The road to Ntaba

It's our last weekend in Ndu and we are feeling mixed emotions about leaving. For the most part, I am ready to get home to our family and friends but at the same time, I know I will miss this place. Today we took a taxi with Henry (the librarian) to a place called Ntaba. Henry has been telling me how beautiful this place is since I first started working in the library. The car was a little crowded with 7 of us crammed in a small Toyota (like a Tercel). I got to share the front bucket seat with Drew. The scenery was quite stunning and the winding mountain road was exhilarating. On the other side of the mountain range was the savanna area - beautiful. I was hoping that we would get to see some other topography before leaving Cameroon. We will also be traveling to the beach before leaving so that will offer us some more interesting sights to see as well. It's fun to still have new things to look forward to, even as we are experiencing many "lasts" on our journey.

Cameroon's National Women's Day

Happy Women's Day! "Happy Happy" (that is the proper response). Today women all over Cameroon celebrate this national holiday. Ndu had a celebration much like other towns and villages across the country. Fabric was made months ago for women to have special dresses made just for the day. Since we wanted to experience as much of the Cameroonian culture as possible, Ellie and I had dresses made in Ellie's favorite color -PINK! The other option was a bluish/green with the same picture on it. The women's march was scheduled to begin at the grand stand in town at 8am this morning (March 8, 2012). Knowing that nothing starts on time around here we waited until 840am to walk across campus and through the main gate (that has brand new cement). We felt like our own little parade as we walked on the rim road towards the grand stand with shouts of "Happy Women's Day!" thrown our way. It felt a little awkward as we realized we were the only people around with our bright pink fabric on. Circling around we went to our favorite store (Providence) to find out what we could about the festivities for the day. Both the women that worked there laughed when we asked why it hadn't started yet - "Black people here don't follow any type of time schedule" was the reply these 2 black women gave us. We continued our little parade of 2 right back to our little house to wait it out. Finally just before 10am we headed back up to the grand stand and discovered many different women's groups lining up to begin the march. Again, we felt really out of place because the groups were being divided by subdivisions and we didn't have a group that we belonged in. Finally, one of the ladies shoved us into the line, close to the front where we joined other women in pink, marching and singing "Oh When The Saints Go Marching In". I just kept thinking "It's all part of the experience". Ellie and I then went and took our seats in the grand stand to watch some of the women's groups perform their dances and sing. One of the groups was from the CTE (tea plantation we had toured early on in Cameroon). They sang the song "Shine the light of Jesus Christ" but changed the words to "Shine the light of CTE"... it kind of bugged me. Everything I have heard about the man who bought this place just 4 or 5 years ago is that he doesn't treat his workers very fair. Who knows what the truth is? We listened as several speakers shared on different topics (through a bad sound system): Women's rights, education, cancer (cervical and prostate), Agriculture and a male doctor talked in detail about person hygiene. The main theme of the day was ending hunger and poverty... finally, I could stand it no longer - I had to go to the bathroom and I was hungry. So Ellie and I did our part to end hunger (even if it was just our own) and we headed home to eat... and use a flush toilet. A few hours later Drew and I headed up to the MoneyGram place (for the 3rd time without success) and we could see that the Women's Day performances were still going on. No offense, I love being a woman, but to me this was Women's suffering!

More of my observations

Some things here in Cameroon are just so different it makes me laugh. Just this morning I made a phone call to the man in charge of a taxi service here in Ndu. We need to arrange a ride to Bamenda next week and I have been trying to get in touch with him but I was getting only a busy signal. This morning I finally got an answer but barely into my call when my phone went dead. I went to plug it in and we had no power, so I figured I would try again later. Meanwhile, Levi and I headed down the hill to go to the health center. As we were walking, a car came down the road we had just past honking his horn and flashing the lights - strange behavior even for Ndu. I stopped to see what it was all about and a man jumped out and greeted me, it was the taxi guy. He had tried calling me back but got a busy signal, the only information I had given him was that I was at CBTS. Wow, what service. I was able to tell him when we needed a ride and he agreed to meet with Drew and I together a few days before we leave to get the details worked out. Nice to have that off my list, especially since we still do not have electricity. Can you imagine in America if your conversation was cut short with a dead battery and moments later the person showed up at your door to finish the conversation?

Levi was tested for malaria this morning and it did come back negative - Yeah! We got some medicine for parasites so hopefully he will be feeling better soon. While waiting for 3 hours between our registration, consultation, lab work, more consultation and then the pharmacy, I had a lot of opportunity to observe the people around me. One thing I have noticed since arriving here is that women seem to embrace their chin hairs and today I noticed several women with actual go-tees growing. Many of the women wear a wrappa around their skirts and this is very useful for waiting - they just throw the outer wrappa on the grass and use it for a blanket (I will have to remember that next time we go to the health center). Another thing I noticed is that "Minnesota Nice" does not work well when you are waiting in Africa - people do not usually take turns but push to get waited on as soon as possible. You really need to stand your ground or you could spend the whole day waiting and never get service. Yesterday I went to the Moneygram place in Ndu to get some money my brother had wired me. There were probably 20 people waiting and when I arrived the security guy ushered me to the front of the line. I wasn't sure what was happening at first but once I realized I felt very awkward. I did not have the right information though and was unable to get my money, therefore I felt very relieved that I had not waited hours to find that out. I'm going back today but plan to wait my turn.

