameroon (and beyond). I honestly cannot think of any other 3 month time of my life that had a greater impact on me or my family. My faith deepened, my eyes were opened to what the "true" missionaries do on a day to day basis and all that they give up for the Kingdom of God. I am stirred to be discontent with who I am and settling for living a "comfortable" life. I'm constantly praying and asking God what he wants to do through my life here in Minnesota. Asking and waiting for clear answers but seeing my family as my main ministry. I see my job of discipling my kids as an even greater calling. My children have been changed in ways I never could have imagined - I am excited to see all that will mean as they spread their wings and explore the path that God will take them on as young adults.

It has been over a year since our whole family returned from our great adventure.  This past January (exactly one year from the date we went last year) - Kyle and Drew returned to Cameroon to work on a concrete project in Bamenda.  This was not in our plan but when the opportunity came they just could not refuse.    The time they spent there was quite different than our time in Ndu and there were not the daily blog of all that they did.  Two other men from our church joined them for 2 of the weeks that they were there.  Kyle and Drew added a 3rd week and headed up to see our friends in Ndu again.  It was encouraging for them to connect again with many of the people that had imprinted themselves on our lives.  They also made new friends in Bamenda.  Drew told me of a family that had them over a few times for pizza and fellowship - missionaries from the states who have been in Cameroon for 20 years or so.  He said I would love meeting the wife - and that we would certainly be good friends.  Sadly, Karen Jackson died recently  - leaving her husband and daughters (and the whole Jackson Village) mourning their loss.  Even though I had never met her, I found myself mourning with them and looking forward to that day when I shall meet her.  Her death has challenged me.   I read of the joy that all those who knew of her talk about, of the dedication she had towards her family and her extended "village", of her deep love for her Savior and how that love drove her to show Christ to those around her.  She lived her life to the fullest and there will be a large whole left in this world.   She was only a few years older than I - and I am reminded that life is short.  Her life and their blog have challenged me to want to be a brighter light and to take more risks as I live a life fully sold out for our Lord Jesus.  As I see all the people from all over the world searching for something new to read.... I hope that they will come across one of my blogs and find encouragement and hope.

My family often talks of how we long to return to Cameroon... but actually, I believe we are longing for our home in Heaven.  Cameroon showed us a glimpse of the fellowship we can share with believers from all areas of the world.... Heaven will be that and so much more.  I can't wait for that ADVENTURE!!!!

The Amazing Race

Thursday morning we left Ndu and rode for 4 or 5 hours on the dusty bumpy road. It actually went quite well and we arrived in Bamenda with time to visit people. Our friend Steve had finished his mid-terms so we asked him to travel with us, and boy are we glad we did. Steve speaks French and English as well as a couple of other Cameroonian languages so he is quite handy to have around. Our family had rooms booked at the Bro Guest House run by SIL. The main office is easy to find but finding the actual house was another story. One of the SIL workers rode with us in our van and showed us the way. After just a quick stop we loaded back in the van to stop at the bank and get some of our personal money to use for our weekend excursion to the beach. Steve then negotiated a taxi for all of us to take us to the Baptist Conference Center where we had hoped to see Irene (our cook for part of our time in Ndu). Irene is a cook to a Canadian missionary named Elsie. I didn't realize the Baptist Center was so big but Elsie was known by everyone we met and we soon found her. Irene had gone home for the day but Elsie was very kind and welcomed us into her home. It ended up that she had met our friend Steve a few years ago in a class that she had taught. As we were talking, I saw Monie out the window and went running out to greet her. Monie is from Faith Baptist Church in Minneapolis and I had hoped to see her and her husband Jerry in Ndu but the timing was not right. I was thrilled at our unexpected meeting and enjoying our time together catching up. After the Baptist Center we took a taxi to a handicraft place to pick up souvenirs but unfortunately the place was closed and our taxi had already left. We were on a busy street but there were 6 of us and most taxis were not that big, so we just kept walking (or strolling as Steve called it). After walking for a long time, we came to the bus terminal so we checked on the bus schedule to Limbe for the next morning. Once that was taken care of we walked to Steve's aunt's home to see her (since we were in the neighborhood). After hanging out at her house for a while we invited her to Sister Rosa's with us to eat dinner... by this time it was already dark and we were all tired and hungry. The restaurant was a short walk from her home. By the time we arrived it was almost 8pm and we were told the fish would take a half hour... so we waited. The half hour ended up being an hour and we were all so tired it seemed even longer. We ate quickly and hailed a taxi to take us back to the guest house, the one that we had only seen once in the daylight. Steve was able to lead our taxi driver to our house with only a few misturns - we were all so thankful that at least one of us had paid attention to all the bumps and curves to where we were going. I barely remember my head hitting the pillow that night.
The next morning Drew and Steve were out of the house bright and early to book our bus tickets. The hope was to get good seats. (I typed all this up once and it disappeared) The short version is: We were told the bus would leave at 9am sharp - it left at 1108am. We were told it was about a 6 hour drive - we arrived at 830pm. If you had to go to the bathroom you could just yell at the driver and he would stop the bus to let you pee next to the bus for all to see - I chose a dehydration headache over drinking liquid all day. The bus was scheduled to go to Limbe and that is where all the passengers were planning on going but the driver thought he had to go to Doula. This meant we had to unload less than 30 kms from our destination and load another bus instead of going straight on through. Crazy sites along the way... but beautiful scenery too.
I had made reservations for the New Seme Beach Hotel in Limbe online - it was the only hotel I found that took online reservations. I went back and forth a few times through email with them because we didn't seem to be understanding each other but I finally felt like we were clear. Unfortunately, they only had us down for 4 people instead of 6. After looking at a couple of room options we settled on adding another room for Steve and Kyle onto our adjoining rooms. It was frustrating and more so because the man at the front desk seemed to have a chip on his shoulder right from the beginning with us. The other workers were very kind but I can't say that I would recommend this place if someone should ask. The prices here are much higher than in Ndu but right in line with American prices. In fact we asked about the Wildlife Refuge Center nearby and were told that the price to get in is 3000 cfa per person if you are a foreigner and 500 cfa if you are Cameroonian. The Hotel is right on the ocean and has air conditioning as well as a continental breakfast. It feels really weird being here after being in Ndu. I don't feel like I fit in here at all. We ate dinner in after 9pm again last night. For the past 2 months we have been locked in our house pretty much after supper and in bed most nights around 9pm, now in the past 2 nights we haven't even had supper by 9pm.

