La Verna Spiritual Center

La Verna Spiritual Center                                                                              January 9, 2012 *early

I’m sitting here in the dark listening to dogs bark all around this building.  It is a full moon so maybe that has something to do with it.  The roosters have been crowing for hours but it’s not really time to get up yet… they probably can’t sleep either with all the dogs barking.  After a lovely dinner, we were all given our room assignments by the nuns.  Drew and I are the only married couple traveling to Ndu so we were given a double bed with our own bathroom.  Our first thought was how “romantic” it was, we have barely had time alone since our departure last Thursday.  We laughed when we sat down on the very creaky bed in this quiet retreat center run by nuns.  Not that it mattered, we were both so exhausted that sleep came before I remember my head hitting the pillow.  Drew is still enjoying his sleep, but with all the noise and the full moon coming through the window, I’m not sure how he’s doing it.

My kids are all sleeping in rooms upstairs and down the hall, I know they are fine but they seem very far away.  Ellie is in a room with Kaley, Alyssa and Kym and the boys are in a room down the hall from them.  Levi’s head hurt from all the riding, which sometimes makes him sick, hopefully he is sleeping if off. My mind is busy and just wanting to get on with our day…. Coffee would be nice too

Finally started drifting off to sleep after typing this… then the nuns started chanting.  I laughed so hard at all the strange noises.  Once I got over my giggles, I heard the nuns singing and worshipping and I closed my eyes listening to the beautiful voices.  Bummer that it was time to get up because I’m sure I could have slept in peace at that point. 

Church

Attended church in yaounde at the Hilton Hotel.  The church is an international church attended by many missionaries from all different church backgrounds.  It’s not a typical African church, which is probably one of the reasons we attended today, in that it runs on a schedule much like we would find here in America.  Drew and I were both struck during the message, which was on living outside your comfort zone, how different that would have been heard back in Minnesota.  Here we were surrounded by people who have left their comfort of family, homes, jobs and are living in a foreign country.  In my opionion, these people are living far outside their comfort zone and yet they still needed to hear that message.  In discussing this with Drew, it seems that our comfort is more a “spiritual” place rather than just the physical needs we think of.  Anytime we are in a place where we do not need to rely on God’s help but rather our own efforts, we are living in a place of comfort.  I know that before the day was over I would experience just a little of being completely dependent on God, but I will save that for another blog.

                                                                                                                                              

A fun thing that happened at church today just showed me how God really does care about us as individuals and He loves to indulge us in the things we take delight in.  Our niece Kaley is a student at St. Kate’s University and lives with our family.  She is part of this mission team and will be staying with us in Ndu for 2 weeks.  This trip is far outside Kaley’s comfort zone, she had never even been in an airport before leaving last Thursday.  At times leading up to this trip I wondered if this was even a good fit for Kaley for a few different reasons.  One reason I questioned whether Africa was a good fit is that Kaley hates hot weather – but now that we are heading to Ndu she will no longer have to endure the heat and humidity.  The other thing that made me wonder if this was a good fit is that Kaley is completely obsesses with Asian culture – specifically Korean.  She has been teaching herself Korean and when her studies allow, she spends hours watching Korean variety shows and reality Tv on her computer.  Kaley would love to go to Korea someday and maybe even teach there when she is finished with school. Needless to say, I wasn’t sure how Africa was part of God’s plan for Kaley but I have been so excited to see her step out in faith and join us.  Imagine my delight (and Kaley’s), when we walked into this little fellowship of believers and the worship leader was a young Korean man.  I almost laughed out loud when he shared between the songs about not being “freaked out” but completely trusting God wherever He takes you.  If you know Kaley even a little, you know she uses the term “freaked out” quite frequently – probably because many things freak her out, like bugs, heat, people she doesn’t know touching her or invading her personal space (all the things you find in Africa).  It made me smile when I envisioned God going to such care to speak directly to the heart of my niece.  It blows my mind how much God loves us and wants to bless us.  

The Road to Bamenda

                                                                    January 8, 2012

Our Toyota was loaded up sky high and ready to leave for Bamenda as soon as lunch was over after church.  We ate at a lovely Asian restaurant owned by a Vietnamese American.  Our whole team was there with the exception of Kym and Alyssa who had gone on public transportation ahead of us to Bamenda.  Once lunch was over we piled into our VERY full vehicle – all 7 of us in what we would consider a 5 passenger vehicle since that is how many seatbelts there are, heading north for what should be about a 6 hour drive.  I got the giggles when Kyle, Drew, Levi and I all had to turn sideways just to get the back doors shut.  Once the doors were shut we settled down, completely squished from door to door, I can’t tell you how glad I was that I insisted Kyle put deodorant on before we left.  Ellie and Kaley were in the front with Ellie straddling the stick shift.  I think Peg was the only one with a full seat to herself, which was good because she was the one driving us.  Thankfully for Drew, Peg has short legs, which allowed him some leg room and some space for the extra bags that didn’t fit on the roof rack or in the back. 

