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.

Packing for 5

It's a little crazy around here lately.  Trying to pack for a extended stay is proving to be a challenge.  We will be in Yaounde' and traveling the first few days in Cameroon, most likely the temperatures will be hot or at least pretty warm.  Once we arrive in Ndu, we have been told it's cool and to bring sweaters and warm pjs.  I'm guessing we will still think it's warm, coming from Minnesota.  We will be doing construction type work, so we will need appropriate clothing for that.  The training info we have been given encourages the women to wear skirts when we are out and about.  I'm not sure how frequently we will be able to do laundry either so we need lots of socks and underwear.  We made our dining room table as big as it would go and brought clothing for each need for each one of us in our family.  We've been told that our luggage may not arrive at the same time that we do, or perhaps at all, so to pack accordingly.  We packed a little of each persons clothing in each suitcase and added Drew's tools throughout.  It was really an obnoxious amount of clothing when we had it all heaped on the table.  The sad part is, I still have clothes in my closet and drawers too.  It doesn't help that I have put on weight during this season of good food, putting me in my "fat" clothes.  I'm fully anticipating slimming down with the different whole foods we will be eating, which means I need to bring a few of my smaller sizes too.   I have never been a light packer - it must be from that year of Girl Scouts when I learned to "always be prepared".  In addition to tools and clothing, we also need some cooking supplies (pot and pan, spatula etc), pillows, spices, gifts, shoes, toiletries, camera, games, books....the list goes on.  This is just the items we may need, other missionaries have had items sent to us to bring in our luggage.  Needless to say, we are having no problem filling up our 10 allotted 50 lb suitcases.  We will be like sardines traveling in our van to the airport.

I have every intention of leaving as much as possible in Ndu when we come home.  I will leave it with the local missionaries to go through or distribute how they think best.  I think that is why I feel it's okay to over pack, because I know that it will be so freeing to leave it behind.  Hopefully, I will be able to continue that trend of letting go even after our trip.  It's that time of year when we really start analyzing what we want to change in our lives.  As I look around at all the "stuff" I have accumulated, and realize that nothing I have can give me security, I wonder why it is so hard to let go?This past year was one of cutting back on our impulse buying and trying hard to just stick to our needs.  We had our goal of going to Africa always before us so it wasn't really that difficult.  Once we have reached this goal and returned to our life in Minnesota, I hope to continue saying "No" to all the little extras that cry out to me.  I want  to get to a place where Christ is everything and my comfort has nothing to do with what I can see.  I have so far to go.

Happy New Year to all of you.

To Be a Faith Walker

Psalm 145:4 -7
"Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts.
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.
your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with JOY of your righteousness."

These verses get me excited.  I think David was a blogger before there was such a term - his words are thought provoking and transparent.  I get excited about these verses because God is doing such an amazing thing with my family - I want to proclaim HIS greatness!  This past year has been a journey:  seeing God's provision, His faithfulness, His willingness to use my family with all our imperfections.  My kids will be telling this story to their children someday and encouraging them to step out and do whatever God puts on their hearts.

Last year, friends of ours donated $1000 for my family and I to attend Faithwalkers in Omaha, Nebraska (December 27-31).  We had a fun time but the whole time I struggled with the idea that experiencing "Faithwalkers" was the peak to some in their Christian faith.  Every year families look forward to this BIG event.  They have high expectations and will probably walk away feeling spiritually pumped after listening to great worship music and inspiring speakers.  Some people do walk away changed people and they do something with that change.  They may do something outside their comfort zone, like go on a mission trip or they may commit to being a spiritual leader in their family, or serve with Kids Against Hunger.  I also believe that quite a few will just go back to their busy lives, the experience of Faithwalkers will be just a pleasant memory.  Faithwalkers to some is just a social event, that in many ways pulls their families apart in several directions rather than bonding them with a common purpose.  To some, Faithwalkers is their "thing" that they are doing for God - they have to take time off work, pay money for a hotel and add one more thing to their busy schedules - to them, this is sacrifice enough.  To me, Faithwalkers was just the trailer to a bigger adventure of living for Christ.  It was that inner struggle and crying out to God for direction during my time at Faithwalkers that first started pulling me back to Africa.  The fact that we are leaving in just 10 days is an amazing testimony to God's goodness.  I want my kids to be excited and notice what God is doing in us and through us.  I want them to be doing God's will and looking forward to the next adventure He sends us on - willing to do His will.

  There is nothing in itself wrong with going to Faithwalkers, we will hopefully go again.  I just think that if attending a conference is all my faith and living for Christ amounts to, it's not worth it.  I would much rather be living out my faith on a daily basis, sold out for Christ, even if that means I never have time to attend another Faithwalkers convention.  Faithwalkers is not a bad thing, but for me and my family I want it to be a time of celebration of what God is doing in US.  I don't want to just go and listen to other people talking about what living for Christ can look like.