This morning I woke to the sounds of birds and the ocean. My heart was very thankful for these few days to go over my thoughts of these past 2 months and to relax and enjoy my last memories of Cameroon. We played at the beach for hours and had a very enjoyable day. We are tired but it's not the same as the exhaustion from traveling. We have another day of rest tomorrow. Monday we will try out a bigger bus to Yaounde' - I hear that it even has air conditioning! The flight home is going to seem like luxury to us... especially as we anticipate our arrival home. As we were traveling we started feeling like we had a glimpse of what people must feel like on the show "Amazing Race". Travel can bring out the worst of people but it can also make some of the best memories.

Our Last Weekend

We just ended our last pancake night here in Ndu. Drew made an extra amount of pancakes but we ended up with quite a bit left over since it was a light crowd tonight. There was no electricity so we sat around the table by candle light and enjoyed the company of our friends. There are some doctors here for a month, 2 of which are from Burnsville and go to Bethlehem Baptist, they gave us M&M's as a contribution to the pancakes. Banana and M&M pancakes are pretty amazing. During the conversation we found out that all the noise we had heard last night was not a good thing. We had thought there was some late night sports event or something by all the shouting and cheering. The field Pastor for the area Baptist churches was beaten by Jujus pretty seriously. From what I can understand, a man in the First Baptist church wrote some Christian lyrics to the juju songs (Jujus are basically the witch doctors). He recorded these songs and the jujus are angry, so angry that they want to kill him. Tonight while we were sitting here we heard more noise and one of the missionaries received a call that for safety reasons they were bringing this man on campus for the night. He is staying at the house the Schroths were living in just down the path from us. Tomorrow a meeting is being held and hopefully a solution will be found to satisfy the jujus without shedding blood. Pray for wisdom for all involved and for safety for the Pastor and his family.

Through our time here in Ndu, we have made some wonderful friends. One of the men we have gotten to know is a student in the Master's program - his name is Steve. Tonight we found out more about Steve, including the fact that he is a Master in Martial Arts. I've been trying to iron out the details of our family traveling to Limbe and being tourists for a while before we leave. It seems complicated and we had just decided to hire a taxi to stay with us the whole time, thinking it would be worth the expense. Talking to Steve we found out he finishes his last test before break the very day we are leaving. He is from the area we are going to and speaks both French and English. We asked if he would travel with us and be our "body guard" as well as tour guide. He seemed really excited. Even with paying an extra persons expenses this will be quite a bit less expensive than what we were originally looking at. We will instead take a bus once we arrive in Bamenda, it will be an adventure. It works out well because the Schulzs will be going to Yaounde over the weekend and can bring our extra luggage so we can pack light. God is so good in providing us with this extra help. The other great thing is this will prolong our good-bye with Steve and we will enjoy exploring more of Cameroon with him. I'm feeling quite thankful and relieved by this turn of events. Pray for safety for all of us as we travel. Continue to pray for Levi as he is still not feeling well.