The ride seemed to go fast at first as we were taking in all the sights.  There are so many people going in all different directions, the driving conditions are a bit crazy.  The further we traveled from Yaounde, the worse the road conditions became, although for the most part the road is in fairly good condition, tarred and everything.  As you get to open market areas there are speed bumps along the way – some are marked better than others and with our full load on top there were times we wondered if it would all stay in place.  The majority of the trip is just one road north but as you enter cities there are these turn a bouts that can get very confusing since all the roads look alike.  In the town of Bafousma (?), we got on a wrong road, which became obvious when there was no longer tar but these deep dirt pits, people were everywhere and pointing at us (but probably because they thought we were going to lose our load on top).  Peg found a place to turn around and we headed back the way we came, she had things under control but if was getting dark and we still had at least an hour to go.  Needless to say, there were some tense moments in the car and I’m sure we were all praying silently for both protection and direction.  I kept thinking how greatful I was that we had so many of our friends praying for us, even if they had no idea what kind of a situation we were in.

We did got back on the road to Bamenda  but it was slower going in the dark, it’s harder to see the pot holes or the speed bumps.  Arriving in Bamenda, we again got turned around for a bit but soon Peg recognized where she  was again.  About this time, Peg started noticing that our brakes were not working well – I was very thankful we had a stick shift which would give us a little more control.  We turned onto our last dirt road taking us to our place of rest for the night and it was steep and windy.  Knowing our brakes were not working made that another tense moment or two but God was gracious 

We arrived at the La Verna Spiritual Retreat, which is a retreat center run by these beautiful Cameroonian nuns.  They had a lovely meal set out for us and Kym and Alyssa were waiting for us too.  We were all exhausted but thankful to be in such a lovely place.

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.

Pictures of our first day

Levi and Jon preparing for birding in Cameroon

Loading up in Yaounde

The other van:  Alyssa looking out window.

Kaley, Ellie, Marie

Blake, Sara, Ellie

Lonnie, Shelley and Gaston

Housing in Yaounde: CTC Annex

SIL office

We Made It!

Thursday morning at 445am our family walked out our front door on the way to the airport.  Arriving at MSP airport, we were met by a stubborn UA employee who did not want to even consider that she could be wrong and we might actually be allowed 2 bags each.  I asked for a manager but she was the manager, so I paid the $350 and we were on our way.  I offered to pray for her because it seemed she was having a rough day but she refused.  We did talk to the travel agent and they are taking care of the bill problem, since it was booked under a special code for a contract with Wycliffe Associates.  We then flew to Chicago O'Hare airport, where the most exciting thing was their cool toilets.  You wave your hand over the back of the toilet and it automatically puts a clean plastic sheet around the toilet lid - awesome!  After hanging out there for a few hours we hopped on a plane to Newark, NJ - this is where my immediate family met 4 other girls from our team.  One of the ladies asked Levi how he liked his first time flying and he replied "It was pretty good, except I would have liked more leg room."  We thought that was pretty funny since he is only 4' 11''!  On this flight I sat by a woman who I thought looked familiar.  After talking a bit, I found out she is a missionary with Wycliffe in Papau New Guinea.  I felt like this was a divine appointment and peppered her with questions about the mission field.  I wanted to know how she KNEW that this is what she was called to do.  We had a great time and it turned out that I had seen her on one of the training sites for Wycliffe that I had been looking at in preparation for our trip.   Finally after flying all night, and watching free movies and getting lots of food (highlights for the kids) in a really nice plane we arrived in Brussels Belgium where we connected with the rest of our team (7 more members).  Everyone was pretty beat at that point so the layover was spent just hanging out with people napping in all kinds of places.  The last leg of our trip brought us to Yaounde', Cameroon where we arrived in time for a late supper here on Friday evening at the Wycliffe training sight.  There were a few other people we met along the way who are also making their way to Cameroon to do different missions work.  It has been a long day and I am beat - just thought I would update everyone that we are all okay.  EVERY SINGLE piece of luggage made it here!!! Praise God - My family alone had 20 pieces.  We have so many tools and gifts for people that couldn't be replaced - we couldn't be happier.  The kids enjoyed traveling... the rest of us endured it.  Tomorrow morning we have an orientation and can spend the day hanging out here in Yaounde' before we leave to go to Ndu.  That will be another adventure since it takes 2 days to drive there:)  We were surprised to be met at the airport by our friends Shelley and Gaston Kingue and their boys - they have been in another country in Africa and we did not think we would get to see them.  Everyone seems to be in good spirits.  I will be feeling better once I have my luggage repacked.  We mixed up everything just in case all the luggage didn't make it, then we would at least have something for all of us.  Now I just want to have all my things in one place.  You should have seen our van loaded with all our bags - Crazy!

This is it

Last year at Faithwalkers (December 27-30, 2010), I felt a desire to do something BIG and to see God work in my family.  I wanted to get out of the security of my own little world and do something completely different with my family.  This caused me to spend more time seeking God and asking Him for direction.  On February 3rd, 2011 - God put it on my heart to pursue going to Africa with our family.  He didn't speak audibly to me but it was the closest thing I have experienced of "hearing" God.  My husband and kids came together in prayer with me to see what God would have us do.  11 months ago we started our journey together in prayer, asking God to provide all that we would need to go to Africa, if this was truly HIS desire and plan for our family.  I have been a Christian for years and to be honest this is the most clear direction I have ever had from God.  I don't know why, but God doesn't always give us such a clear vision in all things He is leading us to do.  Even though there were days of waiting within this past 11 months, it all has come together EXTREMELY fast.  God must have amazing things in store for us!

Tomorrow, the 5 of us will leave for Cameroon, Africa, and we will finally get to see what God has been preparing us for.  Thank you so much for your prayers for us.  We will try to keep you posted as much as possible.