My prayer for my friends attending Faithwalkers this week is that they will be forever changed - and their life will no longer be their own.  That they will not be looking at this time as a social event but that their eyes would be "fixed on Jesus".  God has changed my life and grown my faith this year, and it all began with a seed of discontent that was fanned into flame at Faithwalkers 2010.

Christmas Traditions

Last night we had a house full of my relatives for our annual Wige Christmas.  In years past our family got together every year on Christmas Eve.  Now we switch it up every other year in a way to compromise.  It gets difficult when people get married into other families and their traditions.  My Mom was the one to start this tradition for our family, hosting it at my parent’s house each year.  She would put on a huge spread of food and the rest of us would bring desserts or appetizers.  Mom loved to buy gifts for everyone, starting months in advance.  She would have a budget and took great delight in finding the perfect gift for the lowest price.  In fact, she passed away in May of 2007, the day before she died she was shopping for Christmas gifts, to the delight of those who received gifts that year.  All of us adult “kids” would exchange names and buy gifts for our person.  With the economy turn we have switched to doing a “white elephant” gift exchange.  The kids in years past would be overindulged with gifts from everyone, now they get one or 2 gifts.  My Dad no longer spends Christmas in Minnesota so it is up to my generation to keep the tradition going.

  Even since a few years before my Mom passed away, our family started meeting at my house.  It stresses me out to have the whole big fancy meal so we started doing just the desserts and appetizers.  This year we had all Chinese food and it was fantastic.  It seems like we are finally making something of our own for our family get together.  It has taken a few years to let go of the expectations we had, because of how my Mom had made Christmas so special for all of us.  We laughed and ate way too much, enjoying each other’s company. 

Today is Christmas Eve and I actually have no stress, it’s lovely.  I spent some time wrapping presents and being leisurely.  Our church met for a beautiful Christmas Eve service in the afternoon.  Upon returning home we all raided the leftover food from last night’s party, put on our jammies and watched “The Nativity Story”.  The kids will bug us until we relent to letting them open one present tonight.  We’ll wake early tomorrow morning and wait while Drew makes our latte’s .  We’ll take our time opening gifts one by one.  Sometime during the gift opening, I will put some cinnamon rolls in the oven and we’ll take a break to eat a healthy breakfast including that and some Captain Crunch cereal.  With nowhere to go, we’ll see how long we can make it staying in our pjs.  Silly little things but these are the traditions that we love.

Birthday Celebrations

Yesterday we celebrated the 14th birthday of our daughter Ellie.  Our family has a tradition where the birthday person chooses the birthday supper.  Ellie chose lasagna (which is her usual choice).  Another part of our family birthday celebration is playing the praise game.  Each person takes a turn telling something they like about the birthday person or something kind they have done for them.  As we all took turns telling our favorite things about Ellie, I was thinking about how easy it is to find things about her to praise.  Ellie is an unusual young lady.  She isn't anything that I thought a teenage girl would be like - no drama, tears,extreme hormones, or attitude.  She is not perfect by any means but she is very quick to work through her sins and weaknesses.  She is consistently working at her relationships with her brothers, friends, us parents and with the Lord.  Even as a small child, I would look at her and she would well up with tears if she knew she was doing something wrong.  She is definitely what I would call a "heart" person.  She loves little children and adults alike.  Her compassion and empathy for people is very obvious to those of us who have the privilege of living with her.  On the other hand, Ellie is fearless.  Kaley shared last night that she appreciates how Ellie will kill bugs for her - they both live in our basement and bugs show up occasionally.  Ellie also has shown strength of character with her recent scoliosis diagnosis.  It's not that she is not afraid of anything, but she really understands that she has a Father in heaven that she can trust no matter what life throws her way.  I believe she has such a strong understanding of God because her Earthly Father is so strong, trustworthy and kind.  Even at 14, Ellie still loves to run and jump into her Daddy's arms.

This morning I was reading in Luke, just after Mary had given birth, then shepherds and wise men came, angels were singing and praising God.  Luke 2:19 says "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."    Jesus was but a baby and Mary could not possible know all that would happen with his life and death.  She couldn't have understood that he would take on the sins of the world in his tragic death but be resurrected to life again, giving the world hope.  That this little baby would still be changing peoples lives mores than 2000 years later.  I wonder if at each of Jesus's birthdays his family would take turns sharing their favorite things about him.  How could they even imagine that He was God's plan of salvation.  That all of us would fall short of ever being good enough and would need the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus to wash us clean as snow.  This gift that is free but which so many choose not to accept.  As the celebration of Jesus's birth draws near, these are the things that I appreciate and want to acknowledge and praise Jesus for:  his extravagant love for me, the home He is preparing in heaven for me, his unconditional love and example He is to me, and most of all, that He would willing leave the glory of heaven to come down to Earth to "dwell among us".  It is a privilege to be an adopted child in His family and be a witness of His amazing character.  Happy Birthday Jesus!