Monday Musings

I woke up this morning with all these random thoughts running through my head. Most of them were observations I have had while here in Ndu and what I want to do different when I return to Minnesota. As we have met some of the students at CBTS, one of the things I've been struck with is how many languages many of them know. Even our missionary friends know a few languages. I think if I want my children to make a difference in this world and to be global thinkers, they need to work harder at learning a language or two. There are so many opportunities available if you broaden who you can communicate with.

Random thought number 2: My views on missions is shifting (a little). I still strongly believe in short term missions trips, maybe even more so than before. What I am realizing more than before was the fact that a person really needs to be CALLED to be in full time overseas missions. I also think that you need to have a specific need or skill (think pilots, doctors, teachers etc) that would benefit the people group you are living among. It would be very easy to throw in the towel and give up if you did not have that assurance that God had called you specifically to the task before you. I'm sure this is pretty obvious to most of you but I think before this I leaned more to the thinking that you just need to be willing.

Random thought number 3: People here are extremely bright and have overcome incredible odds. Kyle and Drew have been working with a few guys that play keyboard and guitar but have never had any music lessons. These guys have a natural ear and a desire and have learned simple music theory quite rapidly. Our friends (The Schroths) help out at the local elementary school and were surprised at how advanced the 5th graders were in science and math. As a homeschooling Mom, I feel challenged by this to raise the bar on my expectations in my school. One of the families we have met lived in the states for 5 years. During this time their son went to a public elementary school. When he returned to Africa, they had to hold him back a grade because he hadn't covered the information that all his peers in Africa had covered. He was a bright kid who got good grades but the information just had never been given to him. I'm not here to attack the education system in the States - we have many options for many different types of kids - these are just my observations.

Random thought number 4: I have observed that there are quite a number of Muslims that own many of the businesses around here. The local tea plantation is owned by a Muslim man and most of the big vendors at the market are Muslim. I have been treated very fair by these vendors and have nothing against these people. However, I believe they are very business savvy and seem to be taking over most of the economic power in this area. In talking to some of the local Christians, many of them have lost their loved ones to Islam because that is where the money is. They want the security that is offered to them in working for these men and soon it spreads and they convert to Islam. Jesus says in Matthew 10:16 to"be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." I think it is possible that this whole area (and many others like them including even the States), need to take this to heart or we could be in slavery to the Islamic world. I think it is important that we be raising children to be business savvy, intelligent, wise and purposeful. Somehow, I need to figure out a way to light a fire under each one of my kids so that they can be prepared and equipped to further the Kingdom of God.

These are just my thoughts and observations: I have no hard facts that I have researched or anything. These also cover some pretty deep problems or potential problems. This blog is really just my thought process and what I hope to implement in my own family to make even a small difference in this world.

Trust

I woke up this morning and was asking God, "What are we here for? Will we even know what our purpose was? Are we even making a difference?" Almost immediately a word picture of life being like a strategic chess game came to my mind. I sometimes feel like God is this Master chess player and he can see the whole "game" - He has each move mapped out and strategically places each player right where He thinks best for the whole game. Then I had to laugh because it is not really like that at all. Can you imagine this amazing chess player trying to play this perfect game but all the pieces can decide for themselves if they want to trust the Master and do what he says or not. The pieces can only see what is right around them and could easily get discouraged without the view of the whole game. If one piece was in a place where there wasn't much action, he might think that the Master didn't know how valuable he was and go looking for some action. On the other hand, pieces that were on the front line might just bale out and leave valuable pieces vulnerable. I know this is a silly illustration but it did get me thinking about trusting God each day, that He knows better than I what is good for my growth.

In talking with some of the other missionaries around here, there is a common thread of discouragement and wanting to "go home". Please pray for the missionaries here at CBTS. Pray that they will trust that God's timing is perfect and wait for His hand to move them. There is a very real spiritual battle going on, as well as the rainy season is coming in and it is cloudier than normal. Pray that we will be an encouragement to them these last weeks that we are here.

Homesick

Tomorrow will be 7 weeks since we left Minneapolis. This past week I have been in a funk and this morning I finally voiced that I wish we could go home. Drew laughed and gave me a big hug and said "It's too early to start that yet". Then Levi piped up and said "Remember Mom, we were warned that 6 weeks is when it gets hard." I'm so glad someone around here has a memory. It's true, there have been trials of various kinds all along but this week I have just wanted to be finished. Ellie is feeling homesick too. Drew hasn't voiced it in the same way but he does feel a bit "lost" now that the main project he was working on is done. Levi has been sick all week too so that hasn't been good. Kyle is pretty easy going and takes each day in stride, however, I have noticed he is not as patient with his family lately as he can be. It helped yesterday to go to Kumbo and do something different but when I woke this morning I still was longing for home. As I'm typing this, I'm encouraged knowing that I can be completely honest and my friends will be supporting us in prayer. You can not imagine what a blessing it is to know that we are not alone, we appreciate your kind words and mostly your prayers. Thank you so much!