One thing that I will miss that just doesn't happen at home, is the greetings that happen everywhere you go... and it's not just that we are white, everyone greets everyone. It takes longer to get from place to place because people say "Good morning Madame", "Good Afternoon" or the kids shout "Hello, how are you?" (over and over). People shake your hand and sometimes hold their arm when they do this as a sign of respect. As our time is coming to an end we have had numerous invitations to have supper (fufu and jamajama most likely). The Africans we have met have taught me so much about being hospitable and making people feel welcome. As you enter their homes they often say "You are welcome".

Looking Towards the Goal

Just 2 months have gone by since we walked out the door of our home in Minnesota starting our adventure. I would like to think that we are all changed and transformed people, and I'm sure we are to some degree. The reality is that I have discovered more of my selfishness and my sinful heart than I would have by staying in my busy lifestyle at home in the middle of my comfort. I wouldn't have had to face the fact that I really don't like to be uncomfortable or outside of my control. I could just go on joking about how much I like to have my way, instead of seeing how ugly that really is. I don't know why I was born in a country and own a home that is huge by these standards. I'm not a more valuable person because I live in a land of comfort. I hope that I will appreciate even the smallest comfort once I go home, but honestly I doubt it will take long before I settle back into my life of expectations. What do I do with the fact that I live with plenty, when others live in want? People that I have met and walked with, if even for a short time, will continue in their struggles and I will go home to my easy life. I have no answers, it doesn't change their lives if I should sell everything I own, even if I gave it all to them. It wouldn't give them better plumbing or an endless supply of food, they would still have dust on everything. Both here and there we would be tempted to fill our time with things that do not satisfy. Which leads me to the fact that it is all pointless. If all our life is about our accumulation of "stuff" and we forget that we are made to bring God glory with our lives, than we're missing out. I've seen some wonderful examples of people who understand that here in Africa, with the full time missionaries and many students who have committed their lives to serving Christ. I want to bring home a little of that zeal and that purpose as I too fix my eyes on the goal before me.

Philippians 3:13-16 (The Message
"Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to JESUS. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision - you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.

Pray for us as we end our time in Ndu, Cameroon and prepare to reenter our life in Minnesota and the mission God has for us there.

Home really is where the heart is.

Do you know the line of the prayer "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest"? We used to say that prayer when I was young. I was thinking about that line and wondering if that is the desire of my heart on most days? When I look around me at the floors that need to be swept, my to-do list, all my selfish desires, do I truly want a guest of any kind? More than that, when I look at my cluttered thoughts, my discontent heart, and my selfishness, do I really want to invite the King of Kings into my day? It is a choice I must face every day and I have learned that the quicker I meet with HIM each day, the more content my heart is.

One of the joys of this trip has been seeing God use our gift of hospitality even here in Africa (not to be confused with the gift of entertainment - which I lack in). For years we have prayed that our home would be a place of refuge for those who walk through our doors. At times I felt like a failure because my house would not be "company ready" when the opportunity would arise. I would have to remember to put hospitality before my pride. Too many times, God would have to work on my hard heart as I would struggle to want to open my door because I selfishly didn't want the extra work. But when I put my selfishness aside and opened my door, whether my house was ready or not, I have always been the one who has been blessed far more than I have been a blessing.

Living here in Cameroon, our housing situation is a bit "rustic" and simple. Our furniture isn't very comfortable (the floor is concrete and there are bugs so we don't sit on the floor). We have just enough dishes for our family and one guest but somehow that hasn't mattered much. I've learned so much from our Cameroonian friends (and even strangers), that you don't have to have much to make a person feel welcome.

At home we have a weekly tradition of serving pancakes for supper on Sunday. We usually have a bunch of different forms of sugar to dump on them and take great delight in seeing how creative we can be. We have brought this tradition with us as a way to feel the comfort of home in a small way. We've extended the invitation to the missionaries here and have introduced a few of our Cameroonian friends to the wonders of pancakes as well. We've added a time of singing and praise which we plan to bring home with us as we continue this tradition at home. Our guests bring their own dishes and no one seems to mind at all.

I'm realizing that our "home" is really not our house at all - it is us! I am missing my friends and family in Minnesota, but my HOME has been with me all along.

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.

March for Jesus

We have noticed that the Cameroonians really like to march. A few weeks ago was National Youth Day, with all the local schools marching through the main street of Ndu. In a few weeks will be Women's Day, where women will have dresses made out of the same material and march all across Cameroon celebrating women. Today marked the end of the missions conference at Emmanuel Baptist Church, a march from the soccer fields, down the main street to the Total station and then on the side road to the church commenced the last day of the conference. The march started at 745am so we had to be out the door early. We sang songs (that we barely knew) as we marched down the dusty streets of Ndu towards our destination. The church was packed and it was a celebration with lots of music. Drew and Kyle even did a special music. The plan was to have Levi play the drums along with them but we didn't think it would work so well with his cast.