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.

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.

Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning here and we're all starting to get moving.  Jon and Levi were out bird watching early this morning, it's their last morning together.  After church, my family will be heading in a very over-loaded vehicle to Bamenda.  The vehicle we are taking only seats 7 (?) so Kym and Alyssa are taking public transportation up to Bamenda... I'm sure they will have some stories to tell.  I guess the bus they are on is suppose to just have one person per seat - at least in theory.  Alyssa lived in Cameroon with the Peace Corp for 2 years and is VERY excited to go on this little excursion.  I'm excited to get to cooler weather for sleeping.  It actually cools down fairly nicely here but it's humid.

At our orientation time we learned the "rules":
1.  It's ALL good.
2.  It's all part of the experience.
3.  Flexibility is our middle name.

Here is our whole team the last night before we split into two groups.

Pray for us as we travel today and tomorrow.