Now that I have that off my chest, I am really excited to see what God has in store for us these next few weeks. Once we get over this hump, I believe what is ahead will be some of the deepest parts of this whole trip. I am anticipating deeper relationships, greater understanding and renewed hope... as well as a few more dead mice.

I noticed our home church is singing this song this coming weekend - the words are so good:

You Never Let Go by Matt Redmon
Even though I walk, through the valley, of the shadow of death,
your perfect love is casting out fear.
And even when I'm caught, in the middle, of the storms of this life,
I won't turn back I know you are near.

And I will fear no evil, for my God is with me,
And if my God is with me,
Whom then shall I fear, whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, you never let go, through the calm and through the storm,
Oh, no, you never let go, every high and every low,
oh, no, you never let go, Lord you never let go of me!

And I can see the light, that is coming, for the heart that holds on,
A glorious light beyond all compare.
And there will be an end, to these troubles, but until that day comes,
We'll live to know you here on the earth.

And I can see the light, that is coming for the heart that holds on,
And I can see an end to these troubles, but until that day comes,
STILL I WILL PRAISE YOU, STILL I WILL PRAISE YOU!!!

An Encouraging Day

We're down to the last month of our journey and are trying to be very purposeful in documenting everything and experiencing as much as possible. I asked the kids what they miss most about Minnesota: They ALL answered "The People". I then asked them what they think they will miss most about Cameroon when we go home: They ALL answered "The People". I really liked those answers. Today we headed north of Ndu, walking for about 2 hours just to see what was around each new bend in the road. It seemed like we hiked UP the whole way but once we turned around we found ourselves walking UP some more. The day was very cloudy so I'm hoping we can go back on a clear day, what we could make out was quite beautiful. It's interesting to see how the people react to us. People here are so friendly - all afternoon we were greeted with "Good Afternoon". Many people would stop and come to shake all of our hands and thank us for taking time to say "Hello" to them. We had our friend Matthew Lee with us - he is teaching a computer class on how to use translation software. Matthew is working with SIL/Wycliffe and is originally from Virginia. We have forced him into our "group home" and have enjoyed having his company. It ends up he likes exploring as much as we do so it was quite a day. I was so humbled when we stopped to rest for a bit and a man with one leg and maybe 2 teeth hoped up the bank to greet us. He wanted to invite us into his home but we were already pushing it on time. Who does that in America? This man really had VERY LITTLE but wanted to share with 6 total strangers. Later we met a woman who went out of her way to greet us each with a hearty handshake. She was on her way home from choir practice at First Baptist Church in Ndu (Wow - she walks along way). She knew Ancela, who had been our cook when our team was here. This woman gave us some kind of nuts just because she wanted to bless us. Another man had a fruit stand and I asked for bananas. He only had 3 left (which costs about 10 cents) and he wanted to just give them to me so that he could bless me. I accepted and then "dashed" him a bit to bless him back. It's really crazy how generous people are. I'm completely inspired to change and be the generous stranger to people I meet back in Minnesota.

Alyssa's Thoughts On The Missions Trip To Cameroon

My half of the Evergreen team went to Ndu in the northwest province of Cameroon, a solid 2-day drive away from the capital, Yaounde. It was the dry season when we were there, so the roads were dusty and bumpy from the SmartCar-sized potholes in the road. We actually thought that made the trip very entertaining and there is some shaky video footage to testify!
We had 8 full days in Ndu, which Kaley and I lamented from the moment we arrived. The Petersen family, Kaley, Kim Poulsom and I made up our little Ndu family, and as such, we stayed in a house together in the Baptist seminary while we were there. Drew Petersen worked on a cement project which was the entire reason the group went to Ndu in the first place. And while Kim helped the backlogged seminary librarian and Marie acted as “house mama” for the team, Kaley, Ellie and I were assigned to help with the Day Care center…to liven it up and give the staff more ideas for working with children. We were pretty attached at the hip, Kaley, Ellie and I. We had so much fun getting to know each other, getting to know Cameroonians and appreciating Cameroonian culture, and especially appreciating Cameroonian food! Since I lived in Cameroon for two years at another point in my life, I was so excited to eat the street food, and get Kaley excited about it…which resulted in one of us getting a verrrryy ill…no more “feeding the tapeworm” as we referred to our excessive interest in the food!
The three of us ladies got to meet one very special person during our short stay in Ndu. His name was Felix, a Missions student in his final semester of seminary. He came to us the first day at the center, timidly with a trembling lower lip to ask if he could help us with any work in the Day Care center, which we knew meant he was looking for some paid work which is hard to come by for students. We wanted to bless the day care center ladies by painting their white walls and furniture with bright primary colors, and Felix had some experience with the oil-based, super potent, industrial strength paint, so he worked alongside us with the painting, but taught us so much about trusting the Lord and perseverance that it felt like we were hardly the missionaries at all, but the ones receiving the blessing of his kind friendship. He invited us to meet his wife and 1 month old baby, Prince Lee, and the emotions we all felt leaving their home are hard to articulate, but suffice it to say we were all teary from their encouragement and kindness in offering to host us when they had no money, no bathroom, hardly anything material to call their own. We couldn’t even accept their generous invitation to join them for a meal because of our newfound fear of food contamination, so they went and purchased soda and American cookies for us so they could still treat us to some hospitality in their home. My heart was warmed by the entire experience of going there to serve and bless this center with our hard work and small donation of paint and labor, but the work for us ended up being just the means to building relationships and finding out how our friends could show us a fresh perspective…
As sweet as it was to watch God cultivating mission-minded Cameroonians, I watched two younger women grow in their perspective in such a sweet humble way too. Watching Kaley and Ellie accept every opportunity to meet people and learn about Cameroon was the most heart-warming experience of them all really. I watched them pick spiderwebs off furniture, learn the local Limbum language, boldly order and taste the spicy meat from a street vender (it was safe), and seek out the Lord daily through regular quiet times…this was the part of the trip I treasured the most! I didn’t think that a trip back to a country I’d grown to love so much would end up being even better for the Americans I traveled with, but as Cameroonians always refer to loved ones as a member of your family in some way, these two lovely sisters in Christ became like family to me in every sense of the word.
I don’t know how to sum up my thoughts about our time in Ndu, and I won’t even try. I had a conversation with a full-time missionary there in which I told him that I believed this visit to Cameroon was about “tying up the loose ends from my last time there”, and he responded saying, “so you want it to be a neat packaged deal, huh?” I can’t give much of a neat, packaged account of visiting Ndu, but I know we all loved the people, culture and growing in our walks with the Lord together while we were there, and I’d like to thank everyone who sent us there from the bottom of my heart! Who knows, you might have the chance to be a part of the next team to Cameroon.

Women's Tea

Last night was the women's tea for the staff and students here at CBTS. I got there right on time, even though nothing in Africa seems to start on time. When I got the invitation from Ma Massa Angelista, she told me it would begin right at 5pm even if all the people were not there. Ma Massa lived in the United States for a few years so I was convinced it would really start on time. Needless to say, Ma Massa did not even arrive until 515pm. This is only the second such event they have had with the women here and it was not like we have at home. The classroom was big and dusty, there was tea in coolers to keep it warm, the missionaries brought baked goods but nothing was set up "pretty" or even organized. We offered to help but were told we were the guest of honor so we couldn't do that. In the front of the room, there was a long table that they put a plastic table cloth with hamburgers and hot dogs along the edge as decoration. At this long table was seated: Ma Massi, Stella - the student body representative, Helen - Secretary, and a man (whose name I did not get) - dean of men. The tea only started 20 minutes late and moved along pretty well after that. I think they had hoped it would be a celebration with dancing and fun but not one followed through, even when Helen encouraged them to get up and dance. It was new to them and the fact that it was held in a classroom made the women feel like they were in class and should control themselves, I guess. Ma Massi shared a devotion in the beginning about unity. My talk that followed fit right in with unity. I shared some of my testimony and then shared about small prayer groups that I have been involved in over the years. My topic was on Women's ministry in the USA - the first thing that popped into my mind was scrap booking and I was pretty sure that would have no place in this land. I did share how our women's ministry has retreats, socials, Bible studies, teas and other events. At the end there was a woman who stood up and said she thinks they should have retreats. Prayer groups seems like something anyone who wanted to grow in their faith could do. The prayer groups I have been involved in have always fit a purpose in whatever season of life I have been in, and the relationships made through those experiences are rock solid. What surprised me is how emotional I got when I was sharing - I was not expecting to cry for goodness sake. Ellie was there with me and I ended by sharing how Ellie started a prayer group for young ladies when she was only 13. I wanted them to not make excuses but to see that anything is possible. When I finished and sat down, Helen stood up and said, very earnestly "How are you feeling women, after hearing this Ma talk? Do you have a burning in your chest as I do? How are you feeling?" Honestly, as I was writing, I had a burning in my own chest. Even though being committed to a small group of women and praying on a regular basis has been life changing for me in the past, I have not been involved with a specific group of women in a long time. This is one of the things I hope to change when I get home. After our refreshments, Andrea shared on being a Pastor's wife. She asked for a show of hands as to who were pastor's wives or their husbands were going to be pastors when they finished school. I think over half the room raised their hands. Andrea did a great job - even though her husband accidently printed page 1 twice instead of printing her 2nd page of her script, she handled it quite well. What she shared was relevant for any of us but especially Pastor's wives. She spoke on being thankful and encouraging our husbands. I know she touched the hearts of many of the women there. One thing I have noticed is that most of these women are extremely shy. I had assumed in a room that size that most of the women would know each other but that did not seem to be the case. At the end of the tea, the women just quickly left the room - nothing like the gabbing that goes on in America. I did have one woman ask if we could talk. She is working on her thesis and thought some of the things I shared would be fitting for her topic so she wanted to ask more questions. I'm looking forward to meeting with her this coming week. I could tell I had people praying for me because I felt extremely calm and I even talked slower than I ever remember talking. Before I got up, the women all introduced themselves (yes we went around a room of over 50 people). Most of them did not seem to speak English very well and I felt my heart sink. I prayed under my breath for God to open their ears to understand us because it seemed like a waste of time for me to see anything. By the looks on their faces and the nods of heads, I believe God was faithful in answering that prayer. My prayer now will be for these women to follow through and come together in unity and prayer.

Market and shopping pictures

This is where the meat comes from... they use every part of the cow.

Dinner Date

Drew and I went out with our friends Dan and Andrea Schroth last night. We were given a phone number to call ahead for reservations for the chicken dinner at the Summit Hotel Restaurant. The first day Drew tried to call, no one answered either phone number. Finally he got through and told them we would be there at 5pm, 4 of us for the chicken dinner. It was important to have early reservations since it gets dark quickly around here and we have been advised not to be out after dark. It was also important to give them a "heads up" that we were coming so that the killing and preparations of the chicken would have been done before we arrived. This also gave them time to do any shopping for the side items. It was a lovely walk up the dusty road to the "Summit". We had actually seen this hill with a hut for weeks and wondered what it was - so now we know, it's the hotel and lookout. Once we got there, we walked in the door to what seemed like a small hotel lobby with a bunch of Cameroonian people sitting all around and a small bar at the end. There were some men sitting at a table with books open in front of them doing some kind of business. We assumed they worked there and asked which way to the restaurant. They pointed us straight back so off we went. .

. Well, this was the kitchen,and the kitchen ladies all started squawking that we were in the wrong place so we quickly went back to the lobby. In moments the men had vacated the table and all the people from that side of the room went to the other side and sat down. Chairs were put around the table and a table cloth and we were seated... and then we sat and waited, and waited. It was really awkward because we didn't know if this was a temporary spot and they were going to bring us to the dining area or if the right people even knew we were here - although being the only white people there we did stand out a bit. Drew decided to call the number we had made the reservation with and sure enough the man who kept walking through the lobby; his phone rang just feet from us. We cracked up as Drew said "We are the party of 4 for a chicken dinner" and the man stepped into the hall and just looked at us. Finally, plates were brought and our food. Apparently the lobby was the restaurant. The food was pretty good, chicken was a little tough. The "Waiter" barely looked at us but towards the end we flagged him down to get something to drink. Coke never tasted so good. There was a TV by the bar with a soccer game playing - I haven't seen a TV in weeks. It was a lovely evening! Once we got our bill and left a good sized tip - the waiter guy was REALLY friendly!

Random pictures of life in Ndu

This is a sample of our life: Sunday night pancakes and praise with our friends. The Post Office where we mail our letters from - A picture of Marie gluing a stamp on (with rubber cement). Abi and Ellie in Ellie's room. Doing laundry.

Friends

Ndu Post Office

/Abi and Ellie

Doing laundry in our back yard - hanging laundry in our front yard (for all to see)

More concrete pictures

Pictures from church

Here are a few pictures from the First Baptist Church of Ndu: The BRIGHT chair in the front if for the Pastor (and it's not a joke).

The drum set was once Lance Rundus's - he got this when he was about 13. I guess the youth leader asked to use it for a youth event some time ago. The next Sunday after the event the Pastor of the church made a special announcement of appreciation for the gift that Lance had given to the church. The youth leader tried telling the Pastor that they were just on loan but the damage was already done and it is now a permanent part of the church. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

The church sits at the highest point of Ndu and it is a beautiful view. One thing about being at such a high altitude, you feel winded when you walk most anywhere. I thought it was just because I'm getting old and out of shape but one of the kids said they feel winded too.

Here is our family with some friends:

Perpetual

My day didn't exactly go as I had planned but I am quite thankful how it worked out. For the past 2 weeks I was planning on finishing washing all the towels and sheets from the house that our team had used. The original plan I had was to do one or two sets a day, the machine is very small and there was no rush. Just a few days into this plan, the President of the school requested that the house be used for a visitor/friend of his. The thought was that it would just be for a few days but the man and his driver stayed all week long and just left today. The staff house is to be occupied by 4 teachers tomorrow - they will be staying for 2 months. Once the man moved in I no longer had a key, and today I discovered that I still had a load of wet laundry in the washer (from over a week ago - uugh!). This morning I ran down to see about making the beds and washing linens, only to realize there was no electricity. We do not have a washing machine at our new place so Ellie and I had done a few "loads" by hand and I am not very fast at it. There was a woman named Perpetual who was cleaning. I asked her if she knew anyone who would be available to help me hand wash the laundry. She offered to help me and I must say it was very humbling. This woman is so strong and makes it look so easy. I started washing something and she laughed saying "Is that how you do it?" We got through the laundry and I did learn a thing or two - mostly that I am pretty weak. While working together I asked her if she was from Ndu, to which she replied "no." Then I asked how she came to be here. It was a long story about how God brought her to this Seminary to prepare to be a minister. I stopped working all together at one point because I couldn't even see what I was doing from the tears in my eyes. When her youngest child was just 4 months old (she has 3 children), her family had moved into a new home. Earlier her husband's brother had gotten into trouble and ended up in prison. The brother was responsible for him and had to pay bail. The brother again got into trouble and wanted them to post bail again. This time Perpetual's husband said "No, we will pray for him instead". The brother then got a gang to storm into their house and try to kill them. At 2am men came charging into their home with machetes and started slashing her husband. Perpetual said she could do nothing, they had no idea who these men were or what they wanted. Suddenly, she felt a power from within and started saying the name of Jesus and went towards the men and her husband. She layed her body over her husband's and was slashed (she showed me her scar across her thigh and it was over a foot long). Somehow, the 2 of them started fleeing for their lives with the gang behind them. Her husband fell into the ditch and she had to go back and find him. The whole time she believed that they would live, because that would give glory to the name of Jesus. They made it to the neighbors house and after much pounding the neighbors let them in. They got to the hospital and were in for over a month, the husband had been slashed 18 times - over his torso, head, neck, and his arm was severely broken. While in the hospital, the man who was the head of the gang called to see if it were true that they were still alive. The brother had contacted him again to kill this couple but the gang member refused. He came to visit this couple in the hospital to see for himself the miracle that they were still alive. He said that God must be real if they could live through that, because he knows that there is no way the man that he slashed and stab could be alive. I was impressed by this woman's strong hands and after hearing her story I was impressed by her strong faith. This horrific event in her life was the catalyst for her to commit to full time ministry and that is why she is at CBTS to get her training that she needs to be a minister.

Question

So I've been rambling on now for quite a while just telling the day to day stuff. I'm looking for some blog ideas: What would you like to know about Ndu? Or Cameroon? Or what we are doing? Do you want pictures of anything in particular (keep in mind it takes over an hour for just a few pictures). Just thought I would ask since I might be missing something that you are just curious about. Thanks for the feedback!

3 weeks

Our family has been on this adventure for just 3 weeks, in some ways it feels much longer than that. For the most part we are adapting to life in Ndu. Our kitchen is missing some key pans and Irene has been a saint working around in this less than ideal space. She is normally a cook for a single gal missionary in Bamenda and is having to adjust to this house as much as I have. There is definitely a mouse that comes out at night and nibbles through plastic to get to our food. Tonight Drew is setting out a sticky trap to catch the critter - I really hope I am not the one to find him. I realized today that I sound very negative when I talk about this house. The truth is, we live in a "mansion" in MN, in comparison to this place. It's also true that most of the people around Ndu live in homes that are far less than this home I am living in now. We have 2 toilets that flush (and when we don't have water pumping into the house, we can still pour dirty water from a tank into the toilet to flush it), we have electricity much of the time, we have headlamps when we don't have electricity, we have a stove AND an oven, we have a frig - that is FULL. We also have 2 showers and one even has hot water, we have a table and chairs,beds with mattresses and blankets, french press for coffee, games to play, good books to read, a computer with an internet stick! Life is refreshingly simple here. Our friends the Rundus's asked if we would like to come over Friday evening and watch a movie with their family (if there is electricity). I said sarcastically that I would have to check our schedule... and then quickly thanked them for the invitation before they changed their mind. Generally,no one goes out after dark (which is usually about 7pm), so having something on our schedule is a treat. I have loved the family time: Drew is reading through a series by Chuck Black (out loud). The books would be an easy read for any of us but reading together is a great opportunity for discussion. Kyle brought his guitar so some nights we spend singing praise and worship songs together. There is no tv, no phone, really nothing pulling us, although at times we will have visitors show up (and they are always welcome). The weather is beautiful (if you can look beyond the dust), cool at night to the point of needing a sweatshirt, warm, almost hot during the day. The people are friendly - everyone you pass says "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon". Drew goes to chapel every morning at 730am - I haven't quite made it there yet. The President told Drew that they are "Praying the Petersens back". I could see coming back for a short term again but so far I don't feel the pull to move here full time. The biggest blessing for me has been how real and alive the Word of God has become to me. I have a whole different appreciation of it as well as a need for the Truth. What a privilege to be here and have so much support and prayers for our safety and well being.

Please Pray

I'm feeling sad today. We found out this morning that a 9 year old girl of one of the students here at CBTS was raped just outside the campus fence last night. The family brought her to Bamenda today to get her checked out at the hospital there. Please pray that she has not been infected with the HIV virus and for her physical, emotional and spiritual healing. What a horrible thing - I can not imagine the pain her parents must be in at this moment. Pray that God would comfort them. Pray that they catch the man that did this. Pray for safety for all the other little girls (and boys) that have to fetch water for their families, or be home alone because their parents have to work. Pray for safety for us too as we more strictly enforce the "no walking alone" rule that we had gotten a little lax on. Please lift this family up as you have been so faithfully lifting up our family in prayer.

Thoughts I'm having on Life in Cameroon

I'm an observer by nature. The first few days we were here everything seemed so surreal and exciting. Now that I have been here a few weeks and met more people, had a few more experiences I feel like I am getting a clearer vision of some of the problems as well as some of the things that are better than I experience at home. I'm only getting a slightly clearer picture - I don't think I could ever grasp all of the ins and outs of the culture. One thing I have observed is that this campus has "missionaries" constantly coming in and out. There are a few missionaries here full time and I really admire their perseverance and dedication. The short term people (like us), come swooping in with all these grand ideas to save the day. Most of the way we do things just don't work here in Ndu. For instance, there is a team that came a few days ago to paint, they brought a container full of items to give away. The container had over 100 boxes of books and videos which are now being sorted in an already overloaded room, waiting to get into the computer system and shelved in their library. The kids and I are helping Henry work through these boxes. One box was full of old children's video tapes. Nice, except most people do not even have a tv, let alone a video player (or electricity much of the time). I also saw a child playing with a roller skate that had been brought here from the states, except for the sidewalk leading up to the classrooms and the steps Drew is working on, everything here is dusty dirt paths and roads, no place for a roller skate. The children were using it like a car to play with and had no idea what it's true purpose was. Even when you go to market many of the booths are old clothes that were shipped here in containers from Good Will or other thrift stores overload. Many of the clothes we wouldn't even use for rags. Some of the books given are completely inappropriate for this part of the world - they have no use for preparing for Y2K or retirement. On campus here we have received a warm welcome, it's overwhelming to the faculty and students the amount of work that needs to be done around here and they welcome the help. They also are Christian believers and recognize us as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. When we go to market or outside the campus as white people we get stared at, or mocked. My boys were with their friends and got sugar cane at the market, this caused laughter and pointing as some older boys said "Look white man eating sugar cane!" One day when I was out, an older woman said to me "We stare at you because you are white". I told her we have many different colors of people where I am from, many black people. I explained that we stare at them because they have such beautiful colored clothes and head coverings. She thought that was pretty funny. I haven't been here long enough to have my feelings hurt over the attitude to white people but I know some of my fellow long term missionaries have felt the sting. It's sad but the truth is white people have a history of abusing people of color, there are many people today on both sides of the color spectrum that cannot see past the skin and get to know the person within. When I am in my little MN bubble I don't think about these things, unless I'm reading a historical novel like "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I think it is good to see how hurtful it can be and just chose to be one little part of the change by how I treat my fellow humans.

A new week to look forward to.

I heard yesterday, the electric company that supplies the electricity in Ndu says the CBTS campus uses too much of the electricity. Their solution is to not supply electricity on Sundays and Wednesdays. The water pump is run by electricity too so that will be effected. I guess it's good to know so I can adjust my expectations. Shower for church on Saturday night and fill every available container of water to use for flushing toilets, washing hands, and all the other things you need water for.

We went to Emmanuel Baptist Church yesterday. This church is bigger and cleaner then the church we attended the week before. I was actually able to understand more of the sermon too. The bad part about going to a different church each week is that they all have you stand up and introduce yourself if you are new. There is no way you can get away without being noticed in an all black African church when there are 11 white people all in one pew. After the service we were invited into a room where they prayed over us and gave us what looked a little like our donuts from church but there was fish inside (surprise!).

It's a new week: I'm excited to get back to the library and help catalog books. My house isn't as chaotic as it was and it's feeling like home. My new cook, Irene will be coming this morning. Drew will be off to chapel and then on to work on pouring more steps. We have fresh roasted Cameroonian coffee to start the day... Life is good.